Message from the President Midori Ippai Project Activities

Achievement of the Environmental Grand Design

For the first pillar, which is 窶彗chievement of the Environmental Grand Design,窶 we have set a target to achieve by FY 2020 on (1) measures to address global warming; (2) reduction of paper resources; and (3) reduction of wastes.

(1) Measures to address global warming

In FY 2015, our plan has been progressing smoothly and we succeeded in reducing power consumption by about 59 million kWh compared to FY 2014 such as by introducing "Smart DASH" mainly in telecommunications buildings that consume a large amount of electricity to make the temperature environment visible and for control of the air-conditioners. This amount of reduction is equivalent to the yearly power consumption of approximately 18,000 average households. In addition, we have also put in continuous efforts to reduce power use in the offices, such as switching to the use of LEDs and cleaning air-conditioner filters before the change of season.

To achieve the goals of the Environmental Grand Design, we will implement detailed follow-up management of power consumption by distinguishing between power used by our own company and power used by third parties including customers such as data centers and tenants.

(2) Reduction of paper resources

For the reduction of paper resources, we have set a target to cut down the quantity of paper used by the entire group to 23,900 tons or less by FY 2020, which is at least a 40% reduction compared to the consumption of 39,900 tons in FY 2008, as well as to reduce the yearly quantity of office paper used per head by at least 50% from 9,900 pieces in FY 2008 to 4,900 pieces or less by FY 2020. At NTT West Group, paper is mainly used for telephone directories, invoices, office paper and telegraphs. Paper consumption is particularly high for telephone directories, and thus we are making continuous efforts to reduce paper use such as by thoroughly ensuring collection of old telephone directories and increasing the use of recycled paper. For office paper, we have implemented ongoing measures to reduce paper use such as by reviewing the workflow and placing multi-functional machines at appropriate locations.

As with FY 2014, we were able to achieve the targets in FY 2015 with 19,000 tons of paper used for telephone directories, 1,900 tons for invoices, 1,600 tons for office paper and 400 tons for telegraphs, which add up to a total of 23,000 tons. Meanwhile, although we managed to reduce the quantity of office paper used per head significantly from 6,241 pieces in FY 2014 to 5,378 pieces in FY 2015, we were unable to achieve the target of 4,900 pieces. In addition to in-house measures such as improving the internal system and ensuring paperless meetings, we will strive to achieve further reduction such as by switching to paperless billing through the Internet upon obtaining the consent of our customers.

(3) Reduction of wastes

NTT West Group has telecommunications facilities and office buildings in 30 prefectures in western Japan, which generate dismantled telecommunications facilities following the dismantlement of communication cables and switching equipment, construction wastes following the dismantlement of facilities such as telecommunications buildings and offices, wastes from civil engineering works following duct line and telephone tunnel works, and office wastes such as unwanted computers, furniture and fixtures. We have set a waste reduction target to cut down the final disposal rate of all wastes to 1.0% or lower by FY 2020 (defined as zero emission at NTT West Group) and are promoting efforts to recycle wastes. Specifically, we have implemented the reuse and recycling of unwanted items in our offices, and ensured the proper separation and recycling of wastes generated at work sites through environmental education for staff-in-charge at construction sites.

As a result, we were able to achieve the zero emission target in four consecutive years since FY 2012 with a final disposal rate of 0.6% for all wastes in FY 2015. We will strive to lower the final disposal rate further to achieve zero emission by FY 2020.

Expansion of Environmental and Energy Businesses

At NTT West Group, we are making efforts to contribute to the reduction of environmental load with the use of ICT (information and communication technology).

In FY 2015, a new feature has been added to Hikari BOX⁺, a setup box that allows viewing of videos by connecting a home TV set to the Internet, and we started to offer the new Hikari BOX⁺ (EMS version), which is a HEMS (home energy management system) controller that supports display of power data on smart meters as well as remote control by connecting to different home appliances. Furthermore, with effect from January 2016, the Hikari BOX⁺ (EMS version) can be connected to Eco-Jozu, a high-efficiency gas water heater, which allows checking of the operation and status of hot water supply as well as floor heating systems.

For "Eco Megane," a cloud-based remote monitoring service that NTT Smile Energy sells mainly to households for monitoring the solar power generation status, a new platform for PPS (Power Producer and Supplier) has been developed, which has been adopted since March 2016 as part of the power measurement service named "Jibun Denryoku," a power retail service offered by Ecosystem Japan Co., Ltd. that mainly uses solar power generated by solar panels installed on customers' roofs.

Promotion of Biodiversity Conservation Activities

As part of the activities to promote biodiversity conservation, NTT West Group has launched the 窶廴idori Ippai Project窶 for employees of the NTT West Group as well as their family members to take part in volunteer activities for protecting the nature of the local community, such as tree planting and conserving the nature of satoyama (village forests). This project aims to achieve a total participation by 10,000 members yearly in nature conservation activities inside and outside the company that are held at the 30 prefectures in the western Japan area. In FY 2015, a total of 11,045 people took part in the nature conservation activities in the respective regions. 44 of the events were also featured on the NTT West official website to help spread the importance of biodiversity to the society.

Each and every one of our group employees at NTT West will work together as one and make further contributions in activities to protect the global environment by engaging actively in and continuing to implement the 窶廨reen NTT West Strategy.窶?/p>