Evaluation by Outside Organization

Social Issues Attributable to JSR Group's Corporate Activity Environmental Conservation (Climate Change Mitigation)

Environmental problems attributable global warming (e.g., forest fires, droughts, water shortages, rising sea levels, threats of extinction, and impacts on ecosystems) are occurring on a global scale. Such problems are also seen in Japan. They are represented by floods caused by torrential rains, health problems such as heatstroke that result from more and more days of extreme heat, and such impacts on the ecosystems as coral bleaching.
JSR Group recognizes this as an important issue. We therefore strive to reduce GHG emissions by, for example, reducing the amount of energy needed in the various processes of producing and supplying our products.

Amid a global trend whereby businesses are managing GHG (Scope 1 to 3) indirectly emitted from their supply chains and disclosing their emissions, JSR Group calculates and ascertains its emissions based on the Basic Guidelines on Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Throughout the Supply Chain issued by Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan.

Scope 1:
Direct GHG emissions by sources owned or managed by a company or household (use of fuel: factory, heater, private automobile, etc.)
Scope 2:
Indirect GHG emissions from the use of electricity, steam, or heat (use of purchased electricity, etc.)
Scope 3:
Other indirect emissions besides Scope 2.
("Company" includes the procurement of raw materials, employee business trips, subcontracting of waste disposal, etc.
"Household" includes the purchase of products, travel, subcontracting of waste disposal, etc.)
Scope of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Businesses (conceptual illustration)

1. Initiatives to Reduce GHG Emissions

(1) JSR

In FY2012, JSR established its "System to Reduce Total CO2 Emissions from Three plants by 6% Compared to FY1990" by upgrading its energy-saving technologies through the introduction of fuel conversion at the Kashima Plant (Kashima South Joint Power Corporation) and a natural gas-fired gas turbine cogeneration system and sludge dewatering system at the Yokkaichi Plant. In FY2018, we reduced our CO2 emissions by 7.4% compared to the FY1990 level.

Beginning in FY2005, we achieved a significant reduction of 21.6% by FY2013 compared to the FY2005 level by promoting the above-mentioned fuel conversion and making large-scale capital investments.

However, since FY2013, our GHG emissions have remained about the same, despite our efforts to conserve energy.
Looking ahead, we will strive to reduce our GHG emissions toward achieving a long-term goal of “reducing emissions by 15% in FY2030 compared to the FY2013 level.” In addition to energy conservation activities, we will achieve this by introducing highly efficient equipment and using renewable energy.

GHG Emissions
Natural gas-fired turbine cogeneration system (Yokkaichi Plant)

Natural gas-fired turbine cogeneration system (Yokkaichi Plant)

Using natural gas as fuel
Reduces CO2 emissions compared to coal- or heavy oil-fired steam boilers and condensing steam turbine systems.

Sludge dryer system (Yokkaichi Plant)

Sludge dryer system (Yokkaichi Plant)

Reduces the amount of combustion support fuel (heavy oil) used in onsite incineration by drying high-water-content sludge that is produced by comprehensive wastewater treatment facilities and using it as fuel.

(2) Head Office

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government requires major tenants of a building occupying 5,000 square meters or more in floor area or consuming six million kWh or more of electricity annually to reduce its CO2 emissions under the Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance on Environmental Preservation.
Although we are not subject to this obligation, we are promoting energy conservation on our own initiative by voluntarily setting a specific power saving target.
In FY2018, our power consumption fell below the base year average as a result of the main initiatives described below, and we achieved a 15.6% reduction in our emissions compared to the base year average.

Power Saving Target

8% reduction compared to the average power consumption from the base years of FY2009 and FY2010

Major Efforts

  • - Policy of turning off lights and office equipment such as printers when not in use.
  • - Implemented the so-called "Cool Biz" dress code.
  • - Introduced a daylight savings time scheme on two days/week from June to September.
  • - Maintained a proper air-conditioned room temperature that achieves a balance between energy savings and operational efficiency.

Power Consumption at the Head Office

Power Consumption at the Head Office

(3) Logistics: Improving Transport Efficiency

As part of our environmental efforts in transportation, we have taken steps to reduce our transport energy use as a designated shipper under the amended Energy Conservation Act. We are working to reduce per-unit transport energy by switching to large-scale transport and making a modal shift from road to rail and water transport.
In FY2018, as a result of policies to transport goods and raw materials by railway and ship, we achieved a modal share of approximately 85%, thus maintaining last year's high level, and successfully held down per-unit transportation energy.

FY 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
CO2 emissions (tons) 22,960 23,984 23,333 25,495 24,437 24,208
Category 4
Transportation and delivery of raw materials and other materials
10,489 12,028 12,172 14,133 13,177 13,112
Category 5
Transportation of waste from plants
164 186 245 206 195 202
Category 9
Transportation and delivery of products
12,307 11,770 10,916 11,156 11,065 10,894
Transport volume (million ton-kilometers*3) 492 523 511 562 534 514
Modal shift rate (%) 83 85 86 87 86 85
Energy consumption (kl: crude oil equivalent) 9,026 9,388 9,112 9,898 9,899 9,324
Energy intensity (kl/1,000 t-km) 0.0183 0.0180 0.0178 0.0176 0.0178 0.0181

* Ton-kilometer: Freight Tonnage (ton) x Transport Distance (km)

2. Global Trends
GHG Emissions and Energy Consumption

Globally, we emitted 1,078 kt-CO2 in FY2018. This represented an increase of 2% compared to the previous year. Our energy consumption amounted to 430,000 kl, which was 2% more than the previous year. We will promote activities that take a long-term perspective on the global side of our business as well.

GHG Emissions Energy Consumption