Climate Action
Approach and Background
Environmental destruction and the negative economic impacts of abnormal weather and natural disasters caused by global warming are becoming ever more serious. Within the activities of corporations, the need to reduce CO2emissions is urgent.
We are taking action to meet the challenges of climate change in a variety of ways, such as by using renewable electricity at plants, the installation of solar panels, the use of LED lighting, the improvement of energy use efficiency in production facilities, and the electrification of company-owned vehicles.
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
＊8 Consumer Business includes production sites in the U.S. and own offices in Japan, the Americas, and Europe
＊9 Base year: 2020 for the Consumer Business, 2019 for the Industrial Business (because 2020 was a year of significant production cuts for the client companies)
＊11 Includes U.S. sites in the Consumer Business
“Environmental Data” for details
Major Initiatives
Promote renewable electricity use (Europe)
At the Sunstar Global Headquarters in Switzerland and at the German plant where toothbrushes and interdental brushes are manufactured, 100% of the electricity needs are met by renewable sources such as hydroelectric power.
In addition, the German plant also has 670 kWp solar panels on its rooftop. The plant further reduced CO2 emissions by using river water to cool plant equipment and switching 99% of the plant’s lighting to LEDs.
Promote renewable electricity use (Japan)
Following on from Switzerland and Germany, in 2021 we began procuring renewable electricity for our plants and offices in Japan. We switched 70% of the electricity used at our Japanese sites to renewable electricity, which resulted in reducing annual CO2 emissions from these sites by 60% or 8,500 tons for the 2021
At our new mouthwash plant in Yamanashi, which started operation in October 2021, 315 kWp solar panels were installed on the roof, and 100% of the lighting is in LED. With 6.5% of electricity generated in-house, we have reduced CO2 emissions by 200 tons per year.
CO2 emission reduction by joint logistics with other industries (Japan)
We are working on joint logistics with different industries to improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact during product delivery. One such effort is promoting collaboration among companies to reduce the number of trucks used and subsequent CO2 emissions by increasing the loading efficiency.
Reduced CO2 emissions through renewal and efficient operation of plant facilities (Japan)
At the Tokushima Plant, which manufactures toothbrushes and interdental brushes, we reduced electricity consumption by 300,000 kWh in 2021 compared to the previous year, and we have reduced CO2 emissions by 60 tons through to 2022. This was achieved by switching to LED lighting, replacing plant equipment and air-conditioning equipment with energy-efficient units, and using air flowmeters to detect leaks and improve operation of production equipment.
At the Takatsuki Plant, we proceeded with switching to LED lighting and electrification of forklifts.
