Environmental Management
Environmental Policy
- The Sunstar Group acknowledges sustainability ideas and action are vital for business value and will continue to contribute to the formation of a society that develops sustainably.
- The Sunstar Group will unite to reduce its environmental footprint primarily through sustainable packaging, product development and resource selection, and energy usage plans with an aim to become carbon neutral.
- The Sunstar Group will leverage its global network to learn about pioneering environmental technologies related to materials and processing and actively apply them within supply and value chains.
8 Action Guidelines
- We recognize the importance of global environmental issues and conduct business activities in harmony with the natural environment.
- We will increase the efficiency of natural resource and energy use throughout the value chain of corporate activity.
- We will promote waste reduction, higher recycling ratios and use of renewable resources.
- We will develop products, packages and manufacturing processes that are friendly to the environment throughout the product lifecycle.
- We will supply safe and highly reliable products to markets around the world in compliance with environment-related laws, agreements and conventions.
- We will endeavor to make environmental policy and activities understood by all employees and strive for elevated awareness of the environment and knowledge of environmental issues.
- We will disclose initiatives and achievements in reducing our environmental footprint to markets to improve the level of our environmental controls.
- We will form supply chains enabling biodiversity conservation and implement independent support for local communities to prevent our business activities from having a negative impact on ecosystems.
Environmental Management Structure
Environmental Officers have been assigned to the Consumer Business Group and the Industrial Business Group to promote global environmental management in their respective groups in close coordination with each other. We also conduct environmental management based on ISO 14001 mainly at our major manufacturing bases in each country.
Environmental Management System ISO 14001
Major production sites of the Sunstar Group have received ISO 14001 certification.
Mid- to Long-Term Environmental Targets
In light of recent international efforts to tackle global environmental issues, such as the Paris Agreement, SDGs, and the setting of carbon neutral goals by various governments, the Sunstar Group established a set of Mid-to Long-Term Environmental Targets for global operations at the end of 2020. The entire Group, encompassing both consumer and industrial businesses, is now working together worldwide toward attainment of these targets.
In particular, we will make efforts at our production plants and offices to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality by 2050 through seeking to reduce CO2 emissions by adopting renewable energy and streamlining activities, while also undertaking proper management and reduction of water usage.
In product and package development, we will contribute to resource circulation (circular economy) by endeavoring to reduce consumption of petroleum-based raw materials and to give consideration to biodiversity conservation in the procurement of materials. Particular effort will go into reducing the environmental impact of packaging materials by using plant-based plastics and recycled plastics and containers of consumer business, which use large amounts of plastic.
Towards carbon neutrality
We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by using renewable electricity and solar power in our plants toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, to prevent global warming.
Towards circular economy
For plastics used in products, containers, and packaging, we contribute to resource circulation (circular economy) by utilizing renewable materials and facilitating recyclable product design.
Mid- to Long-Term Environmental Targets and Results
Plastics for containers and packaging:
Increase ratio of plant-based/recycled plastics used*1*2
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | 5% |
| 2022 Achievement | 6% |
| 2022 Evaluation | △ |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | We have expanded the use of recycled plastic for packaging materials used for toothbrushes and interdental brushes. In July 2023, we began using plant-based plastics for 13 mouthwash bottles which accounted for the most plastic used in Sunstar’s containers and packaging materials, and we expect to make significant progress in the future. Going forward, we will further expand the variety of items using plant-based plastics and reduce our use of petroleum-based virgin plastic. |
Post-consumer packages and containers:
Increase ratio of recyclable or reusable material used*1*2*3
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | 73% |
| 2022 Achievement | 68% |
| 2022 Evaluation | ◎ |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | We have achieved excellent results regarding metal cans for adhesives and sealants. On the other hand, many containers used for Consumer Business are made of composite materials to ensure quality and safety. Going forward, we will focus on developing containers that are easy to separate out at the time of disposal, while ensuring quality. |
Paper for containers and packaging:
Increase ratio of FSC®-certified or other certified paper used*1*4*5
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | 53% |
| 2022 Achievement | 70% |
| 2022 Evaluation | ◎ |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | We are progressively switching to FSC®-certified paper for the paper used for packing box and toothbrush package backing, etc. We will continue to actively adopt FSC®-certified paper. |
Palm oil for products:
Increase ratio of RSPO-certified or other certified sustainable palm oil*6*7
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | 9% |
| 2022 Achievement | 14% |
| 2022 Evaluation | ○ |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | In 2021, we joined the RSPO and began purchasing RSPO-certified palm oil for the palm oil used in glycerin, a raw material in mouthwash. We will continue to progressively switch to sustainable palm oil with environmental and human rights consideration. |
Electricity used in own plants and offices:
Increase ratio of renewable (CO2-free) electricity*8
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | 26% |
| 2022 Achievement | 27% |
| 2022 Evaluation | ◎ |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | Following the German plant for oral care products and our Swiss Headquarters operating on 100% renewable electricity, in 2021, we switched to renewable electricity for about 70% of the electricity used at our main plants and offices in Japan. Despite the challenging situation for electricity procurement, we are maintaining this level. We have installed solar panels for oral care product plants in Germany and Yamanashi, Japan. We will increase to adopt renewable electricity and install solar panels in each region. |
Water used in own plants:
Reduction of water consumption per production volume (per kg)*9*10*11
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | 1% |
| 2022 Achievement | 9% |
| 2022 Evaluation | × |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | While we have made steady progress in reducing water consumption by refining production and cleaning processes, water consumption is increasing due to various factors. We are working to identify leaks and clarify actual water consumption by gradually increasing the number of flow meters installed along each water route, and we will continue to optimize and reduce water use. |
CO2 emissions from own plants:
Reduction of total emission (Scope 1+2)*9*11
| Results and Evaluation | |
| 2021 Achievement | -22% |
| 2022 Achievement | -21% |
| 2022 Evaluation | ◎ |
| 2022 Summary and Next Steps | Switching to renewable electricity in Europe and Japan has contributed significantly to CO2 emission reductions. Solar panels are being installed and lighting is being converted to LEDs. However, electricity consumption is increasing due to the increased use of air conditioning caused by rising temperatures. We will continue to adopt renewable electricity and solar panels and promote energy-saving efforts at each of our business sites. |
＊ 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
＊4 Primary packaging materials ( Excluding materials procured by subcontractors for Japanese consumer goods and industrial goods)
＊5 FSC®（Forest Stewardship Council®）
＊6 RSPO（Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil）Our RSPO Membership Progress- https://rspo.org/members/12085
＊7 In-house procurement, mass-balance products
＊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)
＊10 Excludes groundwater from the Yamanashi Plant, the Industrial Business
＊11 Includes U.S. sites in the Consumer Business
List of “Mid- to Long-Term Target and Results” (PDF)