Development of Eco-Friendly Products
Policy and Approach
In recent years, expectations for reducing the environmental impact of products have been increasing among customers, local communities, governments, and other stakeholders. In this context, Sunstar is developing products to reduce environmental impact from three perspectives.
1) In all processes from product development to disposal after use, we strive to promote effective use of resources, pollution prevention, and resource circulation from the perspectives of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renewable and Biodiversity Conservation.
2) We will reduce the environmental impact of our products by adopting the product life cycle assessment method and quantitatively visualizing the magnitude of the impact of our products on the environment.
3)We will share best practices and issues related to reducing the environmental impact of products and containers development in a timely manner through the global network of our group sites to speed up the development process.


Eco-friendly plastic products and containers
Reduce plastic consumption
De-plasticized design
(Utilization of metal, glass, paper)
Use of recycled materials
(Reduction of virgin plastic)
Design for easy recycling
(Monomaterialization and easy disassembly)
Use of plant-based plastics
(Reduction of oil-based plastics)
Mid- to Long-Term Environmental Targets and Results

* Scope of data: data for production at the Group’s 15 global plants are integrated excluding U.S. sites in the Consumer Business and Tsubamex in the Industrial Business.
Consumer Business = Oral care products, cosmetics, health foods, and other consumer product-related businesses
Industrial Business = Adhesives and sealants for automobiles, construction and electronics, and metal parts for motorcycles and automobiles
* Evaluation criteria: ◎=Exceeds plan, ○=Progress almost as planned, △=Missed plan but making progress, ×=Worse than current status
*1 Includes European procurement for consumer business
*2 Product containers and primary packaging materials (excluding subcontracted products for Japanese consumer goods and industrial goods)
*3 Recyclable or reusable material = Easily separable by material after product use
«Environmental Data» for details
Product Examples
Here are just some of the eco-friendly products we have developed.
Ongoing reduction of plastic use in dental rinse bottles, toothpaste tubes, etc.
(Japan, Asia)

Year | Activities | Results |
---|---|---|
2015 |
Thinning toothpaste tube | Plastic material reduction 2 tons/year |
2016 |
Expanding SKU for thin toothpaste tube | Plastic material reduction |
2017 |
Expanding SKU for thin toothpaste tube Tninning PET bottle for vegetable juice Adopting paper can package for health drink |
Plastic material reduction 8 tons/year Plastic reduction 2 tons/year Paper use 2 tons/year |
2018〜2019 |
Lightening mouthwash bottle Lightening mouthwash cap Expanding drink SKU of paper can package |
Plastic material reduction 40 tons/year Plastic material reduction 5 tons/year Paper use 10 tons/year |
2020 |
Lightening mouthwash pump Changed packaging for mouthwash set |
Plastic reduction of 27 tons/year Plastic reduction of 9 tons/year |
2021 |
Pump-type mouthwash with replacement bottle Changed mouthwash sampler POP packaging from plastic to paper |
Plastic reduction of 27 tons/year Plastic reduction of 6 tons/year |
GUM BIO toothpaste (Europe)
Received COSMOS-ORGANIC certification, a global standard for organic products
It contains 99% of natural ingredients and 22% of ingredients from organic farming. Its packaging box is made with 80% recycled paper and is 100% recyclable.

Use of low environmental impact materials in products and packaging (Japan)
Major toothbrush products use toothbrush bristles that contain plant-based plastic and packaging made of recycled plastic and FSC®-certified paper

30% reduction of plastic in shared pumps (Japan)
Two-bottle mouthwash set with reusable pump. Saves 1 pump’s worth of plastic

Reduction of package weight, package plastic and package waste for automotive and construction adhesives and sealants(Global)
We are promoting the use of crushable and film-like containers to reduce waste after use.

KENKODOJO Brown Rice & Soy Drink Sesame Plus (Japan)
Adopting a lightweight paper cartocan package helped reduce CO2 emissions in transportation
This health drink is a tasty way to consume nutrients from rice bran, which is often wasted during rice polishing

Commercialization of highly durable and weather-resistant construction sealants (Japan)
We are promoting the use of stain-resistant and long-lasting materials.

Switch to a composite material of 80% recycled paper and PET for all GUM SOFT PICKS packaging materials (Europe, Americas)
