The NTT Group promotes the "three Rs"-reduce, reuse, and recycle-on four categories of waste from its business activities (dismantling communications facilities, construction works waste, civil works waste, and office waste), in order to help achieve a closed-loop economy. In fiscal 2004 the amount of waste we sent to final disposal (landfilling) was 57,000 tons, achieving our 2010 target of 72,000 tons six years in advance. Our main activities are described below.
- Dismantling communications facilities: As a rule, we reuse our unneeded telecommunications equipment, including switching equipment, telephone poles, public phones, and communications cables, and actively recycle what cannot be reused. In fiscal 2004, our recycling rate was 99.2%, achieving our target of "zero emissions" in this field.
- Construction works waste: We have succeeded at reducing our building waste by 38,000 tons from last year through such measures as increasing the service lives of communications and other buildings. We also slightly improved our recycling rate, which enabled us to reduce the amount of landfilled waste by 9,000 tons from the previous year, to 36,000 tons.
- Civil works waste: We improved the recycling rate by 3.1% from the previous year, as a result reducing the volume of landfilled waste by 5,000 tons from the previous year, to 9,000 tons total.
- Office waste: By separating out paper, plastic, and other combustible waste, we were able to improve our recycling rate by about 10% from the previous year, reducing the amount of landfilled waste by about 11,000 tons.
 
 
Achieving Zero Emissions in the Field of Dismantling Communications Facilities
The NTT Group utilizes a wide range of communications facilities in order to offer safe and secure telecommunications services. Waste is created when these facilities are dismantled and disposed of. The NTT Group is thus committed to properly disposing of dismantled switching equipment, communications cables, concrete telephone poles, and other communications equipment, and is also committed to reuse and recycling.
In fiscal 2004, the NTT Group as a whole reused 2,106 km of communications cables, and recycled 13,000 tons of switching equipment, 25,000 tons of communications cables, and 156,000 tons of concrete telephone poles. As a result, we achieved "zero emissions" in this field, with a recycling rate of 99.2% for communications facilities as a whole.
Collecting and Recycling Used Communications Devices, Batteries, and the Like
The NTT Group collects and recycles communications devices and ancillary products when they are no longer needed by the customers. For example, NTT East and NTT West collect and recycle the small secondary batteries (nickel cadmium or lithium ion) used in cordless phones, as well as toner cartridges for faxes that use ordinary paper.
Additionally, NTT DoCoMo collects and recycles 100% of mobile phones and other terminals, batteries, and chargers. With the cooperation of their customers, in fiscal 2004 NTT East and NTT West collected 250,000 small secondary batteries, while the NTT DoCoMo group as a whole collected 5,580,000 mobile phones and other terminals, 4,880,000 batteries, and 1,690,000 chargers.
Prototype Mobile Phone Made from Plants
 Prototype Phones Using Plastic Made from Plants
NTT DoCoMo has created a prototype mobile phone whose case is made from plant material. The prototype is a mova series mobile phone created jointly with Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc. using a type of plastic made from plants. The main ingredient of the plastic is corn, and the plastic is based on a polylactide made from this. The use of this plastic instead of ordinary plastic, which is made from petroleum, makes it possible to conserve more non-renewable resources, and also generates less greenhouse gas.
Additionally, NEC Corporation has created a prototype FOMA phone using kenaf-reinforced bio-plastic. Kenaf-reinforced bio-plastic consists of polylactide made from plants, and reinforced by added kenaf fibers. It is more heat resistant and stronger than conventional bio-plastics.
Both prototypes were used for communication between DoCoMo staff at Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan, and were on exhibit at the Expo.
New PC Security Recycling Center Ensures High Security Environment
 Data is being Erased from PCs
NTT NEOMEIT has founded the PC Security Recycling Center together with TOKYO LEASING CO., LTD. The center provides one-stop services ranging from recycling to intermediate processing as industrial waste for used PCs and other info-communications devices (for example after the expiry of their leases) after erasing an remaining data, in a high-security environment. The center began operations in February 2005.
To date, NTT NEOMEIT has established seven dedicated centers in the Western Japan area, providing such services as erasing data from hard disks. The PC Security Recycling Center is located inside an NTT building in Shizuoka Prefecture, which a high level of security can be ensured. But data erasing is not the only service offered by the center; it offers one-stop PC recovery and recycling services, from operation checks, cleaning, and final inspections for used PCs, to OS and other license acquisition and management, to reinstallations, as well as intermediate processing as industrial waste in order to maximize reuse of parts and materials. In order to erase data, NTT NEOMEIT uses data-erasing software developed in-house that conforms to the US Department of Defense's security guidelines.
The center plans to recycle/recover about 300,000 PCs annually, promoting the recycling of PCs and supporting environmental conservation.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming an ever more important aspect of corporate management. Taking responsibility to prevent the leakage of information, while performing processing in an environmentally aware manner, represents CSR toward key stakeholders: customers and the global environment.
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