People

The Kuraray Cup Children’s Association Ball Game Tournament (softball and foot baseball) was held for the first time in three years, once again filling the Kurashiki Plant ground with the cheers of children. The summer festival was also held in the same format as before the COVID-19 pandemic, which gave employees and local residents a chance to mingle. In the “Christmas Fantasy” event, we brought back the same scale of LED lighting in the decorations on the Himalayan cedar at the plant. As well as local residents, visitors came from outside the prefecture to enjoy the spectacle. We also continued to carry out volunteer activities, such as cleaning local parks, rivers, and children’s gardens and mowing lawns. Another activity that we restarted was the Fun Chemistry Class, a course of chemistry classes that allowed schoolchildren at an elementary school near the plant to enjoy chemistry experiments. As a fundraising activity, we continued our donation matching program, the Kuraray Fureai Fund, through which we donate playground equipment to local elementary schools and children's gardens.

We resumed the cherry blossom viewing party that we had held every April before the COVID-19 pandemic. Participation was limited to local residents who wished to join. We will continue to hold the event with infection prevention measures in place so that as many people as possible can participate. Employees of the plant engaged with the local community through a variety of volunteer activities. These included resuming “Exciting Chemistry Class,” our program of chemistry classes for elementary school students in Saijo City, and cleanup activities around the workplace that employees carried out after work. Every year, we donate books to local elementary schools through the Kuraray Fureai Fund gift matching program. We also continue to support the Ehime Folk Art Museum in the cultural area of Saijo City.

The Okayama Plant focuses on educational support and environmental conservation activities. We call for submissions of paintings and works of calligraphy from nearby elementary schools and regularly hold painting and calligraphy contests at commercial facilities. We also continue to offer work experience opportunities for junior high school students and, through the Kuraray Fureai Fund, donate books to elementary schools. In environmental conservation activities, as well as cleaning the Asahigawa riverbed and roads around our business site, we took part in a cleanup of Lake Kojima. We also value interaction with the community. After putting it on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, we resumed the summer festival, which met with a strong turnout by members of the local community. We also support local communities by donating part of the cost of rebuilding or renovating local community houses. In addition to the above, the Kuraray Fureai Fund donated support money to families who have evacuated from Ukraine to Okayama City and disaster relief money in response to the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

The Niigata Plant aims to contribute to the natural environment and residential environment so that our plant can earn trust from the community. We continued to hold the cherry blossom viewing party in April while making sure to carry out COVID-19 prevention measures. In 2024, we are considering expanding the scale to make it an event for further deepening our interactions with local residents. In September, the soft tennis tournament for junior high school students marked its 30th anniversary. We encouraged enrollment not only from schools but also from community clubs, and many students took part. Also in September, for the first time in four years we participated in the Minyo Nagashi folk dance festival, which was held on the eve of the local Nakajo Taisai Festival. The young employees who took part for the first time also joined in the traditional dance Nakajo Ondo as they mingled with members of the local community. In November, we held our chemistry class for elementary schoolchildren “Wondrous Laboratory” at a nearby elementary school. We also resumed meetings with local communities to engage with local residents, updating them on developments at the plant and explaining our latest business activities.

The Kashima Plant held its Fun Chemistry Class for elementary schoolchildren, returning to the lesson format that had been used before the COVID-19 pandemic. This allowed the team to engage closely with the children, introducing them to the fun of chemistry. The Kashima Plant Friendship Volleyball Tournament was also held, reaching the milestone of the 50th tournament. About 120 local residents took part in what proved to be an exciting event. Through the Kuraray Fureai Fund, we continue donating books to local elementary schools. In recognition of our achievements through the program over the years, we received an award for good deeds from Kamisu City, where the Kashima Plant is located. Among our new initiatives in 2024, we will be the main sponsor of the Kuraray Cup Citizens Soccer Tournament for local elementary school students and will also participate in biodiversity initiatives led by Kamisu City.

