Proactively reducing the amount of discharged waste oil. Maintaining a comfortable work environment through a variety of measures.

NSK strives proactively to reduce the amount of discharged waste oil. A lot of the waste oil is cutting oil used during metal processing, and it is discharged from the A1 Factory dedicated to machining metals. Cutting oil adhering to metal chips produced during processing and oil mist in the air inside the factory are collected by an “industrial indoor electric dust collector (oil mist collector)” installed on the ceiling. The oil is then recycled through a precision filtration system. Collecting oil suspended in the air using an oil mist collector reduces the buildup of oil on the walls, maintaining a clean work environment.

A variety of other measures are also implemented to reduce the amount of waste oil discharge.

- Adjustment valves have been installed to reduce the discharge of wastewater containing boric acid (considered a type of waste oil).

- An in-house system has been deployed to purify discharged wastewater from cleaning the floor.
A floor cleaner is used at the A1 Factory. The cleaner sprays water in front of it, scrubs the floor with a brush, then collects the wastewater from the floor behind it. This collected water contains oil, so it was treated as industrial waste. But a way was found to treat it at our own wastewater treatment facility and that is what we do.

- Classification of wastewater into categories with and without boron, and deployment of an in-house system for purifying wastewater without boron.
Water containing boron was treated as industrial waste, but wastewater not containing boron is treated using an in-house purification system.

- Turning waste cutting oil (industrial waste) into a valuable product.
In the past, we paid money to dispose of cutting oil as industrial waste, but we realized that NSK's waste oil could be recycled as a resource for use in incinerating waste. Today, we sell our waste cutting oil.

This is how we engage in activities that strike a balance between manufacturing and recycling of resources, including waste oil, while maintaining a comfortable work environment.
Furthermore, recycled cutting oil from the precision filtration system is reused in the production process, further helping to reduce waste oil.