This represents a record eighth consecutive year that Kyocera has received the award, following many other environment-related honors worldwide — including Mexico’s highest award for environmental excellence for two consecutive years, and the City of San Diego’s annual recycling award for 17 consecutive years.
Established in 1998 by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, this award is presented every December in observance of Global Warming Prevention Month to individuals and groups that have shown remarkable achievements in the prevention of climate change.
Environmental Programs
1. Solar energy
Rooftop and ground-mounted solar power systems at Kyocera’s Hokkaido Kitami Plant provide a combined 640 kilowatts of generating capacity. The systems generate approximately 787,154 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year, enough electricity to power approximately 240 typical households*1 ― while offsetting about 530 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
2. Energy conservation measures
The Plant is promoting energy efficiency through the implementation of new equipment such as modular chillers and LED lights, as well as reusing the exhaust heat from its production equipment such as furnaces or cooling chillers for building/office heating. In addition, the Plant installed heat-exchange equipment to recover the waste heat from hot water used to clean products. As a result of these conservation activities, the Plant has achieved annual energy reductions of about 710 tons of CO2 emission. Moreover, employees receive ongoing environmental instruction, including how to conserve energy during high-consumption summer and winter months, and how to segregate waste. All education efforts aim to increase employees’ environmental awareness and help prevent global warming.
3. Community-based environmental activities
Specially trained Kyocera employees visit local primary schools and provide hands-on “Eco-Lessons” for environmental preservation and energy conservation. In 2017, a total of 441 students took part at eight primary schools in Japan. Other community activities include an eco-event at the Hokkaido Kitami Plant’s summer festival and neighborhood clean-up activities for employees.
