Water is an essential resource for living beings. Globally, freshwater, in particular, is an extremely valuable resources. Since water resources are being affected by natural disasters caused by abnormal weather events resulting from climate change, we recognize that our mission as a manufacturer of chemical products is to conserve and preserve water resources.

JSR Group uses such water resources for drinking water, of course, but also as a raw material, cleaning solution, in treatment facilities for chemicals, and coolant in its manufacturing processes. Therefore, we strive to recycle water in our processes. At the same time, we purify and check the quality of the water when discharging it outside of our plants. In this way, we work to conserve water resources through appropriate management and treatment.

Depending on the quality of wastewater, JSR Group removes solids, separates oil-water, and conducts chemical treatment (neutralization, etc.). Furthermore, by performing biological treatment (decomposition of organic matter using microorganisms, etc.) as necessary, we treat water pollutants such as organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus contained in wastewater, and monitor the amount of water discharged. As a result, we manage wastewater at a level well below the legal standard value and strive to conserve water resources.

• Environmental load (COD discharges, total nitrogen emissions, total phosphorus emissions) → JSR Group ESG Data
• Initiatives to Prevent Pollution: 1. Protection of Atmospheric, Water and Soil Environments >(2) Protection of Water Quality and Environments

We have recalculated data back to FY2020 following the transfer of the Elastomers Business in April 2022.
In FY2022, JSR Group consumed 3,853,000m³ of water (down 3% year on year) and discharged 3,748,000m³ of wastewater in total (down 5% year on year).

We will continue to strive to appropriately manage increasingly important water resources in the future.

*Measure taken in conjunction with the base year of GHG emissions

JSR Group uses the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas of the World Resources Institute (WRI) as a tool to assess water risks. We conducted "water stress" assessments of our production bases in and outside of Japan from now up to 2040 and identified areas with high water stress.
As a result of assessing the current state of the overall water risks, we have confirmed that the overall water risks in all our bases is 3* or less.
We are taking measures to reduce the respective risks at our bases with relatively high water risks, including conducting further detailed studies.

* The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas contains a risk assessment (five stages). A higher value indicates a higher water risk. The assessment is calculated from the situation of the indicators selected for each category in each of the physical quantity, quality and regulations/reputation items.

A large amount of water is used in the production process of the Life Sciences Division. The wastewater is then treated off-site. We started building an on-site wastewater treatment facility from October 2021 to reduce the amount of wastewater we generate. We completed construction of the facility in September 2022 and started test operation from October of that year. This facility makes most off-site wastewater treatment unnecessary and has allowed us to reuse 70% of the wastewater since the third quarter of FY2022. We have also greatly reduced the CO2 emissions we generate by transporting wastewater to off-site treatment facilities.

• Reference: P. 21 of JSR Micro N.V. CSR Report 2021 (PDF: 2.89 MB)