In the approximately 145years since its establishment, as the Group has been steadily developing through business activities to provide better products and services in areas such as the mining business, industrial machinery manufacturing and sales business, and electronic materials manufacturing and sales business, we have also continued to consider the environment as we have aimed for company management with earning capacity. In the course of that business development, we have always used the latest technologies and the best measures to preserve the environment in line with the times.
In the past, we have taken measures to prevent mine pollution, such as measures against Ashio's smoke pollution and measures for water treatment. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, we introduced pollution prevention technologies from overseas, such as wastewater treatment equipment and electric dust collectors, whilst also manufacturing and selling pollution prevention equipment to fulfill our mission as a corporate citizen.
In 2002, we established a company-wide system that serves as a foundation for us to actively address environmental issues in all areas of our business activities, and we established the "Basic Environmental Management Principle" and the "Environmental Conservation Activity Policies."

Starting with the acquisition of ISO 14001 certification at the works under our direct control, we are actively working on reducing our environmental impact and on the formation of a recycling-oriented society. For example, we are working to improve the efficiency of our energy use, reduce our waste emissions, and promote the use of waste as a recyclable resource. We are also contributing to the reduction of CO₂ by protecting and nurturing our forests and protecting the Cedar Avenue of Nikko.
In addition, in order to ensure thorough environmental management at each company and each site, we have renamed the environmental protection audit we have been conducting for the identification of environmental risks, for the research and development of environment-friendly products, and to take prompt and appropriate response measures. We have changed the name to the "Environment and Safety Audit" and decided to conduct more detailed audits that include investigating occupational safety. Furthermore, we are working to improve the quality of the personnel in charge of the audits by conducting cross-audits, where staff audit facilities other than their own.