Murata and the Environment

Murata continues efforts to reduce the environmental load of manufacturing. Reinforcing climate change countermeasures has been selected as a priority issue (material issue). A target greenhouse gas (GHG^*1) reduction amount has also been set and business is being operated under that target.

Total GHG emissions increased rapidly until fiscal 2018, due to increased production spurred by higher demand for electronic components in recent years, M&As, and new business expansion. However, with the enactment of the Paris Agreement, companies are now required to reduce total GHG emissions even as they expand.

Murata is, therefore, working toward reducing total GHG emissions by promoting energy conservation and the use of renewable energy, with the Climate Change Committee (chaired by the Executive Vice President) taking a central role. The Climate Change Committee held discussions concerning Murata's climate change measure policies with the 3 subcommittees including Climate Initiatives Subcommittee, Renewable Energy Subcommittee, and Energy-saving Subcommittee, and had considered CFP^*2 calculations with aims to further generate energy saving measures as well as held discussions considering the introduction of systems which fused solar panels and storage batteries into domestic business sites and the introduction of renewable energy such as by signing agreements for virtual PPA in fiscal 2022.

In addition, not only are we engaging in the energy conservation centered around capital investment, which we have implemented to date, but we are also building new energy management systems that combine our sensing and IoT technologies to optimize the usage of energy in production.

Murata has received third-party certification with regard to total GHG emissions, and has been highly praised for actively disclosing information on our total GHG emissions and climate change countermeasure efforts, even from sources outside the company, including our A score on the CDP^*3 climate change survey in 2021 and A- score in 2022.

Link: Third-party verification

Link: TCFD measures

In December 2020, Murata joined “RE100,” an international initiative which aims to switch the power used in business activities to 100% renewable energy. Murata has set a goal of sourcing 50% renewable energy for business operations by fiscal 2030, and 100% by fiscal 2050, and continues working toward realizing a sustainable society.

Because multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and other electronic components which are our main products require that a high temperature state be maintained in the calcination process, they use a considerable amount of power. Due to the space restrictions on the number of units that can be calcinated at one time, we are promoting initiatives to make MLCCs lighter, thinner, shorter and smaller to reduce the environmental load (use of power and raw materials) during calcination.

In addition to reducing the environmental load in such production processes, we aim to promote the use of renewable energy at production subsidiaries in Japan and overseas. We have already installed solar panels at more than 20 group sites and will make large-scale investments from 2023 onwards. Going forward, we will be making the arrangements to combine our solar panels with Murata’s energy storage batteries to enable us to utilize as much of the energy generated by our solar panels as possible and further maximize renewable energy use at our group sites.

Link: RE100

RE100 is led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, as part of the We Mean Business coalition. Since April 2017, Japan Climate Leaders’ Partnership (JCLP) has been the Climate Group’s Regional Delivery Partner on RE100 initiative in Japan.

Murata has long been involved in implementing energy conservation initiatives and continues to implement anywhere from 450 to 600 energy conservation measures annually (equivalent to 40 to 50 kt-CO₂ reduction). However, recent business expansion has outpaced these efforts, and total GHG emissions have increased in recent years.

In response, Murata has implemented measures to conserve energy and further our utilization of renewable energy, allowing for a drop in GHG emissions from their peak in fiscal 2018. Total GHG emissions dropped to 1.34 million t-CO₂e in fiscal 2022, a 60 kt-CO₂e drop compared to the previous year. To achieve our targets for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2030, we will further accelerate our initiatives from fiscal 2023.

In order to accumulate future CO₂ reductions, we designed an internal carbon pricing system and began putting it into operation in fiscal 2021. Specifically, we are assigning a monetary value to CO₂ reduction and embedding it into the investment index to introduce shadow pricing, which encourages decision-making that executes investments that are effective at reducing CO₂. We will continue to implement systems that can even more effectively help to reduce CO₂.

Murata is a member of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA). The four electric and electronic organizations including JEITA are targeting an average annual improvement of 1% in the energy consumption rate for fiscal 2030. In addition, they have also set a challenge target of reducing CO₂ emissions from the activities of Japanese companies by about 46% versus 2013 by fiscal 2030. In order to achieve this target, Murata is also working to improve energy efficiency through energy-efficiency measures at factories and offices, etc.

Link: JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association)

Link: JEITA Members

Reducing the use of liquid PFC

PFCs are chemical substances that contribute to global warming and are a target for reduction under the Kyoto Protocol. Murata is a member of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), and we stand behind the organization’s voluntary action plan. Murata itself has set a fiscal 2021 target of achieving a 65% reduction in liquid PFCs against fiscal 2002 in terms of CO₂ equivalent, and has worked to realize this goal. Since 2015, we have gradually introduced recycling and recovery equipment at group sites with a large amount of liquid PFC input and achieved an 22% reduction versus fiscal 2002 in fiscal 2022.

As one initiative aimed at “strengthening climate change measures,” at Murata we are striving to expand the amount of renewable energy within the power consumption resulting from business activities. As a global company, we have actively promoted the introduction of solar power generation both in Japan and other countries such as Thailand, and we have incorporated the utilization of renewable energy certificates. During fiscal 2022, electricity originating from generation via solar power generation equipment, renewable energy certificate procurement, and other forms of renewable energy reached approximately 600 million kWh, which contributed to reducing GHG by approx. 350 kt-CO₂.

