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Progress in the Fulfillment of the Eco-First Commitments

Sumitomo Chemical is conducting Responsible Care* activities throughout the Sumitomo Chemical Group both in Japan and overseas, because it regards Responsible Care as one of its top management priorities, which it is developing globally.

  • *Responsible Care (RC)

    This is a voluntary initiative undertaken by the chemical industry to ensure safety, preserve the environment, protect health, and maintain product quality throughout the lifecycles of its products and to gain the trust of society through continuous dialogue.

Progress in the Fulfillment of the Eco-First Commitments

ECO FIRST

As a leading company in the chemical industry, Sumitomo Chemical is committed to fulfilling its Eco-First Commitments to the Japanese Minister of the Environment through the appropriate management of chemical substances while ensuring legal compliance and promoting RC activities.

Eco-First Commitments Updated Version

  1. We will manage chemical substances and promote risk communication in an appropriate and proactive manner.
    • We will review the information on the safety of all our products manufactured or sold in annual amounts of one ton or more by fiscal 2016 in order that all members of society may use Sumitomo Chemical's products more safely and with peace of mind, and we will conduct the appropriate risk assessments based on the results by fiscal 2020.
    • We will collaborate with chemical companies globally on voluntary projects for inspecting the safety of high production volume (HPV) chemicals and studies of the impact of chemical substances on human health and the environment (the Long-range Research Initiative : LRI) in order to improve the safety of chemical substances.
    • By fiscal 2015, we will achieve a 60% reduction in the total release into the air and water of chemical substances subject to the PRTR* Act relative to fiscal 2008 levels.
    • All the offices and facilities at Sumitomo Chemical will communicate effectively with and voluntarily promote information disclosure to consumers and other stakeholders in creative ways that suit the local community.
  2. We will actively promote initiatives to prevent global warming.
    • We will work to improve unit energy consumption by 25% at all our Works and unit CO2 emissions from the captive consumption of fossil fuels by 20% over fiscal 1990 levels by fiscal 2015.
    • As a member of the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association, we are committed to the heat recovery technology (HEART) Project with a view to developing and commercializing innovative energy-saving technologies to recover low-temperature heat (130 degrees Centigrade and lower) generated by our petrochemical plants that has not been recycled and reuse it at our manufacturing plants by fiscal 2015.
    • We will promote a modal shift in logistics and upsize transport containers to improve the efficiency of our logistics divisions, thereby improving their unit energy consumption by 1% annually.
    • In cooperation with the labor union, we will implement measures to help prevent global warming through the reduction of household CO2 emissions by encouraging employees to make continuous efforts to reduce CO2 emissions at home.
  3. We will actively promote initiatives for building a recycling-based society.
    • We will endeavor to reduce waste and promote recycling, aiming at achieving a 80% reduction in industrial waste landfill relative to fiscal 2000 levels by fiscal 2015.
    • We will reduce the ratio of landfill to total waste generated at all our Works to less than 3% by fiscal 2015.
  • *Pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR)

    A system for recording emissions and movement of environmental pollutants. This system enables collection, totaling, and reporting of data from each source and also allows measurement of the extent to which a toxic chemical substance is emitted into the environment or carried out in waste from a site.

Progress in fulfilling Eco-First commitments (March 2010 to March 2011)

Very favorable:Very favorable/ Generally favorable:Generally favorable/ Further study needed:Further study needed

Management of chemical substances and promotion of risk communication

Item Result

Reviewing the safety information on chemicals and conducting risk assessments

  • Proceeding favorably as planned
  • Approximately 50% of hazard assessment completed and risk assessments performed for 59 chemical substances
Very favorable

Voluntarily inspecting the safety of HPV chemicals and conducting LRI activities

  1. Voluntary inspection of the safety of HPV chemicals
    • Conducted in cooperation with the world chemical industry; led and completed the inspection on three substances *1
    • *1 2-tert-butyl-5-methylphenol, 2,2'-methylene-bis-(6-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol), and resorcinol
  2. LRI
    • Participated in the LRI project implemented by the Japan Chemical Industry Association as a member of the taskforce on science and leader of the planning and management panel *2
    • *2Commissioned expert research into ecotoxicity (environmental toxicity), carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, more precise risk assessment, and neurotoxicity, and held a meeting to report the research results.
Very favorable

Halving the release of substances subject to the PRTR Act into the air and water

  • Systematically reduced the amount released based on risk management
  • Achieved the initial target of reducing 50% from the fiscal 2002 level (baseline year) by fiscal 2010
Very favorable

Enhancing information disclosure and risk communication

  • Published the Sumitomo Chemical CSR Report (in Japanese and English) and also the Report on the Environment, Health and Safety by each individual Works on a regular basis
  • Published local PR newsletters, made school visits, accepted student interns, and engaged in dialogues with local residents at each of our worksites
Very favorable

Preventing global warming

Item Result

Improving unit energy consumption and reducing unit CO2 emissions at all Works

  • Unit energy consumption and unit CO2 emissions decreased by 18.3% and 24.1%, respectively from fiscal 1990 levels (baseline year)
  • Implemented multifaceted energy conservation measures, including improved operation methods, process rationalization, improvement of facility and equipment efficiency, and efficient use of energy in cooperation with neighboring companies.
  • *3 Unit energy consumption
  • *4 Unit CO2 emission
Generally favorable*3Very favorable*4

Developing and making practical use of innovative energy conservation technologies to recover previously unusable low-temperature heat (130ºC or below) generated by our petrochemical plants and reuse it at manufacturing plants

  • Participated as an advisor in a joint R&D project conducted by universities and machinery manufacturers, which was fostered by NEDO as a project to develop innovative technologies to conserve energy
    Test data is now being collected using a small prototype machine
Generally favorable

Continuously improving unit energy consumption in our logistics division

  • Continuing to implement measures to increase the rate of transportation by rail and ship and to upsize transport containers
Generally favorable

Reducing CO2 emissions by households in cooperation with the labor union

  • Conducted a wide range of activities, including creating posters, introducing examples of energy conservation in the inhouse magazine, opening a CSR webpage on the intranet, and distributing our "Environmental Accounting Book"
Very favorable

Creation of a recycling-based society

Item Result

Reducing the generation of industrial waste and landfill through recycling and other means and achieving zero waste emissions

  • Achieved the initial target of reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by 90% from fiscal 1990 levels (baseline year) by fiscal 2010
  • Made steady progress to achieve zero waste emissions at all our manufacturing facilities by fiscal 2015
  • *5 Reducing the generation of industrial waste and landfill
  • *6 Zero waste emissions
Very favorable*5Very favorable*6