LEGAL COMPLIANCE AND POLLUTION PREVENTION

Legal Compliance and Pollution Prevention Addressing water risks and managing chemical substances in products

Summary for 2022

Twenty-nine environmental laws and regulations are currently applicable to the KOKUYO Group within Japan. In June every year, we evaluate the status of our compliance with these laws and regulations. Following the 2022 evaluation, we excluded some timber furniture products from coverage under the Act on Promoting Green Procurement because of the questionable legality of their use. We also reported to authorities a CFC leakage that occurred at a stationery plant when disposing of a compressor. We’ll strengthen legal compliance to ensure that such an incident never reoccurs. No other serious violations of environmental laws and regulations, fines or penalties were applied.

Response to Water Risks

Water is an indispensable resource to all people, companies and organizations active on the planet. On the other hand, water-related risks are rising as the world’s population increases. The KOKUYO Group considers water to be a valuable resource. Accordingly, we strive to use it efficiently. At the same time, we properly grasp and respond to water-related risks.

• Awareness of Water Stress

  The KOKUYO Group has defined 44 countries as water stress areas. These are areas where the water stress has been rated as “extremely high” or “high” according to the Aqueduct water risk-related evaluation tool provided by the World Resources Institute (WRI). We have a production base in India in a water stress area that produces stationery and painting supplies. We are appropriately managing and gathering information on the amount of water used in that area. Water risks, such as the impact on business from a shortage in water, have not yet materialized in relation to our business at the present time. Nevertheless, we will continue to grasp local information in that area to analyze water risks. Together with that, we will appropriately manage business so that our business activities do not have an adverse effect on the environment.

• Compliance with Water-related Laws, Regulations and Standards

  The KOKUYO Group complies with the laws, regulations and standards in our business areas. There were no items identified as being legal violations or unjust in relation to water in FY2022.

Promoting the Management of Chemical Substances Included in Products

We recognize that every supplier has a moral responsibility not only to avoid the use of prohibited substances but also to handle hazardous substances (substances that could harm the environment or health) safely and to communicate the hazard information. We also recognize that there has been a clear global shift in the regulation of chemical substances. Specifically, countries around the world are moving from the traditional hazard-based approach, which focuses on the inherent properties of a chemical substance that make it potentially hazardous, to a more scientific risk-based approach, which focuses instead on the circumstances in which these potential hazards may cause harm. We, too, have shifted toward risk-based assessments over the past several years. In 2014, we listed up the hazards in the chemical substances we use. Referring to this list, we started examining the risks of the substances in 2015 on a priority basis. In 2017, we released our findings on the hazards and exposure risks in a report titled Guidelines for Managing Chemical Substances Included in Product (Stationery Edition). In 2022, we researched regulatory developments in Japan and elsewhere and started updating the stationery edition of the Guidelines for Managing Chemical Substances Included in Products. We will continue to fulfill our responsibility to comply with chemical substance regulations and communicate chemical information.

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  Enforcing appropriate management and handling of chemical substances (KOKUYO Head Office)

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  Publicizing the harms and dangers of chemical substances on noticeboard panels (KOKUYO Shibayama Plant)

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  Scanning for heavy metals using X-ray fluorescence