Management policy

1-1. Make all products sustainability-contributing products

artience group has been working to improve the environmental friendliness of its products from an early stage, and has been releasing a variety of environmentally-friendly products since the 1990s. In recent years, the Group's product development has focused not only on the "environmental value" of the coexistence of the environment and society, but also on the aspects of people's comfort, health and welfare, safety and security, and as a result, we have launched a diverse range of products that can contribute to the improvement of the sustainability of society.
Therefore, in line with the formulation of ASV2050/2030, we have added the standard of "products with life value" to the existing standards for environmentally-friendly products, and redefined them as "artience group sustainability products." This expansion of the definition will add a range of products with various functions and features of life value, such as digital-related materials for IoT and high-speed communications, sensor materials (safety of autonomous driving, comfort of the living environment), and bio- and medical-related materials (medical, drug discovery, and healthcare).

The Group has set a quantitative target of increasing the ratio of these sustainability-contributing products to total sales of the Group to 100% by 2050, both in Japan and overseas, and as an intermediate step, achieving the ratio of 80% by 2030.

1-2. Contributing to decarbonization of the entire value chain

The other goal, "Contributing to the decarbonization of the entire value chain," is a commitment to our client companies and the consumer base beyond them, which are aiming for low-carbonization, decarbonization, and CO2 emission reduction, as well as artience group. Looking at the products sold by the Group as a BtoB material manufacturer throughout the value chain, the Group is positioned upstream of the supply chain from the customer's point of view, and CO2 emissions from the Group's production and corporate activities have a significant impact on CO2 emissions for customers, especially CO2 emissions from raw materials (Scope 3 Category 1).

In order to support and cooperate with our customers in their efforts to achieve low-carbonization, decarbonization, and carbon neutrality as a supplier, the Group will promote the reduction of CO2 emissions from its products (selection of low-carbon raw materials, low-carbon energy used during production, etc.). In addition, we will promote decarbonization throughout the value chain by expanding our product lineup that can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions from the perspective of the product life cycle, such as more efficient transportation, lower carbonization, reduction of energy and fuel during product manufacturing on the customer side, energy conservation during use on the consumer side, and easy recyclability at the time of disposal.

2-1. Achieve carbon neutrality in production activities and minimize GHG emissions in corporate activities as a whole

Since the launch of the CO2 Reduction Project in fiscal 2010, artience group has been working to reduce CO2 emissions at its production sites in Japan and overseas. In fiscal 2018, we formulated new medium- to long-term environmental targets, which were to reduce domestic CO2 emissions by 26% by fiscal 2030 (compared to fiscal 2013) and to set interim targets for the end of the medium-term management plan every three years through scientific backcasting.

Through all-round reforms to achieve the target, domestic CO2 emissions in fiscal 2020 were 76,843 t-CO2, far below the target of 78,600 t-CO2 for fiscal 2026. Therefore, in FY2021, we declared that we would achieve carbon neutrality by FY2050 as a more stringent target, which became the central goal when formulating ASV2050/2030.
In the revision of ASV 2050/2030 for FY2025, the scope of targets has been expanded from limited to production activities to all corporate activities, including non-production sites.

In ASV2030, which is a milestone, we have set a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions in Japan to 50,000 t-CO2 compared to FY2020 (a 50% reduction compared to FY2013). To achieve this, we will take various measures in three aspects: reducing energy consumption, low-carbon energy, and low-carbon electricity. In addition, carbon offsets through emissions trading are also available as one of the cards, and we are also looking at negative emissions (initiatives to reduce negative emissions) for the future.

On the other hand, we have set a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions from our overseas bases, which we are aiming to grow and expand our business in the future, to 95,000 t-CO2, a * reduction compared to the BAU in FY2030. Overseas, the ratio of indirect emissions is larger than in Japan (the energy mix is shifting to electricity rather than fuel), so we will promote measures centered on low-carbon electricity.
This target is a 26% reduction in Scope 1+2 emissions (compared to FY2020) based on the GHG Protocol (an international standard for calculating and reporting greenhouse gases by companies) and unifying both domestic and overseas on a global basis.

• BAU ratio: Comparison with emissions when no measures are taken to prevent the increase in CO2 emissions due to business growth (Business as usual)

2-2. Achieving sustainable water use in production activities

artience group uses a large amount of fresh water for applications such as process water (water used for chemical reactions in water systems, cleaning of products, etc.), cooling water, and washing water. Water resources are one of the Group's important natural capitals, and we recognize that improving the sustainability of water use is an important issue. In fiscal 2020, approximately 73% of the water intake was from land-based freshwater systems such as groundwater or industrial water (water taken from rivers and lakes). We have been striving to reduce water consumption and purify wastewater through thorough circulation and cooling, reuse and recycling after use, but in the future, we will further reduce overall water consumption through the development of production processes that do not require water and the introduction of new irrigation technologies, and work on water use based on the premise of environmental conservation and biodiversity conservation.

2-3. Minimize waste generation and maximize recycling

Since the 1970s, when the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Act (Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Act) was enacted in Japan, artience group has been promoting the reduction of waste generation and recycling in its business activities, and has been striving to reduce the amount of waste generated and achieve zero emission * at all business sites.
In fiscal 2020, the * amount of waste generated externally in Japan was 10,822 tons, of which the top three types accounted for about 80% of the total amount: 55% of waste oil, 12% of waste plastics, and 10% of wastewater. By focusing on these and promoting measures, we will effectively reduce the amount of waste emitted externally.

Breakdown of waste (domestic 2020)

As long as the Group is a chemical manufacturing company and continues to expand its production activities, the generation of waste is inevitable. Therefore, we aim to minimize the amount of waste generated by developing production processes that are less likely to generate waste, examining waste disposal methods, promoting resource recycling such as reduce, reuse, and recycling at the site, and sharing know-how on waste reduction globally. In the FY2025 revision, we will horizontally expand the zero-emission activities that we have achieved in Japan overseas with the aim of achieving zero emissions throughout the Group. In addition, in terms of resource recycling, we will not limit ourselves to the Group, but will also promote the reduction of the amount of raw materials and auxiliary materials used (resource conservation) through production process reforms and resource recycling through co-creation with partner companies.

• Zero emissions: An initiative proposed by the United Nations University to reduce waste to zero as much as possible through waste recycling. The Group defines the ratio of final disposal to waste generated (final disposal rate) as 1% or less. In fiscal 2023, the final disposal rate of waste generated in Japan was 0.15%, and we achieved zero emissions at all business sites.
• External Waste Discharge: The amount of waste sold as valuable and the amount of waste generated at the site that was released without being recycled on the site premises or moved outside the business site to be disposed of by a disposal company. Since it includes the amount of resource recycling outside the Group, it is not suitable as an index for resource recycling, and it was changed in the FY2025 revision.

2-4. Becoming a chemical manufacturer that does not emit hazardous chemical substances in its production activities

Since the Group is a chemical manufacturing company, we have been working to manage * hazardous chemical substances in our production activities and reduce their emissions. In fiscal 2020, we emitted 68.2 tons of chemical substances, but we will reduce emissions of hazardous chemical substances by 30% in fiscal 2030 compared to fiscal 2020 by thoroughly preventing leakage and direct discharge and promoting the optimization of the cost performance of wastewater treatment facilities.

• Hazardous chemicals: Generally refers to chemicals that are harmful to the human body and ecosystems. The Group targets substances designated as Class 1 designated chemical substances under the PRTR system of the Act on the Identification and Management of Chemical Substances (Chemical Substances Control Act) and substances designated by the Japan Chemical Industry Association.