Sony Chemicals Corporation introduces a plant waste water recycling system and has implemented switching of fuel from kerosene to natural gas in the Neagari Plant (Nomi-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture) to promote reduction of environmental impact and fulfill their corporate social responsibilities.

The plant waste water recycling system will start operations at the end of March this year to purify the water used for the cleaning of printed circuit boards in the production process and re-use it as industrial water for the plant with the intention of minimizing the impact on rivers and preserving the groundwater.

Conventionally, the acid and alkaline effluents from the cleaning in the plating, etching and other board production processes has been neutralized, biologically treated to concentrations below the water quality standards for effluent to rivers, and discharged into the Tedorigawa River.

The newly introduced waste water recycling system further purifies the water once purified below the water quality standards of waste water discharge through the existing waste water treatment facility, based on micro-filtration and reverse osmosis membrane methods, and allows reuse of the purified water as industrial water. The system is capable of treating 3,000 m3 of plant effluents per day and recycling approx. 80% of plant effluents as industrial water while re-purifying the rest by 20% through biological treatment and then discharging it into the river after confirming its level below the water quality standards of waste water discharge through consistent monitoring for proper control of pH (hydrogen ion concentration), SS (suspended solid), and TOC (total organic content).

Adoption of this system helps reduce the impact on the river, save approx. 600,000 m3 (based on the FY 2004 standard) groundwater consumption on an annual basis, thereby contributing to reducing possible ground subsidence and groundwater depletion and consequently promoting efficient utilization of groundwater.

In addition, in order to minimize greenhouse gases, considered as the main cause of global warming, in particular carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by energy consumption within the plant, conventional kerosene will be switched to natural gas in January 2007 for a smaller CO2 emission factor in comparison with kerosene. As there is no infrastructure for the gas pipeline, a natural gas supplier will establish a gas supply base in the premises of the plant for supply of gas. The establishment of natural gas supply base within the premises of the plant is the first attempt for Sony Group. The effort helps reduce CO2 emissions caused by the energies used in the Neagari Plant by approx. 3,500 tons (approx. 13% based on the FY 2004 standard) per year.

Neagari Plant of Sony Chemicals Corporation continues to make every effort to promote the reduction of environmental impacts and fulfill the corporate social responsibilities.