Adopt energy conservation and waste reduction
Environmental Protection and Improvement
We started implementing the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS) in 2018 and passed the certification and obtained the certificate in 2019, setting a new milestone for continual environmental protection through the PCDA cycle.
The 2022 total cost of waste disposal (excluding domestic waste) was about NT$1.658 million. As a result of capacity increase, waste also increased by 36.16MT to increase the disposal unit price and transportation cost by 70%. Hence, the disposal cost increased by over 2021 mainly because of the significantly increased disposal unit price of sand blast, weld dregs, oxide scales, and waste oil and the increased transportation cost by over 60% each time.
Energy-Saving Accomplishment
The 2022 energy consumption converted into heat energy increased by 9,180.57 GJ (109 joules) over 2021 to 46,507.31 GJ. To cope with the increased orders, we purchased one new continuous furnace for the heat treatment process to enhance the self-production rate, leading to the increased electricity, gas, and diesel consumption over 2021.
In 2022, we continued to grade existing equipment to variable frequency conversion equipment and introduced energy-efficient equipment and LED lamps. Based on the electricity saved from equipment replacement, we managed to save electricity by about 196.3 GWh of energy, equivalent to 9.9918 tCO2e (calculated based on the carbon emission factor of 0.509 tCO2e/GWh for public electricity sales in 2021 as published by the Energy Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in November 2022). This also means that we successfully achieved the target of saving 1% of electricity each year as spelled out by the Ministry of Economic Affairs consecutively for the past 5 years.
| Energy-efficient equipment replacement project in 2022 | Yearly estimated power saving | Conversion to GHG emission reduction (Kg CO2e) |
|---|---|---|
| New 100 hp inverter air-compression for Factory 1 | 122,557 | 62,382 |
| New 20 hp inverter air-compression for Factory 2 | 38,134 | 19,410 |
| Chiller replacement for Factory 2 | 27,375 | 13,934 |
| Timer improvement of the drying machine of the plastic mold injection machine. | 8,237 | 4,193 |
| Total power savings | 196,303 | 99,918 |
Energy management system
In response to the international energy price and the rising importance of energy consumption to climate change, it is predictable that efficiency enhancement and effective management of energy will be the major issues for corporate sustainable development, and enhancing energy efficiency is the most economical and effective way.
We began implementing the ISO 50001:2018 EnMS in March 2022 to enhance energy efficiency through systemic management and smoothly passed the SGS certification in November 2022. We implemented four energy conservation and carbon reduction projects in 2022 to save electricity by up to 82,448 kWh or 1.2% each year. The target was accomplished smoothly.
In 2023 we will continue to optimize the energy management system in three aspects:
(1) enhance cross-department collaboration and communication to raise the involvement in the energy management system of all departments to increase the relevant management forms; (2) enhance the education and training relating to energy management and conservation to enhance the awareness of the energy management system of employees in all departments, particularly the awareness of the requirements for certification plan, implementation, and record contents of energy conservation; and (3) enhance training for responsible internal auditing personnel so as to continuously achieve the energy conservation targets through the well-established management system.
Water Management
We purchase water from Taiwan Water Company. It is withdrawn from the Shigang Reservoir at downstream Dajia River. The total water consumption in 2022 reduced by was 0.23 megaliters (ML) over 2021 to 19.21ML.
Process wastewater was 100% discharged to the wastewater treatment plant in the Taichung Industrial Park (no process water is used in the factory 3 located in Chuan Hsing Industrial Park). Process wastewater is treated in accordance with the "Table of the Intake Limits and National Wastewater Discharge Standards of Taichung Industrial Park Sewage Treatment Plant"(https://bit.ly/3bUVH5m) established by the Taichung Industrial Park before discharge. We also perform sampling test on the water quality from the treatment plant, with testing items including water temperature, pH, COD, and SS. The total wastewater discharged in 2022 was 14.35 ML. We did not pass the COD limit because of our failure in removing toe well bottom sludge. Apart from making immediate improvement, we also began removing well bottom sludge regularly.
●Water conservation measures
As we consume less water than the general industries, evaporation of the cooling water towers, evaporation of salt baths, and regular water changes are the main sources of water consumption. Taichung is not an area with water stress without related water impacts. In response to the climate change impact, we implemented water conservation. In 2022 we replaced the water-cooling compressors of the forging and heat treatment sections with air-cooling compressors; added water stabilizer to the aluminum alloy quenching tank to change water from once monthly into once annually. The intensity of water consumption in the last three years has been falling, suggesting that our water conservation measures are effective.
| Inspection item | pH value | COD | SS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulatory standards | 5~9 | 480 | 320 |
| Lowest inspection value | 7.0 | 45 | 5.9 |
| Highest inspection value | 8.7 | 1,407 | 210 |