Products and services offered by NTT Group companies, along with supporting communications equipment, require periodical upgrading in line with technological advances, life cycle management considerations, and other factors. At the NTT Group, we strive to use resources effectively and reduce waste output by reusing or recycling communications devices and equipment that have been taken out of service.
Reusing and recycling waste from communications equipment installation/removal
The NTT Group owns a variety of communications equipment used to provide telecommunications services, such as telephone poles, switching equipment, and communications cables. Naturally, such equipment needs to be removed and disposed off when it reaches the end of its service life or is replaced during system upgrades for new services and so forth. We promote the reuse and recycling of such removed communications equipment within the Group, and recycle whenever possible, for example recycling discarded concrete blocks as road building material.
For fiscal 2009, across the entire NTT Group, we recycled 180,000 tons of concrete telephone poles, 66,000 tons of switching equipment, and 26,000 tons of communications cables. These activities resulted in a recycling rate of 99.9% for all of our communications equipment, achieving zero emissions* for the fifth consecutive year.
Amount and percentage of used communications equipment recycled
* Zero emissions
A concept proposed by the United Nations University that calls for reusing all waste materials and by-products from industrial activity as resource inputs for other types of production in order to eliminate waste on a lifecycle basis. The NTT Group considers a recycling rate of 99% or more to satisfy zero emissions conditions.
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Reducing paper resources required for telephone directories and billing statements
The NTT Group recycles returned telephone directories as paper for new telephone directories.
The recycled paper content of new telephone directories has reached 71.7%. Also, the number of subscribers to our Internet billing statement services, which allow customers to check their billing statements online, or by e-mail, or mobile terminals, reached approximately 6.5 million in fiscal 2009, saving approximately 1,013 tons of paper resources annually.
Paper consumption and recycled-paper content of telephone directories
Paper resource reductions from NTT Internet billing statement services
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Achieving zero emissions of general waste materials
In the three year period starting with fiscal 2009, NTT COMWARE is working to achieve zero emission status for general waste, doing so partly by recycling food waste and reducing the amount of disposables used in the company cafeteria. Cafeteria food waste has been recycled as animal feed since September 2006, and in July of 2008, the cafeteria started serving pork raised on this animal feed.
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Conserving water at distribution centers
NTT LOGISCO has been conserving water in company distribution centers by installing low-flow valves on water faucets. Low-flow valves were installed at the Chiba distribution center in January 2007, and at the Saitama distribution center in August 2007. A review conducted in fiscal 2009 of changes in water consumption at these two locations in the two months before and after installation showed that the low-flow valves enable a 20% reduction in annual water consumption.
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