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  • January 28, 2015

    Rengo Yashio Mill Receives Minister Prize of Economy, Trade and Industry for Energy Conservation

    Rengo Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kita-ku, Osaka; Chairman, President & CEO: Kiyoshi Otsubo) announces that its Yashio Mill won the Minister Prize of Economy, Trade and Industry (industry category) for promotion of energy conservation through group activities at the paperboard mill, as part of the 2014 Energy Conservation Grand Prize (Organizer: The Energy Conservation Center, Japan; Support: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).

    The Energy Conservation Grand Prize aims to contribute to the promulgation of energy conservation awareness and the promotion of energy-saving products. To this end, awards are presented for exemplary energy conservation activities and advanced energy-saving products. Yashio Mill has formed the “Teinenpi (Fuel-Efficient) Yashio team,” that tackles energy conservation within the mill. The team develops energy conservation initiatives for the mill as a whole, with utmost consideration for global warming countermeasures. The team also establishes rules for assessment, and seeks a variety of suggestions from all employees in all departments in order to establish a structure for assessment and implementation of initiatives. The fruit of these actions in driving the change in energy conservation consciousness among employees and achieving continued reduction in CO2 emissions were highly regarded, resulting in the conferment of this award.

    In addition to making an early change in its energy source from heavy oil to clean processed natural gas, the Yashio Mill uses residues from the paperboard manufacturing process as biomass fuel for generating electricity and heat energy. Not only that, it has focused for many years on improvements, such as the introduction of highly efficient facilities throughout the entire manufacturing process and reduction of energy use, which are in line with the company's environmental initiatives “Less Weight, Less Carbon” (lighter, thinner packaging with fewer CO2 emissions, and “Less is more.” (creating high-quality packaging with great added value that uses fewer resources and produces lower CO2 emissions).

    Rengo also implements an initiative called “Eco Challenge 020,” which aims to reduce company-wide CO2 emissions by 32% in fiscal 2020, while the “Rengo Group Environmental Charter” raises this target to a 50% reduction by 2050. The Rengo Group will continue to enhance its environmental initiatives across all operating activities while bearing in mind its commitment to be kind to both people and the environment.

     

    Progress of Yashio Mill CO2 reduction

    Progress of Yashio Mill CO2 reduction

     


    Yashio Mill General Manager Osamu Nishimura (right) and
    Mill Deputy General Manager Kanji Murai with the award.