Environmental Management

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KOKUYO recognizes that environmental problems, including global warming and the reduction of forest resources, are pressing issues. We will bring together the best business brains to develop sustainable solutions.

The Group’s Vision for the Environment

Building a sustainable society will require the creation of a recycling-oriented, low-carbon society that can coexist with nature. We have established the KOKUYO Group Vision for the Environment, which states our environmental philosophy and outlines seven policies for putting the philosophy into practice: 1) fighting climate change, 2) conserving and recycling resources, 3) promoting eco-products throughout the value chain, 4) protecting biodiversity, 5) complying with environmental law and preventing pollution, 6) disclosing and communicating environmental information, and 7) integrating environmental management.

Environmental principles

KOKUYO was founded with the vision to enrich the world through our products and services. An enriched world is a sustainable world. Such a world requires global action to fight climate change, conserve scarce resources, and protect biodiversity. To play a leading role in this perennial worldwide challenge, we will bring together the best business brains to develop sustainable solutions.

Environmental policies

	Prevention of global warming	KOKUYO is taking measures to significantly cut the amount of greenhouse gasses it emits in order to realize a low carbon output society.
	Resource saving & recycling	KOKUYO is taking measures to promote the idea of Reduce – Reuse – Recycle by efficiently using limited resources in order to further the development of a recycling-oriented society.
	Procurement, development and supply of environmentally friendly products	KOKUYO is taking measures to promote the development of new environmental technologies and green procurement in order to reduce the environmental load of the entire product recycling process.
	Biodiversity	KOKUYO seeks to reduce its impact on the ecosystem and to maintain a low impact on it by engaging in business activities that give consideration to biodiversity.
	Legal compliance & preventing pollution	In addition to environmental laws and regulations, KOKUYO seeks to observe the industry guidelines that have been accepted by the company and its own standards, as well as to prevent environmental pollution.
	Information disclosure & communication	KOKUYO actively discloses environmental information, works on communication with its customers and all external entities, and is fully engaged in environmental preservation activities.
	Environmental management	AII KOKUYO employees work together and seek to develop new ecological business models, and the company is taking measures to continuously improve its environmental load and to develop the business.

*Related information: Materiality assessment process

Environmental targets for 2030

Our materiality assessment identified three critical challenges: respond to the climate crisis, contribute toward a circular economy, and contribute toward a society that coexists with nature. There are two kinds of actions to meet these challenges: CSR actions and business actions. In 2020, we set targets measure our performance in CSR actions. We are now considering targets for business actions.

Critical challenges		2030 target
Respond to the climate crisis	Reduce CO₂ emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy. Use forests to offset emissions.	Reduce CO₂ emissions: Emissions down by 26% from 2013 level*
Respond to the climate crisis		Offset CO₂ emissions: Forests absorbing at least 6,000 tons of CO₂ a year
Contribute toward a circular economy	Promote human rights and resource conservation in supply chains to promote a circular economy	100% of waste (office, construction, inventory) recycled
Contribute toward a circular economy		Procurement guidelines applied throughout corporate group
Contribute toward a society that coexists with nature	Protect biodiversity and reduce use of hazardous chemicals to minimize environmental impacts	Promote timber legality compliance
		Forests: Forests thinned at 150 hectares a year
		Reedbeds: Reeds trimmed at 15 hectares a year

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*This target applies to the following companies: KOKUYO, KOKUYO Product Shiga, KOKUYO MVP, KOKUYO Logitem, KOKUYO Supply Logistics, KOKUYO Marketing, Kaunet, Actus, KOKUYO Finance, KOKUYO & Partners, LmD International

This is how we performed in 2020

C0₂ reduction target	CO₂ emissions in 2013	2030 target	2020 result	Change from 2013 level
Respond to the climate crisis	30,683t-CO₂	22,705t-CO₂	22,334t-CO₂	Down 27.2%
Use forests to offset CO₂ emissions
Forests thinned at 150 hectares a year and absorbing at least 6,000 tons of CO₂ a year.		Hectares thinned: 111.9 Tons of CO₂ absorbed: 5,708

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Three-year environmental strategy

2020 marked the final year of the previous three-year plan (2018–2020). We are preparing targets for the next three-year period.