With a slogan of protecting the richness of the sea and land and creating a city where we can continue living, the Tsurumi Plant newly began a biodiversity conservation initiative from 2023. We held study sessions on the need for biodiversity conservation, on activities to restore eelgrass, which is said to be the cradle of the sea, and on the marine debris situation near the plant. As well as regular cleanups of local roads, many employees take part in cleanups of beaches near the plant. In 2024, we will continue working to preserve biodiversity. Since 2019, the Tsurumi Plant has partnered with the local tourism association to hold an open chemistry class. The class allows children to try their hand at experiments with a view to kindling their interest in science while also giving members of the community a chance to learn more about the plant. It was held again in fiscal 2023 and attendance was strong.

The Tsukuba Research Center sponsors vision-impaired futsal, an activity that began with a partially sighted worker at the center. Ever since then, the center futsal club has taken part in various events that have grown its reach over the years. It has held friendly matches, teamed up with children’s soccer classes, and joined a send-off party for Japanese national team members selected from the local community for the IBSA Low Vision Futsal World Championships 2023.

The Osaka Office makes use of its location in the largest office district in western Japan, helping to foster exchange and engagement among people working in the area. Among the events it sponsors are the Umeda Yukata Festival, which aims to bring workers together, and Umeda Meets Heart, an event for rediscovering all that is good about Umeda. It also takes part in events hosted by the company that owns the office building where it is based. The Osaka Plant also serves as a member of the council of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Osaka, helping to showcase outstanding technology in traditional crafts. Through the Kuraray Fureai Fund, we are working to contribute widely to the local community through donations to worthy causes in the Kansai region such as social welfare organizations.

Although, given its location in an office area, the Tokyo Head Office has limited direct contact with the local community, it does engage with other companies working in the same building. For example, it participates in tenant exchange events hosted by the building owner company, donates emergency stockpiles for disasters, and subsidizes employees’ social contribution activities. In addition, the Tokyo Head Office is also responsible for promoting the “Sending School Backpacks Across the Sea” campaign, managing the Kuraray Foundation, and managing donations related to social contributions such as support for disaster-stricken areas.

Employees in Europe who actively contribute to society take part in various donation activities and social activities. Their participation is key to the activities of the Kuraray Group.
　Donation activities include Christmas Donations, where employees recommend organizations, they would like to support themselves. In 2023, the main focus of this program was on supporting local projects near the plants and offices, such as support groups for Ukraine in the Rhine-Main region, organizations that support children with childhood cancer in Frankfurt, and small local soccer clubs. Many employees also took part in the Step Challenge. In this initiative, company colleagues walk together as much as they can over a set period of time. The distances they cover are converted to credits for donations to sustainable projects. Participants can collect steps by walking, cycling, or through other sports. Employees also participated in the Wings for Life World Run, a running event that starts at the same time all around the world. Admission fees and donations go toward spinal cord research into treatments for paralysis. “Christmas in a Shoebox” is a volunteer effort that has continued for many years. Employees pack toys and treats into cute shoeboxes as gifts for children in need.
　Among the social activities was Malteser Social Day, a volunteer event in cooperation with educational institutions hosted by an NGO. In this event, many coworkers worked on the renovation of facilities at schools and family centers. Kuraray Europe, whose employees include people from Turkey and Syria, responded quickly to the Turkey-Syria earthquake that occurred in February 2023 by providing disaster relief. In 2024, Kuraray Europe will continue contributing to a sustainable world.

