Minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining countries (Neighboring countries to the DRC) may be sources of human rights violations such as child labor, environmental destruction, and funding for armed groups, and may even contribute to the conflict itself.
Our basic policy (*1) is to refrain from the purchasing those minerals that have been illegally mined. In addition, the department in charge engages in working on the risk reduction with the procurement department, such as conducting annual surveys with suppliers using the tools provided by the RMI (Responsible Minerals Initiative), which is an organization that promotes the responsible mineral procurement.
The survey we conducted found 290 smelters in our supply chain being on the Standard Smelter list of RMI, and 267 out of the 290 smelters (92%) are Conformant Smelters, who passed the RMI audit. (*2)
We will continue to analyze and evaluate risks in the supply chain and carry out further investigations depending on the risks.
Minerals such as tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold and cobalt mined in the Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining countries (Neighboring countries to the DRC), may be sources of human rights violations such as child labor and environmental destruction, funding for armed groups and may even contribute to the conflict itself.
Based on OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, KEYENCE is engaging efforts to eliminate such minerals illegally mined for electronic components contained in our products. The risk-reduction actions we will promote with the cooperation of our suppliers are as follows.
RMI(Responsible Minerals Initiative)
*2 List of RMI standard smelters identified in our supply chain (PDF)
Restrictions of chemical substances in electric and electronic products are spreading worldwide.
KEYENCE shares the procedures/rules with our suppliers, for management of chemical substances in products.
KEYENCE defines and shares a set of restricted substances in addition to the chemical substances that are regulated by the RoHS Directive and the REACH regulation in the European Union. KEYENCE promotes Green Procurement of the components and materials that we use in our products. KEYENCE is actively engaged in efforts to abide by all regulations set against using harmful chemical substances in our products.
KEYENCE contributes to a green initiative through the use of our products.
KEYENCE is eliminating hazardous substances (such as heavy metals) from our products in order to contribute to the protection of human health and global environmental recovery. KEYENCE is switching over to products that comply with the RoHS Directive.
Electrical and electronic equipment placed on the EU market must not contain restricted substances under the RoHS Directive.
Ensuring product safety is the premise to advocating quality improvement.
We are working to further reduce risk during product design, development and manufacturing while complying with laws and regulations on product safety.
Sustainability