Environmental policy	Action	2018 result	2019 result	2020 result	2020 target	Met/missed
Fight climate change	Reduce CO₂ emissions (from 1990 level)	13.0% down (Japan)	20.1% down (Japan)	32.5% down (Japan)	30% down (Japan)	Met
Fight climate change	Reduce energy consumption (from 2010 level) * 1% average annual rate of reduction in intensity	13.8% down (intensity)	16.1% down (intensity)	21.1% down (intensity)	10% down (intensity)	Met
Reduce, reuse, recycle	Raise recycling rate of total waste generated (includes construction waste generated by prime contractor)	95.5％	94.7％	94.7％	100％	Missed

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Coverage of three-year targets:
The targets apply to the following companies: KOKUYO, KOKUYO Product Shiga, KOKUYO MVP, KOKUYO Logitem, KOKUYO Supply Logistics, KOKUYO Marketing, Kaunet, Actus, KOKUYO Finance, KOKUYO & Partners, LmD International, KOKUYO K Heart, Heartland

* Actus and Heartland were not part of KOKUYO’s corporate group during the reference years. Accordingly, their performance in the targets is measured against their results for 2018.

Environmental Management System

Our Environmental Management System (EMS) consists of an integrated accreditation system for planning, R&D, production, marketing, sales, services, storage, and shipment. Since 2004, the system covers all major subsidiaries in Japan.

While keeping the core elements of the EMS consistent across the group, we differentiate according to the scale of the environmental impact. Specifically, operating companies and plants with a relatively large environmental impact get case-specific treatment, while those with less impact get standard treatment.

We also try to give the companies sufficient leeway to manage their environmental impacts in a manner that suits the nature of their businesses. For example, we allow the companies to set environmental targets in line with their business strategies.

Environment-related documents are managed under a system called MELON. In a July 2013 upgrade, MELON’s coverage was expanded and the system was made more user-friendly, efficient, and accurate. We subsequently migrated the data to a new system (the 2015 system). The migration testing was completed successfully in December 2016.

Environmental Education

To educate employees about environmental issues, inform them about the environmental targets, and train them in accident/emergency responses and management protocols, the ISO Promotion Office organizes briefings on environmental legislation and provides training to members of the internal audit team. Additionally, individual divisions and business units provide their own environment-related training programs. In 2020, most in-person training events were cancelled because of the pandemic. We are exploring alternative options for training.

Training employees to respond to spills (KOKUYO MVP)

Education/training category	Number of attendees
Education/training category	2018	2019	2020
General environmental education	2,152	1,891	2,708
Briefings on environmental targets and legislation	233	367	162
Accident/emergency response drills	169	232	211
Training for internal audit team	21	56	96
Other training	322	192	7
Total	2,897	2,738	3,184

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First-, second-, and third-party audits

First-, second-, and third-party audits are performed to ensure conformity across our corporate group. In first-party audits, the auditee (a group company) performs the audit on itself. In second-party audits, our ISO Promotion Office performs the audit on the auditee. In third-party audits, an independent body performs the audit in compliance with the requirements of ISO 14001. The audits focus most of all on legal compliance. In 2020, first-party audits were performed from July 1 to 31, second-party audits were performed from August 31 to September 14, and third-party audits were performed from November 30 to December 4. The first- and second-party audits identified 48 issues, many of which concerned compliance. For example, 12 concerned waste and seven concerned hazardous materials. The third-party audit found no issues as such, but it did highlight some “opportunities for improvement.” In light of the feedback, we recognize the need to improve education on legal matters.

