Established as an environmental initiative, the Nichirei Group’s Environmental Policy includes a theme of promoting sustainable recycling. The Group recognizes that corporate business activities have a considerable impact on the natural environment. Emitting pollutants and using chemicals through business activities has an effect on the air and soil, and expanding business activities results in more waste being generated and a greater effect on valuable resources. The Group’s business, in particular, relies heavily on natural ecosystems for the procurement of ingredients. Any loss of these ecosystems would be a significant business risk, and in addition, the generation of food waste is a major challenge.
Recognizing the issues outlined above, the Group is making the best use of limited global resources in cooperation with its suppliers, partners companies and consumers, and in addition, through its business activities, is promoting reductions of waste and pollutants as well as the reuse and recycling of resources. The Group is also helping build recycling-oriented social systems by procuring recyclable resources and working to develop associated mechanisms.
Two medium-term environmental targets adopted by the Group are to maintain a waste recycling rate of at least 99% at its food factories and distribution centers, and to reduce residual animal and plant material at its food factories in Japan.

The amount of waste discharged outside worksites in FY2018 was 45,200 tons, and the recycling rate was 99.5%. Looking at waste destined for final disposal, in some cases, depending on the district, waste paper and other types of waste are simply incinerated at processing plants catering for general, business-based waste. In other cases, depending on the type and volume of waste, recyclers cannot be found. In any case, the Group will work on further reductions, including by controlling the amount of waste produced. During FY2018, the Group emitted 9 kg of specially controlled industrial waste (such as flammable waste oil, strong acid/strong alkali and other waste classified separately from industrial waste because of hazardous or toxic properties).

Promoting Integrated Crop-livestock Production

The food residue and chicken guano received from factories and food material production facilities can be recycled as feed and fertilizer to reduce waste and make effective use of resources.
The Nichirei Group, which uses feed and fertilizer recycled from food products to produce food, aims to establish a food cycle involving livestock and humans. At Nichirei Fresh Farm Inc., set up as a poultry farm for the production of purebred domestic Japanese chickens, the Group is collaborating with local residents to build a regional recycling production system using chicken guano.

Project for Recycling-based Production via Chickens

At the Hirono facility operated by Nichirei Fresh Farm, chicken droppings are processed into organic fertilizer, which is used to produce feed stock rice for specialized chicken feed. Rice for the chicken feed is produced by partner farmers in the towns of Karumai and Hirono in Iwate Prefecture, in cooperation with JA Shiniwate. Much of this rice is grown using rice paddies lying fallow because of rice production adjustments. The recycling-based production cycle of chickens thus contributes sustainably to regeneration of the local farming industry.

Fertilizer, Feed Made from Factory Food Residue

To reduce waste generated at our production facilities, Nichirei Foods is undertaking various initiatives. These include production management, initiatives to prevent problems, and the recycling of processing residue, such as raw ingredients not turned into products.
　Processing residue is disposed of with in-house treatment machinery at our Funabashi and Shiroishi plants, and recycled for use as fertilizer and feed. Our other factories entrust the processing of residues to recycling companies that turn the leftovers into fertilizer and animal feed. The Group plans to continue reducing the amount of waste generated by setting target values, while making the most effective use of processing what residue is inevitably produced.

Factory Wastewater Released Only after Having Been Cleaned Using Special Equipment

The water used at food factories becomes wastewater containing food-related organic matter, detergents, and disinfectants. The Nichirei Group cleans its factory wastewater using disposal equipment and only releases it outside the factory once it complies with emissions standards stipulated by law.

Management of Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) Substances

　In FY2019, approximately 1 ton of chlorodifluoromethane (R-22), used as a refrigerant, was released at one of the Nichirei Group’s worksites. The Group reported this to the Japanese government since the amount exceeded the annual legal limit of 1 ton, as specified in the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register*. Since this breach, the Group has been taking more steps to reduce the amount of chemical substances it releases.

• *The laws concerning the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register refer to the collection and publication of data related to the release into the environment of chemicals, from any source, which could possibly adversely affect the lives, growth, or development of humans, animals, or plants.

Management of PCBs

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of man-made compounds, were previously used as insulating oil in transformers, but their use was banned in the 1970s, after their toxicity became apparent. In Japan, equipment that has been confirmed to contain PCBs is being appropriately stored in compliance with standards set by law. Currently, disposal is being carried out systematically, based on the capacity of the nation’s five government-run PCB disposal plants. Sixty three transformers collected from the Nichirei Group in FY2019 have been disposed of at a one of the government plants.

Management of Asbestos

The asbestos that was found to have been sprayed on the underside of the roof, and which had the possibility of spreading, was removed and disposed of during an inspection in FY2006. In addition, when demolishing office buildings that have been closed, the Nichirei Group does another survey and takes legally compliant and appropriate steps to dispose of any building materials containing asbestos.

Management of Contaminated Soil

　In addition to fulfilling the appropriate disclosure requirements when selling, buying, or renting land, the Nichirei Group does evaluations of soil contamination and carries out the appropriate management.