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Social Challenge 2
Implementing closed loop recycling

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Why it matters

Although our one-way society of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal has brought affluence and convenience to our lives, it has brought about various problems such as the creation of massive amounts of refuse, illegal dumping and concern about the depletion of natural resources. To resolve these issues we must first review how companies manage their businesses as well as our social and economic systems, and shift to a closed loop society.

What can be accomplished

In an effort to realize a future with closed loop recycling, the NTT Group promotes the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle), working to reduce the amount of materials consumed by our business activities and reuse or recycle the resources that are consumed.

Future vision

We will shift from a one-time use consumption-oriented company to a recycling-oriented one. We will promote the effective use of resources throughout the entire life cycle of products and systems, from procurement to use and disposal.

Business Activity 6
Increasing the reuse and recycling of communications equipment, mobile devices, and other technologies

Our commitment

Promoting the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, and recycle), working to reduce the amount of materials consumed by our business activities and reuse or recycle the resources that are consumed

Our objective

99% or higher

FY2030: Recycling ratio of disposed waste generated by the NTT Group

Background and Concepts

The NTT Group has established a target for achieving a 99% or higher recycling ratio of disposed waste generated by the NTT Group by fiscal 2030. We require a large amount of resources in order to sustain our business operations and provide various services including information communication. This is why we have set a target to contribute to both the avoidance of business continuity risks and achievement of closed loop recycling.

We recycled 98.2% of waste in fiscal 2022. We will continue promoting 3R with the aim of achieving our target of 99% or more. In addition, regarding dismantled telecommunications equipment, which makes up a part of that waste, we have achieved zero emissions (less than 1% final disposal of waste) for 19 consecutive years since fiscal 2004.

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Business Activity

NTT DOCOMO
Recycling Process for Mobile Phones

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Since fiscal 1998, NTT DOCOMO has been collecting used cell phones from customers at DOCOMO shops around Japan and at various events. Containing gold, silver, copper, palladium, and other metals, mobile phones could be regarded as a valuable recycling resource in Japan with its paucity of mineral resources.

1. Approx. 2.97 million1 cell phones were collected in fiscal 2022, and the cumulative total has exceeded 124.5 million phones.

2. In fiscal 2011, the company introduced a new recycling process for pyrolyzing any plastic used in mobile phones to turn it into oil for use as a fuel, after which gold, silver, and other metals are recovered from the residues of this process.

※1 The number of units collected for reuse is included in the figure after fiscal 2015.

Business Activity

NTT Communications
Sustainable Systems Produced by Subsea Cable Recycling

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The normal length of subsea cables installed in Japan's territorial waters is 20 to 30 km per cable run, but the cable managed by NTT Communications connecting Kagoshima Prefecture with Okinawa Prefecture is 250 km in length as it passes through various islands en route. The cable went out of service in 2018 and was expected to result in about 850 tons of waste, presenting a significant challenge in terms of environmental impact and disposal costs. Therefore, NTT Communications concluded an agreement with South Africa's Mertech Marine, the only operator in the world capable of completely disassembling subsea cables to the level of raw materials, to develop a new scheme for controlling both environmental impact and disposal costs by recycling 99% of the cable that requires disposal. It is also contributing to creating regional safety nets through Marine Mertech with the employment of unskilled workers and donations to non-profit organizations engaged in initiatives such as supporting impoverished families.

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Business Activity 7・8
Reduction in plastics use and promotion of recycling Proper treatment, storage, and management of hazardous waste

Our commitment

Reduction in plastics use and promotion of recycling Proper treatment, storage, and management of hazardous waste

Our objective

Reduction in plastics use and promotion of recycling of plastics including telecommunications equipment, hazardous waste disposed of in compliance with laws and regulations, and ensure proper storage, management, and disposal.

Background and Concepts

The NTT Group is seeking to reduce the use of plastics and promoting recycling. For example, plastic parts of telecommunications equipment such as coverings for branch lines and ready access terminal boxes are used in a closed recycling system in which similar types of disposed covers are recycled into plastics to manufacture new products. We are also seeking to abolish the use of plastic packaging materials for devices used at customers' homes when connecting optical lines such as optical network units (ONU) and home gateway (HGW) units.