Kuraray America is taking concrete actions to uphold its social responsibilities, supporting charitable activities with a focus on the following three areas.
　First, we are working to revitalize local communities and bring out the diversity of our workforce. We fund a wide range of projects aimed at deepening cultural understanding between Japan and the US. Second, we support future generations of engineers. Among many education projects, we are focusing in particular on supporting K-12 (so-called compulsory education periods in the US) programs that improve STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills. We believe that providing opportunities to improve these skills will spark an interest in science and technology among young people, inspiring them to become engineers. Third, we are working to contribute to society by improving the natural environment and living environment. In 2020, Kuraray America set up the Kuraray Foundation of America (KFA) with the aim of serving people, the environment, and communities. KFA contributes funds to support efforts to prevent local community safety and disaster prevention, protect ecosystems, respond to air and water quality issues, and address human health and wellness issues.
　In 2023, Kuraray America took part in many activities in local communities, as shown below.
Building affordable housing for those in need with Habitat for Humanity; supporting STEM education and engaging with students at safety fairs; joining organizations that support families in need and victims of domestic violence; hosting a water station at Bike Around the Bay in aid of the Galveston Bay Foundation; cleaning the waterway and protecting the local environment as part of Trash Bash, the largest, single-day waterway cleanup in Texas; providing scholarships for students pursuing a college education; taking part in cultural events such as Japan Festival Houston, etc. We also promote employee engagement through volunteer activities and gift matching. Throughout its activities, Kuraray America is guided by the belief that we can create a better and more sustainable future for all.

MonoSol believes it should take responsibility for garbage that is disposed of in the local environment. With this in mind, employees clean up along the lakefront of the local Indiana Dunes National Park every year. In 2023, MonoSol also carried out a tidy up of Deer Trail Park, a one-mile walkway near our Duneland facility. In the maintenance work, employees took away debris and trash from the trail, and installing a bed of mulch along the trail. By clearing up garbage that has been thrown away, MonoSol will help restore the natural beauty of the local area.

In June 2023, Pittsburgh employees and their families, together with Pittsburgh Pirates volunteers, joined a fundraising campaign by Operation Troop Appreciation, collecting $10,000 in donations to support the work of that organization. Calgon Carbon Corporation also supports the Kennedy Township Dek Hockey League, a non-profit sports organization founded in 2006. It provides a place and equipment so that children between the ages of five and 18 can play dek hockey safely.

Since 2017, Kuraray South America has partnered with the Brazilian NGO Casa do Zezinho. This organization was founded 29 years ago and is located in a district called Capão Redondo, which is surrounded by favelas. Currently, around 1,000 children and their families attend the facility. The organization opens its doors to low-income children and young people aiming to provide education and food, break down social and economic barriers, and help them develop independent thinking skills that will enable them to pursue their goals in life. As well as donating to this organization, we also promote the sharing of Japanese culture by holding Japanese cooking and origami workshops.

Kuraray Colombia has partnered with United Way, an NGO foundation, supporting it through voluntary donations from employees. Our support goes toward a program called Es TuDia, which is dedicated to improving the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills of elementary school students.

In Japan, Kuraray has been carrying out its “Sending School Backpacks Across the Sea” campaign for many years. Backpacks used by elementary school students are collected and these are given to Afghan children with stationery and letters inside. Recognizing the difficult situation faced by local children and mothers, the Kuraray Foundation is now providing support for specialized in mother and child medical care through the NGO JOICFP.

Kuraray has a large-scale disaster support policy and provides assistance to areas that have been severely affected. Although the focus is on the Group’s base regions, as mentioned above, when a disaster is judged to be of global scale, we aim to select qualified targets for donations so that we can quickly support relief efforts. While Kuraray focuses on the initial response, the Kuraray Foundation, which operates with a longer-term perspective, responds to new needs that arise as efforts transition to the recovery phase.

Kuraray is committed to employing people with disabilities. From 1997, we established Kuraray workshops at Kuraray’s five plants in Japan, providing places for people with intellectual disabilities to work. In addition, the Kuraray Foundation supports the Ohara Memorial Institute for Science of Labour, a public interest incorporated foundation, to help promote the employment of people with disabilities in corporations. The institute conducts research using labor science methods on how to solve problems related to the employment of people with intellectual disabilities and their retention after employment, and provides research results to the public.