GOVERNANCE
In the face of an increasingly severe business environment, companies cannot ignore the regulatory requirements and the climate actions brought about by global warming. PANJIT has paid long-term attention to climate change, and is dedicated to the promotion of sustainable governance. To respond to the Financial Supervisory Commission’s "Sustainable Development Roadmap" and the National Development Council’s “Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050”, PANJIT refers to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Framework and the recommendations from Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation Rules Governing the Preparation and Filing of Sustainability Reports by TWSE Listed Companies to assess and identify climate change risks and opportunities. PANJIT’s ESG Promotion Office reports to the board of directors on the schedules and progress of the GHG inventory and verification schedule progress on a quarterly basis. The content of the 2023 climate-related report covers the GHG inventory progress and planning, the risk management operations (including climate change risks), etc. Through the operation of ESG Promotion Office and the reports and discussions on related climate issues, better response strategies can be formulated to promote the sustainable management of PANJIT
Indicator Targets
To lower the impact on operations brought by climate change, the company has set short-, medium-, and long-term management goals for GHG emissions, renewable energy use, wastewater recycling, waste reduction, resource recycling and so on as the regular review and evaluation of the goal achievement status and for the establishment of corresponding improvement plans.
Water Resources Management
The main water use at PANJIT is tap water, and the water source is from Agongdian Reservoir. Water intake is compliant with local regulations and does not cause major environmental impact. The water resource stress risk where the plant is located is assessed in accordance with the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, and the results show that they are in “low-risk” areas. The company will also continue to pay attention to the water resource risks for timely establishment of the corresponding strategies.
Wastewater at PANJIT mainly includes process wastewater and domestic sewage, which are treated in the wastewater treatment plant in the plant before being discharged, and is also diverted and managed separately in accordance with the drainage characteristics. This not only helps increase the recovery rate of water but also reduce the dosage used for water treatment that will lessen the difficulty of back-end wastewater treatment and environmental load due to the fact that some waste acid liquid and organic waste liquid still have its economic value after recovery. The treated sewage is discharged into the sewers in accordance with regulations and eventually flows to Agondian Creek. The companysted manufacturers to conduct water quality testing on a regular basis, and the results also entru show the treatment is compliant with legal requirements and there is no major impact on local water bodies.
To increase the water recovery rate, the company has actively invested in the water recover system. We have installed an electroplating-rinse-water recovery system and the dicing process wastewater recovery system in 2022 and added the recovery system for reverse osmosis (RO) concentrated water, which was commenced in 2023. It is expected to introduce digital monitoring and control in 2025 to not only observe the wastewater recycling and reuse rate, but also grasp the RO water recycling rate of each process and seek opportunities for re-optimization. The water recovered in 2023 was 43,223 tons, with the recovery rate of 13.36%. The water recovery rate decreased compared with last year. This was mainly because of the improvement of old process equipment and the introduction of new water processing equipment, and that part of reclaimed water at some stations would not be recycled in a short time due to considerations of product quality issues. The amount of wastewater reclaimed was therefore dropped. In the medium and long term, we will continue the improvement and assess the possibility of of water recycling.
Waste Management
The waste generated in PANJIT is divided into general industrial waste and hazardous industrial waste. In 2023, the amount of waste totaled 588.84 tons. The total amount of general industrial waste was 533.37 tons (account for 90.58%) while that of hazardous industrial waste amounted to 55.47 tons (accounting for 9.42%), a decrease of about 46% compared with the previous year.
Treatment of waste is compliant with legal regulations, and the waste removal and disposal are entrusted to qualified waste disposal service providers. Contracts are signed and declarations are submitted online. The waste disposal service providers are equipped with GPS to track the routes for waste removal and disposal, and the vehicles are followed for inspection of the treatment status on a regular basis every quarter. The e-waste and waste liquids are also handed over to professional recycling companies for the recovery and processing. Waste for recycling includes general resources and scraps. The packaging materials in the plant are reduced by changing cartons into iron boxes so as to recycle for use and reduce the use of cartons and disks. PANJIT does not import or export hazardous waste listed in the Basel Convention. There was no improper disposal or transport of waste to foreign countries for processing in 2023.
To increase the efficiency of resource use and lower the environmental load, the total amount of waste recycled for reuse in 2023 amounted to 541.60 tons, accounting for 91.98% of total waste.
Hazardous waste recycled totaled 50.23 tons, accounting for about 90.55% of the total amount of hazardous waste. Measures taken and achievement status are as follows.
Recycling of E-Waste
After recycling and processing, high-purity precious metals like gold and silver water waste can be refined. The amount reprocessed in 2023, 2022 and 2021 was 1.19 tons, 1.59 tons and 2.02 tons
respectively.
Use of Energy
The energy PANJIT uses includes purchased electricity, gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), among which, purchased electricity is the major energy used, accounting for 99.3% of total energy use, which is used for process power, air compressors and other electrical facilities. Uses for other energy sources are for company cars, forklifts, and canteens. To effectively manage energy use and improve energy performance, PANJIT introduced ISO 5001 in October, 2022, and passed the verification in October in 2023. In addition, electricity meters and flow meters have also been installed to monitor and control major power-consuming equipment as prescribed by law.
In addition, the Company installed solar panels in the plant. In 2023, the solar installation capacity reached 183.89kW in 2023, generating a total of 142,872kWh (about 514.34GJ) of electricity and was sold to Taiwan Power Company. In December, 2023, 29.26KW of the electricity generated was converted from bulk sale to self-use and was officially put into use in January, 2024. In the future, the company will continue to increase the proportion of the use of renewable energy.
Energy conservation measures and performance
PANJIT works in line with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ "Energy users set energy conservation goals and implementation plan" Project to promote the energy conservation plans, and a series of energy conservation actions with the goal of reaching more than 1% of average energy saving rate between 2015 and 2024. As for as PANJIT is concerned, the main energy use is from purchased electricity. Between 2022 and 2023, a total of two projects for the replacement of air compressors were carried out, saving 1,396,080kWh/year, a reduction of GHG by approximately 691.06 mtCO2 e. Moreover, for a single system with a total air compressor power of more than 500 horsepower, a total air flow meter and an independent electricity meter were installed to monitor the air compressor equipment so as to comply with energy regulations.
Note:
1. The electricity conservation data was calculated in accordance with the equipment specifications and usage scenarios.
2. The calculation of GHG reduction was conducted by using the 2022 electricity carbon emission factor of 0.495 kg CO2 e/kWh announced in 2023 for conversion.