Considering the future of the global environment on the Earth Day: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation’s Sustainability Activities | Feature

Road to Zero for reducing environmental impact and achieving sustainable society

In order for the Sony Group to keep evolving in its social value creation in a sustainable manner, sound “people, society and the planet” are indispensable. Since the launch of “Road to Zero” in 2010, a Group-wide long-term environmental plan aiming to achieve a zero environmental footprint by 2050, the Sony Group has been pursuing various activities both in terms of its “responsibility” and “contribution.” The “responsibility” refers to the corporate responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of its own activities while the “contribution” is defined as its efforts to address social and environmental issues through technological development and business operations. Diverse divisions throughout the Sony Group are pursuing their own initiatives, leveraging their unique attributes.

SSS Group’s seven visions of society that inspire people and enrich their lives

SSS Group develops and manufactures semiconductors mainly for image sensors. As the most part of these activities is realized in-house, its plants consume electricity and water more than any other business operations in the Sony Group, accounting for about 80% of the Group-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

SSS Group announced its Sustainability Compass in 2023, in which the Group set forth its principles to support the sustainability for the Planet, society and people along with SSS Group Social Vision Seven for 2030. The underlying idea is to give the next generation a beautiful earth of all sources, eliminate social issues, and help people lead an affluent life full of inspiration.

Specific activities under Sustainability Compass for the environment and society

SSS Group endeavors to comply with environmental regulations and pursue various activities in line with its environmental visions, guided by the Sustainability Compass. Here are some examples in relation to the seven social visions.

A society of net-zero environmental impact

This “society of net-zero environmental impact” practically emits no GHG by setting off the actual emissions against the CO2 captured and removed. While reducing the GHG emissions as much as possible, the inevitable emissions are canceled out by the forests and capture-removal technology. SSS Group strives to achieve net-zero status by introducing renewable energies and promoting energy-efficiency at its operations.

• Solar Power Generation to boost renewable energies in the energy mix
  SSS Group is proactively pursuing the installation of solar power generation facilities to reduce its environmental footprint. The Kumamoto Technology Center, our main image sensor manufacturing operation, installed one with a capacity of about 1.1 MW on the Unit 1 building rooftop in March 2019, followed by another with about 1.8 MW capacity, installed on the Unit 2 building rooftop in March 2022. These two put together, they can generate 3,300 MWh annually, which equals the amount of electricity consumed by approximately 700 average households. This electricity is used to power the office buildings and air-conditioning systems for the cleanrooms. Further rollouts are under consideration at Nagasaki and Oita Technology Centers.
  The Sony Group’s ultimate goal is to achieve net zero in all scopes, for which they aim to make internal operations carbon neutral both in direct and indirect emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 2030, and expand the scope to the products, supply chains and logistics (Scope 3) by 2040. SSS Group continues its efforts in reducing its environmental footprint through the introduction of renewable energies and enhanced energy efficiency at its operations, thereby contributing to the Scope 1-2 net-zero status of the Sony Group.

  

• Image sensor equipped with AI processing functionality for reducing power consumption and transmission cost
  Intelligent vision sensor IMX500, the world’s first image sensor equipped with AI processing functionality is a single-chip sensor that both realizes image processing and high-speed edge-AI computing. The capability of only extracting necessary information (metadata) from the raw image sensor data significantly reduces the data volume to be transmitted to the cloud system and processed, leading to lower power consumption and data transmission cost. This AI capability and SSS Group’s flagship image sensor technology joined together, we are contributing today to enhancing productivity in various sectors, including the retail and industrial machinery industries.

A society that reuses and recycles without wasting

This society that reuses and recycles without wasting is a vision for circular economy based on three Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle). This social model is expected to realize reduced resource consumption while pursuing more efficient material use and minimizing waste production. SSS Group’s initiatives include the reduction of waste throughout the life cycles of our products as well as the promotion of recycling and reusing material resources.

• SORPLAS, supporting high-quality manufacturing, leveraging more recycled materials
  “SORPLAS” (Sustainable Oriented Recycled Plastic) is a recycled flame-retardant plastic, developed by SSS Group with the environmental concerns in mind. It is made with up to 99% recycled materials, such as used water bottles and optical waste discs collected from plants and markets. It is used in a wide range of products as well as in Sony products. Its high durability and flame-retardant property are realized by adding a tiny amount of flame retardant (additive to prevent or slow of burning) which we have developed.

