The core belief of "Respect the Environment" has guided Nichia since its founding, forming the basis of ongoing environmental efforts. As part of these initiatives, the sustainabLED™ activities focus not only on improving the energy efficiency of LEDs and selecting environmentally conscious materials, but also on addressing the environmental impact generated throughout the process of delivering products to customers. Nichia has begun using a new taping reel that reduces plastic usage, introduced under the theme of "reducing environmental impact from packaging materials."

Efforts to Reduce Plastic Usage

With global interest in a circular economy continuing to grow, Nichia has identified packaging materials as one of its key priorities to review. Nichia determined that reviewing alternatives for the structure of the plastic reels used for shipping LEDs could make a significant contribution to reducing environmental impact. By optimizing this structure while maintaining reel strength and usability, a thinner and lighter plastic reel has been achieved. The new reel has already been applied to Nichia's main lighting LED products and is now in use for mass production shipments. Nichia plans to expand its application to a wider range of products.

Environmental Impact

The use of the new reel is expected to reduce Nichia's annual plastic consumption by approximately 9.5 tons, resulting in an estimated annual reduction of about 24 tons of CO₂ emissions. This corresponds to a reduction of roughly 20 kg of CO₂ per 1,000 reels and contributes to lowering the transportation weight when delivering products to customers.
*The figures above are based on Nichia's internal estimates.

Thorough Verification to Ensure Reliability

Changing the packaging material is a great contribution to a more environmentally friendly solution. However, it is also essential to ensure that products are delivered to customers safely and securely, and that they can be used without issue after delivery. To meet these requirements, Nichia conducted extensive verification of the new reel, including durability testing, mounting evaluations, and various external stress tests, confirming its safety and reliability. Through these tests, the new reel was validated for implementation without changing the contents of the existing product specifications. The packaging design achieves a reduction in plastic waste—and consequently CO₂ emissions—without affecting performance, quality, or feasibility of implementation.

Summary

Implementing this new plastic-reducing reel represents a great first step for Nichia towards environmentally conscious packaging materials. Nichia plans to further explore packaging specifications and options with even lower environmental impact.
Nichia believes that initiatives to reduce environmental impact should be a continuous and cumulative effort. Nichia will continue to pursue environmental considerations in every aspect of its products, processes, and packaging, advancing toward the realization of a sustainable society.

The theme of "LEDs that contribute to the realization of a mercury‑free society," previewed in the previous blog post, will be featured in future articles.