Under Nichia's core belief of "Respect the Environment," Nichia is committed to reducing environmental impact and striving to develop earth-friendly products. Nichia has now also established its sustainabLED™ initiative which embodies its efforts in reducing environmental impacts through LEDs. The first blog post introduces an LED that uses recycled materials for its main components.

Why Did Nichia Start Using Recycled Materials?

There are various environmental issues around us, such as global warming, resource depletion, and plastic waste. In response to these circumstances, the concept of a "circular economy" has been attracting global attention in recent years.

A circular economy is an economic model that aims to minimize environmental impact by reducing waste and repeatedly circulating resources, rather than using them once and discarding them. Governments and companies around the world, especially in Europe, are promoting this approach, and the active use of recycled materials from the design and manufacturing stages is becoming increasingly widespread.

Nichia has also considered what actions Nichia could take. The first action was to create a list of recyclable materials that could be introduced and reflected in Nichia's product development.

Introduction of the New LED

A mid-power LED, Part No. NF2W757H-V3H5, launched in July 2025, uses 100% recycled gold for the internal wires and a recycled copper alloy for the electrode material. After careful consideration aimed at making effective use of limited resources, Nichia decided to utilize them for this LED. The use of recycled materials has been thoroughly verified during product development to ensure that there is no impact on performance or quality, maintaining the same or even higher standards compared to conventional products. The NF2W757H-V3H5 boasts the highest efficacy among Nichia's LEDs for lighting applications. It is offered as a new option that delivers both resource circulation and high efficiency and quality.

Summary

Nichia will continue to focus on developing products that are considerate of the global environment. Step by step, Nichia will advance its efforts toward a sustainable future.　The next blog post will introduce LEDs that enable material reduction in lighting fixtures. Look forward to the next update.