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

^＊8Consumer Business includes production sites in the U.S. and own offices in Japan, the Americas, and Europe

^＊9Base 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 the Swiss and German sites, in 2021 we began procuring renewable electricity for our plants and offices in Japan and 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.

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Resource Circulation and Waste Reduction

Policy and Approach

We help conserve water resources by managing related resources at plants appropriately and reducing the amount of water we use. In regard to raw materials, we will work to switch to recyclable materials from petroleum-based raw materials and select materials that are easy to recycle or reuse right from the product development stage, contributing to an efficient manufacturing process that generates little waste.
We will contribute to the realization of a circular economy by promoting cooperation with manufacturers, business partners, and local governments regarding the collection and recycling of plastics used in products and containers that customers have finished using. We comply with the laws of each country in our manufacturing processes and utilize environmental management such as ISO 14001 to properly control and reduce pollutants.

Mid- to Long-Term Environmental Targets and Results

^＊ Evaluation criteria: ◎＝Exceeds plan, ○＝Progress almost as planned, △＝Missed plan but making progress, ×＝Worse than current status

^＊9Base year: 2020 for the Consumer Business, 2019 for the Industrial Business (because 2020 was a year of significant production cuts for the client companies)

^＊10 Excludes groundwater from the Yamanashi Plant, the Industrial Business

“Environmental Data” for details

Major Initiatives

Used plastic collection and recycling (Europe, Japan)

In the Netherlands, we have started a collection and recycling program with TerraCycle for interdental cleaning products.
In Japan, we are also participating in an experimental test to collect and recycle plastic containers, toothbrushes, and toothpaste tubes in cooperation with other companies in the industry and local governments. These efforts are helping us acquire know-how and develop cooperative networks for collecting and recycling used plastics and for designing products that are easy to recycle.

Conducted a verification experiment to reduce packaging waste during product delivery (Japan)

We investigated using reusable folding containers to replace the cardboard cartons and plastic wrap used to prevent cargo collapse when transporting products between logistics centers. Moving forward, we aim to resolve remaining issues and implement their use in collaboration with related industries.