• Nagoya Plant eliminates in-plant waste requiring land-fill disposal
• MMC expects to achieve zero land-fill waste at its other production facilities in Japan by end fiscal 2001

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announces that since the end of March this year its Nagoya Plant has reduced to zero (*1) the amount of in-plant waste requiring land-fill disposal.

The company places top priority on protecting and conserving the global environment and has adopted a pro-active stance in tackling environmental issues. As a step towards alleviating pressure on available land-fill resources, the company has made reducing to zero the quantity of in-plant waste that requires land-fill disposal one of its principal waste processing targets.

The MMC Nagoya Plant comprises the Oye Works and Okazaki Works. In the course of their work, Plant employees separate in-plant waste - industrial and general - into 46 different recycling categories. With the development of new uses for the ash recovered from thermally recycled waste and other new applications for recycled materials, by the end of March this year the Plant managed to reduce the 99 tons of waste disposed of in land fills monthly in fiscal 1999 to zero.

Advances in material recycling at the Nagoya Plant that have made this possible include the following:

• At-source breaking down and separating out of metal-plastic composite scraps that have been difficult to recycle in the past;
• Thermal recycling of combustible waste containing components that do not lend themselves to material recycling - the energy being recovered as steam for use in the Plant and the incineration ash melted down and solidified to provide subbase coarse material for road construction;
• Synthetic paint sludge and dust from the painting process are recycled to provide raw materials for cement.

Efforts to reduce to zero the quantity of land-fill waste require that in the performance of their duties all employees be aware, and remain aware, of this target at the stage at which the waste is generated. For this purpose, the Nagoya Plant has introduced an original certification system under which over a third of all employees, those in managerial positions included, have undergone training and been certified as waste separation instructors.

The Nagoya Plant will continue its waste recycling and reduction efforts, concentrating on the development of applications for recycled materials and on reducing quantities of waste generated. The company is also working to achieve zero land-fill disposal waste levels by the end of fiscal 2001 at its Kyoto, Mizushima and Tokyo Plants.

MMC continues to augment and enhance its all-inclusive environmental stewardship practices. Through the Mitsubishi Motors Environmental Guidelines, ISO14001 certification of its production units both in and outside Japan and by other means, the company affirms a pro-active environmental policy that encompasses the total life-cycle of Mitsubishi vehicles. The successful achievement of the zero land-fill disposal target at the Nagoya Plant provides added impetus to the company's on-going quest to minimize the impact of its activities on the environment.