Sustainability Management

“Our Commitment” states the principles of our conduct which we should adhere to in our business activities. The “Kuraray Group Code of Conduct” serves as guidelines to implement the commitment in performing day-to-day work, and we strive to fulfill our responsibility as a good corporate citizen. In 2005, Kuraray established the “CSR Procurement Policy” in accordance with the 10 principles of the “United Nations Global Compact,” which are internationally accepted universal principles. However, changes in social conditions regarding supply chain management rendered the existing CSR Procurement Policy insufficient in some respects, and accordingly, it was revamped in 2019. While it goes without saying that the Kuraray Group itself will observe and practice the Policy, we will share it with our suppliers and ask for their cooperation in working on it together in our purchasing transactions.
Kuraray is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact.

CSR Procurement Policy

1. CSR procurement questionnaire
The Kuraray Group has identified “Improving supply chain management” as one of its material issues (materiality) Materiality of the Kuraray Group. Observing and practicing the “CSR Procurement Policy” along the supply chain will be one of the targets in the next Medium-Term Management Plan set out in fiscal 2021 and starting in fiscal 2022. Specifically, we will build and operate a system where we follow a cycle involving our suppliers of (1) spreading the Policy among them, (2) conducting a CSR procurement questionnaire, (3) analyzing and evaluating the survey results, and (4) giving feedback and supporting improvement. Through the process, Kuraray will regularly monitor suppliers and work on mitigating risk and achieving sustainable procurement. We will provide education and guidance on improvement through close communication with suppliers found to be especially in need of active support in improvement in the course of these activities. Furthermore, Kuraray plans to verify if and how often audits on suppliers will be necessary based on suppliers’ activities and status of improvement.
As the first step for this initiative, we conducted the “CSR Procurement Questionnaire” targeting major suppliers ¹⁾ of the Kuraray Group in Japan ²⁾ in 2020.

• ¹⁾Suppliers covering 80% of total purchasing amount
• ²⁾Kuraray Group in Japan covers Kuraray Co., Ltd. and six manufacturing companies listed in the “Affiliated Companies (Japan)” pagehttps://www.kuraray.com/company/base/domestic.

The questionnaire reflects the “CSR/Sustainable Procurement Self-assessment Questionnaire” published by UN Global Compact Network Japan and the 18 articles on the Kuraray Group Compliance Handbook Compliance Handbook. It covers 51 items in nine areas including respect for human rights, abolition of discrimination based on gender, nationality, etc., abolition of child labor, water resource issues, global warming countermeasures, environment pollution countermeasures, fair corporate activities such as preventing bribery and corruption, ensuring quality, information security, consideration for the supply chain, and harmony with local communities, among others.

CSR Procurement Questionnaire

Suppliers were asked to answer multiple choice questions on whether they have a system in place, and the status of improvement and confirmation for each item.

Kuraray’s Activities for Purchases of Green Commodities

In 2002, Kuraray set its “Green Procurement Guidelines”. Since then, we have been undertaking activities to preferentially purchase Green Commodities that are low in environmental load, and will continue to do so.