Environmental Management

All executives and employees of the Nippon Kayaku Group share the common recognition that safety is prioritized above all else, and comply with local laws and regulations both in Japan and overseas, working to prevent accidents and disasters relating to the environment and safety, in line with the Declaration on Environment, Health and Safety, and Quality.

The Nippon Kayaku Group Annual Responsible Care Policy is formulated each fiscal year based on policies that the Group believes should be continued from FY2019 onward, by reviewing targets that supplement key sustainability issues and efforts to achieve those targets, to ensure the environment, safety, and health of Nippon Kayaku itself and its domestic Group companies.
The Nippon Kayaku Group will continue to promote Responsible Care activities based on these policies.

The Nippon Kayaku Group continues to acquire ISO14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management, and provides services by developing and manufacturing environmentally friendly products.
Nippon Kayaku began acquiring ISO14001 environmental management system certification in 1998, and all seven factories in Japan have obtained certification. Additionally, seven overseas group companies have obtained certification. The Group will continue considerations for acquiring ISO14001 certification for all Group companies, including those located overseas.

The Nippon Kayaku Group has established new medium-term environmental targets for FY2021 onward, and has started environmental conservation activities to achieve them.

In the newly established medium-term environmental targets, the scope of Scope 1+2 greenhouse gas emissions under "prevention of global warming"(32.5% reduction or higher by FY2030 compared with FY2019) has been expanded to include group companies (consolidated). Reducing emissions at a rate of around 3% every year to achieve this target, the target for FY2022 would be 119.2 thousand tons or less. Actual emissions for FY2022 were 108.1 thousand tons (a 17.4% reduction compared with FY2019), so we have achieved our target, and are steadily reducing emissions. In relation to this theme, in March 2022, the Nippon Kayaku Group endorsed the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and will continue to follow the TCFD recommendations by actively disclosing not only the state of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, but also information on initiatives to build a sustainable, recycling-based society, such as information on risks and opportunities relating to climate change.

In the area of "reducing our chemical substance footprint," we reported both VOC emissions and COD emissions as actual results, without setting targets. VOC emissions increased slightly from the previous fiscal year, and COD emissions increased in line with changes in the items being produced.

In the area of "reduction of waste," we reported total waste produced as actual results without setting a target. For recycling rate (excluding container reuse) we have set a target of 80% or higher, and a zero emission rate of 1% or less. Total waste produced in FY2022 was lower than the previous fiscal year, as a result of continued waste separation and reduction efforts at each plant and business site. With regard to recycling rate and zero emission rate, as a result of continued recycling efforts at each business site and ongoing efforts to reduce environmental impact, we were able to not only achieve our targets for recycling rate and zero emission rate, but also improve upon them.