The Nitto Group places ESG at the core of management, aiming to create products and services that contribute to people's well-being and foster a sustainable global environment. Toward the realization of a "Sustainable Circular Society," Nitto has been diligently working to create and promote water environment innovations that ensure safe, sufficient and efficient use of water. In 2018, the Shiga Plant adopted a "Recycling-Oriented Green Plant" concept and has been promoting the reuse of wastewater and effluents generated at the plant using water treatment technologies, including reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, which possess "properties that prevent impurities other than water from permeating".
As of March 2023, Nitto has successfully achieved our initial target※2 of 90% wastewater utilization at the Shiga Plant, reducing in the reduction of water withdrawal※3 by a total of 560,000 tons over the past five years. Furthermore, by reducing the volume of water-soluble effluents to one-sixth of its original volume, Nitto has significantly reduced energy consumption associated with the distillation and regeneration processes of wastewater.
 Shiga Plant Water Treatment Equipment |
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Nitto has developed diverse water treatment technologies over the years and is deploying them in markets around the world to meet respective needs. For example, the PRO Series of ultra-high-pressure spiral type RO membranes, newly developed in 2019, demonstrate excellent pressure and fouling resistance properties. These products are key components of Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems, which do not discharge liquid wastes at all and are widely used in India and China where regulations on industrial wastewater are becoming stricter.
In addition, Nitto has established an internal scheme whereby Nitto Group products are evaluated based on its own criteria from the two perspectives: contribution to the environment and contribution to humanity. Products that are recognized as having a particularly high contribution in these areas are certified as PlanetFlags™ or HumanFlags™, respectively. RO membranes for the ZLD system are one of the PlanetFlags™-certified products that have a significant contribution to the global environment.
We will launch these products mainly in countries and regions with high water risk and accelerate our efforts to simultaneously solve social issues and create economic value through our business. At the same time, we will integrate our water treatment technologies with other environmental solutions to provide safe and reliable water and to further reduce environmental impact.
※1 Wastewater utilization rate: Percentage of water recovered and recycled from the wastewater generated in the reverse osmosis membrane manufacturing process.
※2 “Initiatives for an Environmentally Friendly Recycling-Oriented Green Plant “ (Apr. 11, 2018）
※3 Reduced water withdrawals: Water withdrawals reduced to achieve the 90% wastewater utilization rate from 50% as of 2018.
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