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Emission Management of Chemical Substances

Based on the Law Concerning Reporting, etc. of Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR Law), the Kuraray Group in Japan surveys and ascertains the annual emissions of chemical substances subject to PRTR Law and reports the results to the national government. The Kuraray Group similarly discloses on its official website, etc. emissions of chemical substances not only covered by the PRTR Law, but also designated by the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA). In addition to these chemical substances, we are taking the actions indicated in the table below with regard to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), hazardous atmospheric pollutants (HAPs), and particulate matter (PM).
Environmental Data

The Kuraray Group in Japan had made a major capital investment until around 2008 to reduce chemical substance emissions, and has achieved about an 80% reduction compared to fiscal 1999. Since then, we have set limits on the amount of Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA)-designated Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) substances* based on the concept that, even if the scale of business expands, we will not increase emissions outside production sites from the base year. To achieve this target, when considering construction of new production facilities, we examine and carry out investment projects with consideration of measures to prevent an increase in chemical substance emissions. In fiscal 2021, production activity recovered after being impacted by COVID-19 in the previous year, resulting in a significant increase in emissions to 985 tons from 805 tons in fiscal 2020, exceeding the target of less than 957 tons. Going forward, we will continue to take measures to prevent an increase in emissions.

The policy of the Kuraray Group outside Japan is to continue to comply with the rigorous environmental regulations of the respective countries and regions where each production site is located and to conduct quantitative control. Until fiscal 2017, total emissions were on an upward trend due to the incorporation of businesses and the construction and expansion of production facilities. However, emissions have been decreasing since fiscal 2018 due to measures to expand exhaust gas treatment equipment at some sites and improve operational control. Emissions in fiscal 2021 were 374 tons.
^※Substances subject to the PRTR Law and substances designated by the Japan Chemical Industry Association

Effective Use of Waste

The amount of waste generated by the Kuraray Group in Japan was 88.5 thousand tons, the same as in fiscal 2020. Although production activities picked up in fiscal 2021 after having been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous year, we took ongoing measures to reduce waste, such as improving product yields, sorting waste, and recycling of waste into raw materials through collection at each production site and affiliated company. This enabled us to keep waste generated at the previous year’s level. The amount of implemented measures to reduce waste in fiscal 2021 reached 4,934 tons, far exceeding our target of 900 tons or more (at least 1% of the amount generated in fiscal 2016) through efforts to improve yields and promote collection and recycling. As a result of our efforts to effectively use most of the waste generated through recycling and energy recovery, the rate of effective use was 96.4%. On the other hand, the amount of landfill disposal increased year on year to 655 tons (a final landfill disposal rate of 0.7%), and we were unable to achieve the target of 251 tons or lower (the actual value in fiscal 2016). This was attributable to the fact that some specially controlled industrial waste was no longer treated by waste service companies for effective use, and that waste plastic recycling overseas has become difficult due to restrictions on the export of waste. We will continue to take measures to cut the amount of waste generated and strive to reduce the amount of landfill disposal by searching for waste service companies who can use waste effectively.

The amount of waste generated by the Kuraray Group outside Japan increased due to the acquisition of the vinyl acetate business in 2014 and the activated carbon business in 2018, but has remained nearly constant since then. Although production volume was up year on year in fiscal 2021, we kept the amount of waste generated to 76 thousand tons, nearly the same as the previous year. We did this through measures such as controlling the amount of waste by mitigating production-related issues through improved operation management and initiatives to collect and use waste effectively on-site at plants. Each production site complies with its own country’s legal requirements, and we will continue to pursue measures to reduce waste.

Effective Use of Water Resources

The Kuraray Group, including its oversees affiliates, is not engaged in production activities in areas where water resources are scant and where our business activities significantly affect the water sources of such areas. However, we have been engaging in business activities recognizing that water resources are vital.

In fiscal 2021, the volume of water intake (except seawater) of the Kuraray Group in Japan totaled 70.5 million m³ per year, almost the same as those in fiscal 2020. Even though Kuraray production sites in Japan are well located in terms of water resources, we believe that it is necessary to conduct business activities by considering the long-term prospects for water supply, such as the risk of a water shortage caused by climate change due to global warming. We continue to reuse water by recovering heat from heated effluent and reusing coolant water for boiler water. We will keep track of water consumption trends while continuously reducing our water consumption and effectively using water resources.

The water consumption of the Kuraray Group outside Japan has increased since 2014 due to the incorporation of businesses through M&A, such as the acquisition of the vinyl acetate business and the activated carbon business, but has since remained nearly constant. Although production volume increased year on year in fiscal 2021, we reduced water consumption through efforts such as replacing water scrubbers that consume a high volume of water with regenerative thermal oxidizers for exhaust gas treatment at production site, and improving operation. As a result, water consumption was down slightly from fiscal 2020 to 17.8 million m³. In addition, the water intensity index (excluding seawater) improved by 9.5 percentage points year on year, exceeding our target of a 1.0 percentage point or more year-on-year improvement.

Conservation of Biodiversity

The Kuraray Group believes that continuing our efforts to implement measures in global warming prevention, control of chemical substance emissions, reduction and effective use of waste, and effective utilization of water resources will lead to biodiversity conservation. We formulated the Action Policy for Biodiversity Conservation and have been promoting activities and the development of technologies and sale of products that contribute to biodiversity conservation. For example, employee volunteers at some Kuraray plants engage in forest conservation activities, cleanup activity, and endangered species protection activities, in cooperation with local governments and others. (Refer to examples of environmental conservation activities.)

Examples of environmental conservation activities