Aiming to "Move the Heart and Touch the Soul,"
Pioneer Strives to Have a Zero Impact on the Environment

Energy concerns have increased around the world in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which triggered an incident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. As a result, momentum has gathered, with more and more consumers preferring to buy products that conserve energy and save on electricity usage.
At Pioneer, we will continue to help solve environmental issues one by one in an effort to exert zero impact on the environment. Not only will we work to secure a dominant position as the preferred choice of customers by actively developing products that are defined by their outstanding environmental friendliness, but we will also endeavor to reduce the environmental load of our activities across the entire product lifecycle, from planning and design to manufacture, delivery, use and disposal.

In order to achieve zero environmental impact, Pioneer has identified three key environmental goals: (1) fight global warming; (2) recycle and reuse resources; and (3) reduce the use of substances that impact the environment. With these goals in mind, we will adopt a unique approach toward efforts to protect the environment.

In the fight against global warming, Pioneer participates in the Voluntary Action Plan of the Environment of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren). We have accordingly set the goal of reducing CO2 emissions per unit of actual production by 36% during the five-year period from FY2008 to FY2012, one percentage point higher than the 35% target for the electrical and electronics industry, compared to the base year of FY1990. The Company is currently on course to achieve this goal.

In addition, Pioneer is actively engaged in the development of environmentally friendly products. As one example of the Company’s success in the car electronics field (and the high esteem in which its products are held), the CYBER NAVI, equipped with an eco-route search function that has been designed to provide genuine eco-driving support, received special awards from the Judging Committee and Board of Review at Green IT AWARD 2010 and 12th Green Purchasing Award. More recently, with the debut of the 2011 CYBER NAVI AVIC-VH09CS series, featuring augmented reality (AR) scouter mode helps alleviate traffic jams, Pioneer has achieved further reduction in fuel consumption.

In home electronics products, we were able to considerably reduce energy consumption by incorporating a high-efficiency “Direct Energy HD Amplifier” in the SC-LX83 audiovisual multi-channel amplifier and developing Eco Mode for the slim-body VSX-S300 receiver. We also focused on lowering energy consumption when products are in standby mode.

Fundamental to the cyclical approach adopted by the Company is the reduction, reuse and recycling of resources. In this context, we proactively promote the 3Rs principle, including the application of recycled materials. The Pure Malt series, which we have sold since 1998, are recognized around the world as a product that exemplifies our recycling efforts. Pure Malt speakers were developed in collaboration with brewing and distilling company Suntory Holdings Limited, which was seeking a way to recycle casks (made from virgin white oak) that were being used for fuels and other purposes after fulfilling their mission of aging whisky. In the “Resource Recycling Technology & System Awards” presented by the Clean Japan Center and supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Pure Malt speaker series won the “Clean Japan Center Chairman’s Award” in 2005 and the “METI Industrial Technology & Environment Bureau Director General’s Award” in 2009. In FY2009, as commendation for its meritorious action in the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Promotions” program, the same series received the “Chairman’s Award of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Promotions Council.”

As a part of our comprehensive efforts to reduce the substances that impact on the environment of our business activities, we have established a Group-wide management structure that aims to promote green procurement in collaboration with suppliers, deliver products that customers can use with a strong sense of safety and reliability, and reduce as well as eliminate substances included in components and materials that impose a burden on the environment. This latter initiative, in particular, indicates the Group’s focus on ensuring that there are no chemical substances in products that can pollute the environment after their disposal. Moreover, we are working steadily to incorporate and comply with all relevant regulations including REACH, the European Union’s new “Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals” legislation.

Moreover, Pioneer is committed to reducing the emission of substances that impose a burden on the environment during the manufacturing process. About the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) based on the industry’s voluntary action guidelines, the Company identified the goal of reducing emissions by 30% in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 compared with levels recorded in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001. Against this goal, we successfully reduced emissions by 87% in the target fiscal year. Working diligently to have a zero impact on the environment, Pioneer also abolished the use of specified chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), recognized as substances that deplete the ozone, in 1992, and brought forward to 1996 the elimination of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), which have been earmarked for prohibition by international regulation in 2020.

Our corporate philosophy is to “Move the Heart and Touch the Soul.” By proactively striving to integrate corporate and environmental preservation activities, we believe that we can help to recover the irreplaceable natural beauty of the Earth, and in turn, truly “Move the Heart and Touch the Soul” of people everywhere.

We welcome your comments and opinions regarding our activities.