As was the case in the previous year, the third-party audit identified as an “excellent aspect” the fact that our ReEDEN Project and Yui-no-Mori Project have earned plaudits for promoting biodiversity. The third-party audit in 2020 was a surveillance audit.

Year	2018	2019	2020
Sites audited	75	118	74
First-party audit	60	61	59
Second-party audit	15	16	15
Extraordinary audit	-	41	-
Issues identified	28	83	48
Minor nonconformity	8	25	13
Corrective action	20	58	35

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Year	2018 (recertification audit)	2019 (surveillance audit)	2020 (surveillance audit)
Sites audited	29	17	20
Excellent aspect	1	1	1
Good aspect	8	5	2
Minor nonconformity	1	0	0
Opportunity for improvement	21	21	26

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Internal audit at Shibayama plant

Internal audit at a workstation in KOKUYO’s Osaka office

Third-party audit at KOKUYO Logitem’s distribution center in Shiga

Third-party audit at KOKUYO Product Shiga

Third-party audit at KOKUYO’s Shinagawa office

Third-party audit at KOKUYO Supply Logistics’ distribution center in Ibaraki

Third-party certification

Our environmental reporting was independently reviewed and certified by Bureau Veritas Japan for the purpose of receiving independent feedback on the accuracy, transparency, consistency, validity, and completeness of the reporting.

Process of third-party review

Bureau Veritas Japan reviewed our reporting of the environmental impacts of all 31 organizations1 in the corporate group (which includes Iwami Paper Industry since 2018) as well as our scope 3 emissions data. It also visited workplaces to see how data was being measured and managed. Three Japanese workplaces were visited: KOKUYO Head Office, Iwami Paper Industry (Ato plant), and KOKUYO Supply Logistics (Kyushu distribution center). One overseas workplace was visited: KOKUYO Vietnam. The review identified eight excellent aspects and 11 opportunities for improvement. It also identified 42 issues requiring corrective action and 13 opaque aspects requiring better transparency. During the review period, we rectified the 42 issues and clarified the 13 opaque aspects. While recognizing the progress we have made in standardizing rules for aggregating data, the reviewer highlighted some instances where data was omitted or where the basis for calculation was ambiguous. In light of the issues raised, we will work harder to improve the accuracy and precision of disclosures both internally and throughout our supply chains.

Year	2018	2019	2020
Excellent aspects	9	12	8
Opportunity for improvement	6	11	11
Issue requiring corrective action	32	38	42
Aspect requiring better transparency	30	17	13

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Environmental performance data On-site third-party check at Ato plant

Environmental performance data On-site third-party check at KOKUYO Head Office

Environmental performance data On-site check at KOKUYO Supply Logistics’ Kyushu distribution center

*1 The review covered data reporting from the following organizations:

	Consolidated subsidiaries	Affiliates
Japan	KOKUYO Co., Ltd.	KOKUYO K Heart Co., Ltd., Heartland Co., Ltd., IWAMI Paper Industry Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Hokkaido Sales Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Tohoku Sales Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Kitakanto Sales Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Tokai Sales Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Hokuriku-Niigata Sales Co., Ltd. , KOKUYO Sanyo-Shikoku Sales Co., Ltd.
Japan	Kaunet Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Marketing Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Supply Logistics Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Logitem Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Product Shiga Co., Ltd., KOKUYO MVP Co., Ltd., LmD International Co., Ltd., Actus Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Finance Co., Ltd, KOKUYO & Partners Co., Ltd.
Overseas	KOKUYO Vietnam Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., KOKUYO (Shanghai) Management Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Commerce (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Furniture (China) Co., Ltd., KOKUYO Design Consultants (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., KOKUYO International Asia Co., Ltd., KOKUYO International (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., KOKUYO Vietnam Trading Co., Ltd., KOKUYO CAMLIN Ltd.	KOKUYO-IK (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

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Environmental Management

The Group’s Vision for the Environment

Environmental targets for 2030

Three-year environmental strategy

Environmental Management System

Environmental Education

First-, second-, and third-party audits

Third-party certification

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