Conservation and Restoration of Nature

Environmental Impact of Business Activities (material flow)

INPUT (resources & energy)

Raw Material Input 11,998 kt

Percentage of Recycled Input Raw Materials Used 1.68%

Raw Materials (Total) 9,539 kt
Gold and silver ore 175 kt
Copper concentrates 1,219 kt
Nickel oxide ore 7,790 kt
Nickel matte, etc 50 kt
Raw material for batteries 81 kt
ALC raw material, incl. silica rock 169 kt
Hydrotreating catalyst raw material 55 kt
Recycled Materials1 (Total) 202 kt
Copper scrap 93 kt
Secondary zinc 3 kt
Precious metals and other secondary materials 4 kt
Electric arc furnace dust 101 kt
ALC waste 46 t
Materials (Total) 2,257 kt
Silica sand (for copper smelting) 94 kt
Chemicals (lime-based) 1,318 kt
Chemicals (sodium-based) 103 kt
Chemicals (magnesium-based) 13 kt
Sulfuric acid 639 kt
Cement, etc. 90 kt

Energy Input2 20,789 TJ

Total Energy Consumption

Energy Value Consumption
Non-Renewable Energy Sources (Total) 20,709 TJ
Heavy oil 1,320 TJ 32,774 kL
Coal/coke 12,545 TJ 478,486 t
Diesel/gasoline/kerosene 1,053 TJ 27,871 kL
LPG/LNG 377 TJ 7,521 t
City gas/natural gas 1,020 TJ 25,171 ML
Purchased electricity 4,393 TJ 1,220,330 MWh
Purchased steam3 0 TJ 96 GJ
Renewable Energy (Total) 80 TJ
Solar power generation,
binary power generation		 1 TJ 320 MWh
Biomass steam 76 TJ 74,164 GJ
Biomass fuel 3 TJ 260 ｔ

Water Withdrawal4 174,287 ML

Total Water Consumption from All Areas5 4,504 ML

Freshwater Withdrawal (Total) 37,339 ML
Surface water (rivers) 15,082 ML
Rainwater 40 ML
Groundwater 8,401 ML
Industrial water (water from another organization) 13,439 ML
Tap water (water from another organization) 377 ML
Sea Water Withdrawal (Total) 136,948 ML
  • Figures are rounded to the nearest whole number, so totals may not match
  • 1Exclude materials recycled within plants
  • 2Fuel, heat, electricity, etc. consumed in business activities in Japan and overseas are covered, and electricity consumption is converted into joules at 3.6 GJ per 1,000 kWh
  • 3Purchased steam includes purchased cold water
  • 4We identify and assess high-water stress areas using the WWF Water Risk Filter, and the results indicate that there are no areas of high-water stress at any of our business sites
  • 5Water consumption is estimated by subtracting the total water discharge from the total water withdrawal for each business site. There was no water storage which would have a significant water-related impact

OUTPUT (products & emissions)

Products 2,206 kt

Percentage of Products from Recycled Input 8.90%

Electrolytic copper 375 kt
Gold 18 t
Silver 220 t
Electrolytic nickel 59 kt
Nickel sulfate 11 kt
Electrolytic cobalt 4 kt
Crude zinc oxide 41 kt
Chromite 78 kt
Ferronickel 27 kt
Battery materials 62 kt
Sulfuric acid 242 kt
Slag 965 kt
Hydrotreating catalysts 11 kt
ALC (Siporex) 332 ML

Emissions

Emissions into the Atmosphere

GHG 2,556 kt
Scope 1 (direct emissions)1 1,830 kt
Scope 2 (indirect emissions)2 726 kt
Sox 1,692 t
Nox 1,425 t
Soot and dust 66 t

Discharge into Water 118 t

COD 48 t
BOD 7 t
Total phosphorus 1 t
Total nitrogen 61 t

Release of Chemical Substances 73 t

Atmosphere 10.5 t
Public water areas 62.0 t
Soil/landfills on business premises 1.0 t

Total Water Discharge 175,139 ML

Discharges into seas3 174,287 ML
Discharges into rivers 789 ML
Sewerage, etc. 62 ML

Waste4,5, Total Waste 7,007 kt

Of which, 6,846 kt is landfill on company premises and 2,552 t is PRTR substance transfers6

Spoil 8 kt
Leach sludge from CBNC, THPAL, etc. 6,896 kt
Industrial waste (Japan) 102 kt
Recycling 30 kt
Other 1 kt
  • 1Both Japan and overseas figures are calculated based on the GHG Protocol, and emission factors are based on the Japanese law “Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures”
  • 2GHG emissions factors for electric power purchased in Japan are the adjusted emissions factors of electric suppliers. GHG emission factors from purchased electricity overseas are based on country-specific emission factors from IEA Emission Factors - 2023 edition
  • 3Discharges into rivers flowing into enclosed seas are included in “discharges into seas”
  • 4Until FY2022, items of value were included in waste, but since FY2023, waste has been counted without including items of value
  • 5Industrial waste treatment is commissioned to Group companies and industrial waste is recycled for use as raw material. Accordingly, waste figures include some waste which was effectively not discharged outside the Group, in particular (hazardous) sludge
  • 6Total transfers to sewerage and off-site transfers

Trends in Final Disposal Amount of Industrial and Mining Waste in Japan

The SMM Group has long been making efforts to reduce industrial waste in Japan and the amount of wastewater sludge (mining waste) that undergoes final disposal from the mine-affiliated Toyo Smelter & Refinery. The total final disposal amount in FY2023 was 70 kt, which was a decrease of about 4 kt from FY2022. The main factor behind this decrease was a decrease in the final disposal volume of iron clinker at Shisaka Smelting Co., Ltd. (Although the volume of iron clinker as industrial waste increased, the final disposal volume of iron clinker decreased due to the increased use of raw materials.)

Waste by Type and Treatment Method (FY2023)

■ Waste by Treatment Method (Hazardous1 / Non-hazardous2)

(kt)

Hazardous Non-hazardous Total
Treatment method3 Recycling 7.2 23.9 31.1
Incineration (with heat recovery)4 0.2 0.6 0.7
Incineration (without heat recovery)4 0.1 0.2 0.3
Landfill 67.1 6,904.6 6,971.8
Volume reduction, etc. 2.2 1.0 3.2
Total 76.8 6,930.3 7,007.0

(kt)

Landfill on company premises / Contracted disposal Landfill on company premises 6,846
Contracted disposal 100
■ Breakdown of Industrial Waste (in Japan) by Type of Waste
  • Industrial waste treatment is commissioned to Group companies and industrial waste is recycled for use as raw material. Accordingly, waste figures include some waste which was effectively not discharged outside the Group, in particular (hazardous) sludge
  • 1In general, this depends upon definitions of the regulations in the other releasing countries concerned. Since Japan does not have such laws or regulations, SMM applies the following definition: “Specially controlled industrial waste and waste delivered to controlled landfill sites (excluding designated inert waste (5 categories of inert waste) that should have been delivered to landfill sites for inert industrial waste, but was disposed of at controlled landfill sites due to the distance limitation)”
  • 2Waste other than hazardous waste
  • 3Treatment methods outside of the Company were identified based on the written agreement with the disposal company and the manifest
  • 4Since FY2021 incineration has been classified into two categories: with heat recovery and without heat recovery, and the hazardous category of incineration (without heat recovery) is 0.01 kt. To unify digits, it is shown as zero

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