In fiscal 2022, Murata entered into an agreement with Chugoku Electric Power for the provision of energy from renewable sources including (off-site) solar power. This partnership allowed us to further our efforts to increase our renewable energy use to 50% of the total energy used at all Murata production sites in the Chugoku area by fiscal 2030 as well as further discussions for the development of new solar power generation equipment designed for Murata.

Murata also agreed on a cooperative framework with Mitsubishi Corporation to procure 70,000 kW of power derived from renewable energy sources under a virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) by fiscal 2025.

We are continuing to discuss the introduction of renewable energy in Japan and overseas to reduce our environmental impact in 2023 and on.

In fiscal 2021, Kanazu Murata Manufacturing (Awara, Fukui Prefecture) became the first plant in the Murata Group to run on 100% renewable energy. This was made possible through the introduction of a system which combines large-scale solar panels and storage batteries, along with a menu of renewable energy power from hydroelectric power generation. In addition to this, the Philippine production site (Philippine Manufacturing Co. of Murata, Inc.) became our first overseas site to use 100% renewable energy, through the utilization of a mega solar system and a power menu based on geothermal power generation.

In fiscal 2022, the system currently being used to combine solar panel and storage battery power at Kanazu Murata Manufacturing was introduced at four plants: Sendai Murata Manufacturing (Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture), Ise Murata Manufacturing (Tsu City, Mie Prefecture), Hakui Murata Manufacturing (Hakui City, Ishikawa Prefecture), and Wakura Murata Manufacturing (Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture). The Murata power generation facilities at these four plants will be able to cut a total of 1,897 t-CO₂ a year.

Construction of the Murata Group's first multistory parking garage with a green design at Wuxi Murata Electronics (Xinwu District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China) has also been completed. The use of double-sided solar panels and the installation of solar panels on the walls of this parking garage increased the solar energy to ground surface area absorption rate by 1.2 times. This allows for the generation of power equivalent to the annual energy consumption of at least 300 average households and a 490 t-CO₂ reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Climate change countermeasure initiatives throughout the supply chain

76% of all of Murata's GHG emissions are Scope3 emissions. We realize that reducing Scope3 GHGs is just as essential as reducing Scope1 and Scope2 GHGs and established Scope3 reduction goals in accordance with SBT criteria.

Going forward, a wide range of related departments will work together to promote climate change countermeasures across the entire Murata supply chain.

We strive to reduce environmental burden at the distribution stage of products in addition to manufacturing stages.

In addition to reducing CO₂ emissions by making transportation more efficient, we are also promoting eco-friendly physical distribution based on the 3Rs.

In fiscal 2022, we monitored CO₂ emissions per basic unit of production output 2.0 kg/M yen or lower in our domestic logistics, and worked to improve the accuracy of our understanding of CO₂ emissions in all Murata logistics, including our overseas logistics.
Going forward, we will make efforts to create system tools used to determine the total CO₂ emissions generated by logistics and improve their accuracy.

Through our efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions from our logistics, in fiscal 2022, we achieved a 112 t/year cut in CO₂ emissions by introducing new boxes that eliminate the need for packing material for shipments to clients in Japan.
In fiscal 2023, we will continue to globally promote initiatives aimed at reducing CO₂ emissions from logistics through means such as modal shift and the introduction of lightweight pallets.

• In fiscal 2022, our CO₂ emissions during domestic distribution were 389 tons per month, this was 26% of the amount in fiscal 2007.
• Murata’s CO₂ emissions during distribution for the entire world were approximately 13,165 tons per month.

Development of energy-efficient electronic component manufacturing equipment

Murata has been continuously implementing energy conservation initiatives from the past and continuously executes between 450 and 600 large and small energy conservation measures annually (equivalent to 40 to 50 kt-CO₂ reduction). Since 2015, we have been performing energy audits (energy conservation diagnosis) at each group site as well as creating and deploying approximately 200 energy conservation checklists which can be horizontally deployed from among energy conservation initiatives concerning utilities and production facilities. The progress status, verification of the impact, and updating of the checklists are performed under guidance from the headquarters.
We have made improvements, focusing on measures with a large GHG reduction effect. Our main energy-saving initiatives included 1) updating to high-efficiency equipment, including refrigeration equipment; 2) introduction of thermal recovery equipment; 3) reducing electricity use when equipment is on standby; and 4) reducing air-conditioning power by optimizing the pressurization of clean rooms.

Murata is working actively on the visualization of energy in its business, using in-house technology, and is establishing a system that will allow us to plan and effectively implement energy-saving measures. Specifically, we are moving ahead with the introduction of an energy management system that enables energy usage to be analyzed at both plants and the head office. The system uses wireless sensors developed by Murata to gather such data as temperature and humidity in a plant and the current value of various pieces of equipment and sharing them online. This system has won a Good Design Award and a Chairman Prize of ECCJ in the Energy Conservation Grand Prize for excellent energy conservation equipment in fiscal 2017. Thus far, Komoro Murata Manufacturing has used this energy management system to optimize its air-conditioning and reduce standby power of equipment through energy visualization, resulting in a 2.2% reduction in GHG emissions for the plant overall. Murata will continue making efforts to introduce advanced energy-saving measures such as the energy management system throughout the Group, which has operating bases around the world.

Furthermore, in addition to easing previous standards regarding renewable energy and energy conservation investment more than other investment standards to promote investment, starting from fiscal 2021 we introduced internal carbon pricing in order to accumulate future reductions of CO₂ through self-supporting efforts. Specifically, we are assigning a monetary value to CO₂ reduction and embedding it into the investment index to introduce shadow pricing which encourages decision-making that executes investments which are effective at reducing CO₂.