Toray introduced environmental accounting in FY 1999 to record environment-related investments and costs and calculate their effectiveness.
Capital investment totaled 2.09 billion yen, primarily for updating electrostatic precipitators on boilers, reducing atmospheric emissions of chemical substances, enhancing wastewater treatment facilities, and renovating product recycling facilities.
Costs totaled 6.75 billion yen, of which 1.79 billion yen was allocated to air quality efforts and 2.28 billion yen for water quality efforts. Operating costs for existing exhaust gas and wastewater treatment facilities accounted for the majority of those charges.
These expenditures saved 570 million yen in energy costs and 30 million yen in waste disposal costs while netting 980 million yen in sales of valuable recycled resources.
In addition to the environmental preservation, energy conservation, recycling, and other areas targeted by environmental accounting, Toray tabulates facility investment related to safety, accident prevention, and health. FY 2006 investment in this category totaled 4.3 billion yen for Toray, 1.3 billion for Japanese subsidiaries and affiliates, and 1.8 billion yen for overseas subsidiaries and affiliates.
Safety investments centered on retrofitting existing equipment to improve fundamental safety, while accident prevention investments sought to strengthen buildings to increase resistance to earthquakes. For domestic affiliates, to reduce atmospheric emissions of chemical substances at Toray Advanced Film Co., Ltd., while overseas investments included boosting wastewater treatment facility capacity at Penfabric Sdn. Berhad (Malaysia) and installing an exhaust gas desulphurization facility on coal boilers at Toray Fibers (Nantong) Co., Ltd.
Toray Environmental Accounting Standards
- Some categories were changed based on the Ministry of the Environment's Guidelines for FY 2005.
- Only economic effects that can be determined with a high degree of certainty are calculated. Presumed effects are not calculated.
- Capital investment also includes investments for which environmental preservation is not the main objective. Capital investment resulting from leases is also included. Expenses include labor costs and depreciation. However, internal labor costs related to local volunteer activities are not included.
- Energy cost reduction figures show the amount of reduction for 12 months after the completion of an energy conservation facility. Expenses are not recorded because they are deducted when the effect is calculated.
- Waste disposal cost reduction figures show the amount of reduction achieved through waste reduction efforts and resource recycling for 12 months after the measures are undertaken.
- In allocating reserves to cover anticipated future expenses for PCB waste disposal and other matters, the entire amount is expensed in the year the reserves are allocated.