Hazardous Waste

For NTT Group operations, hazardous waste as defined by law applies to asbestos contained in waste generated from construction work on relay stations, waste such as transformers and condensers containing PCBs, and lead batteries. These are disposed of appropriately and in compliance with the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law (Waste Disposal Law) as well as other laws and regulations, and the NTT Group does not have a record of disposing of such waste in foreign countries. We also pay meticulous attention to the proper storage and management of equipment containing PCBs and PCB contaminated wastes, and dispose of them with safe and appropriate methods in conformity with the Law Concerning Special Measures Against PCB Waste.

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Business Activity 9
Appropriate and efficient management of water resources

Our commitment

Managing water usage and protecting valuable water resources

Our objective

The NTT Group is Reducing its Consumption of Tap Water, and Implementing Thorough Measures Against Leakages of Chemical Substances into Wastewater.

Background and Concepts

Due to the nature of the NTT Group's business, little water is consumed in our operations. NTT Group's water withdrawal of approx. 4.63 million m³ is less than 0.02% of the approx. 25.2 billion m³ (domestic and industrial water) consumed annually in Japan,1 and since this is dispersed throughout Japan we believe there are no water sources that would be significantly impacted by our water usage.

The NTT Group reduces its consumption of tap water by using recycled wastewater and rainwater. Research centers where we use chemical substances in our research activities implement individual measures against leakages of chemical substances into wastewater. For example, at the Atsugi R&D Center, which carries out research on the physical properties of materials, we have installed equipment to treat chemical-infused waste liquid discharged by the laboratories. Furthermore, we regularly monitor the quality of this wastewater to confirm that it is within legal regulation values. The NTT Group has not been involved in any significant spills.

※1. From the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism website. Actual water use in 2019 (based on water withdrawal) is approximately 78.5 billion m³/year
(approximately 14.8 billion m³ for domestic use, 10.3 billion m³ for industrial use, and 53.3 billion m³ for agricultural use)

Business Activity

Appropriate management of water resources

At NTT DATA Italia, we offer cloud solutions optimized for water management operations to Acea, an Italian utility company involved in water and electricity services.

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Business Activity

NTT DATA Services
Water restoration project in Chennai

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Waste and other forms of pollution have significantly affected the biodiversity of Lake Ka Nagar Nagar in Perambur, Chennai of Tamil Nadu, India. In light of these conditions, NTT DATA Services worked with the Environmentalist Foundation of India (E.F.I.) constructing recharge wells and removing waste and foreign plants, which helped to improve the environmental conditions of the lake.

Other initiatives

Business Activity

NTT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
Providing resource recycling solutions for regional foods

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Reducing food waste and developing food recycling programs are drawing increased attention around the world these days. One way to address these recycling problems like these is the resource recycling solution for regional foods provided by NTT Business Solutions. Compost created from leftover food is supplied to farms to help grow vegetables and achieve a recycling-oriented community.

Summit, Inc., which operates food supermarkets in the Tokyo area, implemented this scheme at its Setagaya- Funabashi store that it opened in April 2022. Vegetables scraps and other waste are processed at the back dock of the store, where the "Four Stars" is installed to ferment and break down the scraps as part of an efficient raw waste processing system. Building on the positive results achieved at the Setagaya-Funabashi store, Summit is planning to install the system at 20 other stores during fiscal 2022 (expanding to more stores the following years). Recycling scheme processes can remain obscure after the sorting and collection stage. Developing a system that processes waste at stores helps to increase awareness amongst workers, and this scheme is anticipated to help resolve problems related to food recycling.

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Business Activity

Biostock Corporation
Ultra-compact biogas plant

As one of the methods to recycle food waste, initiatives are underway to generate biogas by methane fermentation (methanation) for use as energy for electricity and heat. However, conventional biogas plants require the construction of large plants and the recovery of large amounts of food waste from the viewpoint of cost recovery and stable operation. Additionally, securing a location for a large plant was difficult in urban areas.
To solve these issues, NTT East and Biostock will install an ultra-compact container-type biogas plant with a built-in remote monitoring system in the NTTe-City Labo to demonstrate stable operations through data analysis and remote management by utilizing IoT. We will recycle food scraps and leftovers from NTT East's employee cafeteria to recover recycled energy and promote efforts to utilize the digested liquid as fertilizer.

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