Management of Chemical Substances in Our Products
How We Manage Chemical Substances in Our Products
As part of our efforts to help achieve a sustainable society, Kioxia Group endeavors to reduce the risks posed to people’s health and to the environment by any chemical substances used in our products, in line with the Kioxia Group’s Environmental Policy.
Environmental laws and regulations, including the EU RoHS Directive, the EU REACH Regulation, and the TSCA, are being tightened year by year in a number of countries and regions. Kioxia Group believes that in order to prevent the inclusion of these legally regulated chemical substances in our products, it's necessary to exclude them at the design and development stage, and to ensure they do not feature in any of the products, parts and materials we purchase. By complying with these regulations and our customer requests, we are doing our bit to reduce or eliminate the use of substances that may have a significant impact on people’s health or the environment.
How We Manage and Control the Use of Chemical Substances in Our Products
The Kioxia Group is undertaking what we call “green procurement” throughout our entire supply chain; this involves procuring products, parts and materials that have a reduced environmental impact. Kioxia Corporation has established a Green Procurement Working Group comprising members of our Environmental, Quality Control and Procurement Divisions. This group has drawn up “Kioxia Group Procurement Guidelines;” these include specific requirements for suppliers, such as selection criteria for products, parts, and materials with low environmental impact, and standards governing the use of chemical substances; they also take into account the environmental laws and regulations of each country and region, and address the demands of our customers. These guidelines are shared with our suppliers and periodically updated.
Information regarding any chemical substances contained in our products is properly monitored through our green procurement processes.
Initiatives to Manage and Control the Use of Chemical Substances in Our Products
At Kioxia Group, environmental impact assessments are conducted from the design and development stage of each product covering the chemical substances present in our products, parts and materials; we make every effort to use chemicals during our manufacturing processes that have minimal impact on the environment.
Additionally, we are implementing measures to reduce the risk of environmental pollution caused by the use during manufacturing of chemical substances that are migratory (i.e., those with the ability to be transferred from one product to another if they come into contact).
Furthermore, to ensure appropriate oversight of chemical substances, we utilize monitoring tools and engage external consultants. We also participate in industry associations in order to closely observe environmental laws and regulatory trends regarding chemicals that may be banned in the future. We additionally conduct periodic evaluations of the presence of any substances whose use is prohibited or controlled.
We promote green procurement by classifying and managing chemical substances as follows.
Classification |
Definition |
---|---|
Substances whose procurement is prohibited |
A group of substances the Kioxia Group prohibits the use of in its products both in Japan and overseas. It includes substances specified as hazardous under the EU RoHS Directive. |
Substances whose procurement is controlled |
A group of substances whose inclusion in products is monitored by Kioxia Group. As these substances may be subject to legal controls in the future, we carefully monitor their use and concentration levels in our products. |
In addition to these efforts, Kioxia Corporation is working to reduce our environmental impact throughout the supply chain by providing training for our distributors covering environmental issues based on the Kioxia Group Green Procurement Guidelines and through collaboration with Kioxia Group suppliers.
Please refer to “Green Procurement” for more information on our green procurement efforts and “Current Status of Environmental Impact and Environmental Targets and Outcomes” for details of our performance related to the management of chemical substances during manufacturing.
Training on the Management of Chemical Substances in Our Products
Every year, all Kioxia Group executives and employees are provided with training on environmental laws and regulations and on our Green Procurement Guidelines.