The number of regulations or treaties limiting GHG emissions worldwide has increased with stricter control measures in place. In addition to regular disclosures of GHG data, enterprises are required to limit their emission amount. Meanwhile, many governments are contemplating the possibilities of carbon tax or energy tax and that, along with the yearly rise in raw material and energy prices, will increase the production costs for enterprises.
Abnormal climate brought on by global warming leads to more severe and frequent hurricanes, floods and droughts, which have substantial impact on business operations. Taiflex believes that mitigation and adaptation shall both be adopted as well as collaboration between governments, the public and enterprises in the effort to control climate risk. Therefore, on top of the fundamental carbon reduction and water conservation measures adopted internally, Taiflex also cooperates with government agencies where long-term climate risk assessments and controls are concerned, in hope to integrate government and company resources and minimize losses in natural disasters such as floods or droughts.
Taiflex is in the electronic component industry, specializing in high-end materials such as flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) and polymer film. Electric power and natural gas are the major energy sources during production.
Facing the inevitable hikes in energy and environmental protection costs, Taiflex is devoted to various energy conservation projects to diminish the environmental impacts, and at the same time committed to recycling and renewable materials to improve our competitiveness and work towards the management goals of minimum energy consumption as well as cost optimization.
Taiflex has established the GHG inventory system across all factories in Taiwan in 2009 where each factory has to complete scopes 1 and 2 GHG inventory of the previous year annually. In 2017, the Company acquired the recertification of ISO14064-1 from an external verification organization. In 2019, Taiflex’s total direct emissions (scope 1) were 6,462.8171 metric tons of CO2e which mostly came from stationary combustion. The total indirect emissions (scope 2) amounted to 18,233.52 metric tons of CO2e which were mainly due to electricity consumed by machinery, air conditioning, offices, condensation facilities and negative pressure purifiers. Taiflex’s GHG emissions are calculated for internal management purposes without acquiring external verifications.
GHG emissions of Taiflex are indirect emissions, mainly from CO2 due to electricity consumption. Thus, energy conservation and carbon reduction program centers around electricity saving.
In recent years, Taiflex has initiated several energy-saving plans to lower electricity consumption and CO2 emissions.
1. Production and manufacturing: Optimize control over motor operation; install recycling systems for wastewater, waste heat, exhaust and waste solvent; deliver manufacturing waste to certified recycling agents to mitigate environmental impacts, etc.
2. Encourage employees to propose energy conservation and carbon reduction plans.
3. Daily operation:
4. Promote electronic processes to create a paperless office, and reduce the consumption of papers and toners to lower electricity consumption and CO2 emissions.
5. Green energy is also called the clean energy. It comes from natural sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, plants, algae and geothermal heat. In comparison to the use of fossil fuels, green energy generates less pollutants such as CO2 (the by-product of GHG) and has less impact on climate change.
The increase of CO2 from human activities has exceeded the nature’s ability to modulate the situation. The resulting global warming leads to abnormal climate changes and has foreseeable impact on the environment, ecology and economic developments. In order to reduce GHG emissions and fulfill our responsibility as a global citizen and an enterprise, we are committed to the following actions and set the primary goal of being a low-carbon enterprise:
Continue to carry out GHG inventory and keep an accurate emission record
Improve machinery and equipment efficiency and research and develop green products
Implement energy-saving and emission reduction management and lower GHG emissions
Taiflex is in the electronic material industry with a focus on flexible print circuit (FPC) materials and optical products. The key process is the manufacture of copper clad laminates. Electrical equipment in the factories is mostly production equipment, central air conditioning systems, fridges, etc. Key thermal energy equipment includes thermal oil boilers, regenerative thermal oxidizers, condensation facilities, negative pressure purifiers and rotor concentrators.
With regard to production, we continue to optimize process control, improve manufacturing yield, and increase the output rate of production equipment in order to accomplish the goal of annual decrease in emissions per unit of production. As for daily operation, we constantly remind employees to build the habit of turning off lights and switches, carry out regular energy patrols, and encourage employees to use stairs instead of elevators in order to reduce power consumption and CO2 emissions. Where e-process is concerned, we work towards creating a paperless office and reduce the consumption of papers and toners to lower electricity consumption and CO2 emissions.
In terms of exhaust treatment, solvents within exhaust having high boiling point and concentration from ovens are recycled for reuse using condensation facilities and negative pressure purifiers, which lower the emission of natural gases and GHGs.
1. The packaging of raw materials are returned to the suppliers to be reused in order to lower the manufacturing costs of the packaging materials, energy consumption, as well as pollutants generated during the production of such materials and reduce environmental impact.
2. Continue to seek green industry opportunities and assist customers with developing and supporting green product solutions.
3. Offer better energy-saving schemes to achieve carbon reduction, and work with customers in protecting the environment and reaching the goals of energy conservation and carbon reduction.