Chemical Substances Management
Management of Chemical Substances in Products
The Committee on the Management of Chemical Substances in Products has been established to provide information on laws and regulations and compliance support to each business division. The Sumitomo Electric Group is committed to proper management of chemical substances in products. To this end, we implement the “SEI Guidelines for the Management of Chemical Substances in Products,” which was established based on JIS Z7201 “Management of Chemical Substances in Products - Principles and Guidelines.” We have also established the “SEI Standards for Chemical Substance Management,” which are the standards for the management of chemical substances in products to be managed at each of the stages, and implement the “SEI Guidelines for Green Quality Purchases” based on the standards, while conducting product assessment at the design and development stages. Through these initiatives, we strive to prevent hazardous chemical substances with large environmental impact from being contained in products. For sharing of information on chemical substances throughout the supply chain, the standard schemes across industries,chemSHERPA* and IMDS, are actively used to alleviate the burden of information communication among companies. We also conduct a “management of chemical substances in products” audit of business divisions and aliates in our Group to solidify the governance.
*chemSHERPA: Trademarks or registered trademarks of Environmental Management Association for Industryz
*Guidelines for Green Quality Purchases and Standards for Chemical Substance Management Download
Compliance with Regional
Regulations on
Chemical
Substances across the Globe
The Sumitomo Electric Group has taken measures to replace the substances listed in the EU RoHS*1, and is meeting customer demand for products that contain no prohibited substances. At the same time, to comply with the REACH*2 regulation, we are making efforts to ensure appropriate responses to the requirements of the REACH regulation including reporting of the SVHC*3 contained in products. To quickly respond to progressive tightening of regional regulations on chemical substances across the globe, our group is working to collect information on regulations in Europe, China, Southeast Asia and other countries and share the information within the Group.
*1 RoHS Directive: RoHS stands for Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances. This EU Directive restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
*2 REACH regulations: REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals. Regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council for protection of human health and the environment in the European Union.
*3 SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern): SVHC stands for Substances of Very High Concern. Chemical substances designated by the EU as substances which may cause serious eects to human health or the environment.
Management of Chemical Substances Used in Plants
The amount of the release of the PRTR-designated* chemical substances in fiscal 2023 dropped significantly from fiscal 2022, base year, to 84.0 tons in total, a 15.4% reduction from the fiscal 2022 level, significantly exceeding the target of 1%. On the other hand, the amount transferred in the form of being discharged into sewers or being dumped remains unchanged from the previous fiscal year. By the amount of release by chemical substance, the amount of Toluene released into the air is 22.8 tons, accounting for 27% of the total amount of release, which is a problem that we are required to address.
*PRTR-designated： Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in, the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof.
Measures against Dioxins and Asbestos
The aluminum alloy manufacturing facility and its exhaust gas purification facility at Sumitomo Electric Toyama Co., Ltd. are subject to the Law Concerning Special Measures against Dioxins. We have ensured that emissions from these facilities remain within regulated standards.
At present, the Sumitomo Electric Group produces no products using asbestos.