  Application cases of “SORPLAS” include, among Sony products, the rear cover of liquid crystal TV BRAVIA™ and internal components of smartphone Xperia™, as well as the exterior and interior components of digital and video cameras. The scope of application to non-Sony products is also expanding, covering a broad range of devices from TVs and smartphones to computers as well as lighting and office equipment.

  Adoption of “SORPLAS” can realize approximately 72% reduction of CO2 emissions at manufacturing compared to the use of conventional flame-retardant virgin plastic, suggesting a significant contribution in reducing the environmental impact. We will continue our efforts in further development to enhance our environmental contributions.

  
• Realizing high-efficiency circular systems for resource use by global shutter image sensors
  Many companies in the world pursue their initiatives in recent years to minimize their resource consumption and waste production as a model of circular economy. A Norway-based corporation TOMRA Systems ASA has developed, and markets, reverse vending machines for the automated collection of used beverage containers, enabling multiple recycling of resources to make high-quality beverage containers. The global shutter image sensor installed in this automatic collection machine is capable of capturing undistorted images of fast-moving subjects. This enables the machine to recognize the material and shape of fast-moving bottles and other beverage containers as well as the information such as the barcode on the label, in a split second. It helps to deliver correct compensation or reward, and sorted containers can be compressed for easy transportation, contributing to an efficient circular system of material use.
  

A society where everyone has access to food and water

A society where everyone has access to food and water ensures equal rights to food security and access to water resources. SSS Group’s business operations are active in environmental activities for improving our water use efficiency.

• Groundwater Recharge initiative for compensating for the used ground water
  Manufacturing semiconductors requires a large amount of water. One of our image sensor manufacturing plant, Kumamoto Technology Center, has been practicing the Groundwater Recharge initiative since 2003. For the conservation of the rich ground water reservoir of the Kumamoto region, the Technology Center releases water into the paddy fields during the non-cultivation season to replenish the groundwater, under the slogan “Return the water we use.” We provided approximately 3.57 million tons of water usage in this initiative during FY2023, which exceeded the amount of collected groundwater. We pioneered in this initiative in Japan, and other companies are following our example today.
  Our environmental awareness programs include the employees’ annual participation in planting and harvesting rice in paddy fields. This is organized in cooperation with the local agricultural cooperatives and designated land improvement projects. It is contributing to our efforts in protecting local water resources, and the results are greatly appreciated by many sectors.
  

A society with a safe and efficient social and transport infrastructure

A society with a safe and efficient social and transport infrastructure offers people safe means of transport which are efficient with minimal environmental footprints. SSS Group delivers sensing technology that enables the natural disaster prediction, traffic monitoring, and labor-saving through self-driving technologies, among other things.

• Automotive sensors for a safe, secure and comfortable mobility society
  Automotive sensors are the “eyes of a vehicle,” playing an increasingly vital role as one of the crucial technologies for realizing ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and self-driving systems. “Safety Cocoon” is a concept that a cocoon of sensing technology envelopes a vehicle, offering a 360-degree protection. Under this concept, SSS Group offers diverse automotive sensors that support driving safety, enabling the real-time recognition of the conditions around a vehicle. For example, our CMOS image sensors for automotive applications can reduce LED flickering and, at the same time, deliver high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, offering more accurate object recognition even under extremely high-contrast conditions. Our SPAD Depth Sensor for automotive LiDAR applications offers, in its small body, high-definition and high-speed depth sensing, capable of detecting remote objects accurately. In-cabin sensing technology helps to ensure safety and comfort inside the vehicle by monitoring the driver and passengers. The advancing ADAS and self-driving technology is expected not only to reduce traffic congestions and road accidents, but also to minimize the environmental footprint of the traffic infrastructure as a whole by improving its efficiency. SSS Group will continue making contributions with its automotive sensors to develop safe, secure and comfortable transport infrastructure.

Our message to stakeholders in recognition of the Earth Day

Today we are celebrating the Earth Day, an occasion for protecting the planet and giving future generations a better world. This is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of the global environment and to reinforce our efforts to make society more sustainable.

Under the mission statement “To spark imaginations and enrich society through the power of technology,” SSS Group pursues its business operations from a long-term perspective, aiming to reduce our environmental footprint while growing profits. We believe that our industry-wide pioneering efforts in many fields not only represent our responsibility as a company, but also offer opportunities for new value creation.

On this special occasion of the Earth Day, we hope our message will reach all stakeholders to inspire their understanding and collaboration, enabling each one of us to take a step farther toward a more sustainable future.