Environmental Policy

Nifco's vision for the future is a prosperous and sustainable society, and manufacturing environmentally friendly products is a strong driving force to achieve this.

Nifco Group Environmental Policy Basic Policy

Nifco* recognizes that environmental conservation is one of the most important issues for realizing a sustainable society and is committed to biodiversity and global environmental conservation throughout its value chain, including business activities and products.

  • *

    Nifco: All companies belonging to the Nifco Group Action Guidelines

Code of Conduct

  • We will share this environmental policy with all employees in order to implement and maintain it. We will also present this policy to our suppliers and ask for their cooperation in protecting the environment.

  • We will comply with environmental laws, ordinances, agreements, etc.

  • We will establish and implement environmental targets to the extent technically and economically feasible, review them periodically, and strive to continuously improve our environmental management system and prevent environmental pollution.

  • We will promote energy conservation and resource recycling and strive to prevent global warming and realize a recycling-oriented society.

  • We will strive to reduce all waste generated in our business activities.

  • We will thoroughly manage chemical substances contained in products.

  • We will promote the development of clean and comfortable products that are environmentally friendly and strive to reduce environmental impact.

  • We will promote environmental awareness among all employees and strive to participate in and support environmental conservation activities.

  • We will disclose information on our environmental preservation activities as appropriate and communicate with society.

Environmental Management System

We have established an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on the international standard ISO 14001. Since obtaining ISO 14001 certification in March 2001, we have been developing systems, establishing mechanisms, and promoting environmental activities as an EMS linked to our business activities.
In particular, we plan, implement, evaluate, and improve activities on a PDCA cycle on a division-by division basis, with a focus on contributing to society through our products and reducing the environmental impact of our business activities.
The effectiveness of the EMS is confirmed through periodic internal audits and management reviews, and improvements are made to address issues in order to raise the level of our efforts.

System for promoting EMS

Environmental activities managers have been appointed at all sites to which the EMS is applied and are working on a management program that takes into account the characteristics of their operations. In addition, reviews are conducted by management as a summary of annual activities to evaluate conformity, appropriateness, and effectiveness.
80% of our Group companies have obtained the ISO 14001 certificates, including four companies (nine sites) in Japan and 20 companies overseas.

Compliance with environmental laws and regulations

We regularly check the status of compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations at each domestic business site, and there were no violations of environmental laws and regulations in FY2024.

Toward the development of expert personnel

To enhance the expertise of employees who lead environmental initiatives, we conduct EMS (Environmental Management System) practitioner training. This program is designed to be directly applicable to daily operations, covering topics such as integrating EMS into business activities, effectively implementing the PDCA cycle, and understanding related regulations. In FY2024, a total of 32 employees completed this training.

Regarding internal auditors, we have traditionally focused on improving the skills of existing auditors. However, recognizing the need to cultivate new talent, we launched a new training program in FY2024 to develop 20 new internal auditors, who have since been certified.

Supply chain collaborations

Nifco promotes environmental initiatives in collaboration with its suppliers, who are key business partners. We have long established environmental conservation standards and request all suppliers to comply with them. In fiscal year 2024, following on from the previous year, we conducted on-site audits at nine suppliers, focusing mainly on compliance with environmental laws and regulations. In addition, 59 suppliers carried out self-audits. After each audit, we worked together with suppliers to share identified issues and improvement measures, striving for further enhancements.

Furthermore, we issued the Sustainability Procurement Policy and Sustainability Procurement Guidelines to all Tier 1 suppliers, gaining agreement from over 90% of them.

Launch of “N-SOC,” Our Database System for Managing Substances of Concern (SOC), at 13 Major Overseas Sites

Since 2004, Nifco has been a pioneer in the industry by introducing a database system for managing Substances of Concern (SOC). In 2018, we revamped the system and launched it as “N-SOC”, completing its implementation at all domestic sites.

At our overseas sites, we launched the “N-SOC Global Project” in January 2024 to expand the system to 13 major overseas locations. Among these, implementation at five sites in the China region was completed in December 2024, and we plan to complete implementation at all remaining sites by FY2026.

The key feature of N-SOC lies in its ability to automatically verify regulatory compliance based on relevant laws and customer-specific requirements by linking with the component data of our products registered in both IMDS (International Material Data System)* and CAMDS (China Automotive Material Data System)**.
This enables us to further strengthen our global regulatory compliance capabilities and quality assurance systems.

*IMDS: International Material Data System, a global database used in the automotive industry to manage and share information on chemical substances contained in parts and materials.
**CAMDS: China Automotive Material Data System, a database used exclusively within the Chinese automotive industry.

FY2024 Performance of SOC-Related Surveys

In FY2024, the number of inquiries and survey requests from customers significantly increased following the regulatory decision to apply the Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL) to MCCP (Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins).
As a result, we received a record-high 47,477 survey requests—approximately three times the number of items from the previous year.
For all of these items, we conducted prompt and accurate investigations using our N-SOC system, and we have confirmed that there were no violations of applicable regulations.

Issuance of NCSL: Nifco Chemical Substances List Rev.8.0

In addition to chemical substances that are regulated under environmental laws and subject to mandatory notification or reporting, we also manage substances that are specified by customer-specific requirements, including those independently prohibited or required for reporting by our customers.
Each year, we compile all such substances into the NCSL: Nifco Chemical Substances List, which is distributed to all suppliers. Through this standard, we require suppliers to ensure non-use of prohibited substances and to disclose the presence of other reportable substances.