Environmental Performance

By providing solutions that contribute to the global environment and a rich life and working to reduce environmental impacts and disclose timely information in fundamental business domains, Kaneka Group engages in various environmental initiatives.

Material Balance

Kaneka Group is working to reduce environmental impacts by aggregating the status of energy and resource inputs and material outputs through emissions and products to grasp production activity volume, targeting Kaneka and Group companies within Japan and overseas.

For data of indicators related to climate change and environment protection, we have received third-party assurance to ensure the reliability and transparency of Data Sheet 2024.
For indicator data, some calculation methods have been changed. For details, please refer to “Calculation Methods for Data of Indicators related to Environment”.

Fiscal 2023 results

INPUTS (Energy and Resources)

Items Units Kaneka Group (From top)
Kaneka
Group companies in Japan
Overseas Group companies
Main raw materials thousand tons 1,567 1,152
255
159
Energy (GWh Conversions) GWh 5,301 3,820
467
1,014
Water million m3 33.0 24.2
2.9
5.9
Kaneka Group companies in Japan
48 (*1)
Overseas Group companies
16

OUTPUTS (Discharges, Recycling, and Products)

Products
Products thousand tons 1,914 1,549
209
247
Into the atmosphere
GHG(Scope1、2) thousand tons CO2e 1,513 1,106
130
277
SOx tons 51.2 39.6
10.1
1.5
NOx tons 841.6 654.3
45.3
142.0
Soot and dust tons 21.0 15.1
0.9
5.0
PRTR Law designated substances tons 150.7 79.2
71.5
Into water systems
Chemical oxygen demand tons 290.9 229.7
7.2
54.1
Nitrogen tons 138.4 136.4
1.9
0.1
Phosphorus tons 3.7 3.5
0.2
0.0
Suspended solids tons 235.4 200.8
6.8
27.8
PRTR Law designated substances tons 35.5 35.4
0.04
As waste
Final landfill tons 4,096 60
248
3,788
External recycling tons 54,567 40,167
8,889
5,512
External reduction tons 10,553 322
5,322
4,910

*1 42 Kaneka consolidated subsidiaries in Japan and six non-consolidated subsidiaries. Consolidated subsidiaries in Japan do not include subsidiaries of Cemedine Co., Ltd.

Environmental Accounting

We efficiently and effectively promote environmental conservation activities by quantitatively grasping the investment and expenditure costs related to environmental conservation and the quantitative and economic impacts of environmental measures. We calculate these costs and effects based on the 2005 edition of the Environmental Accounting Guidelines by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment with Kaneka’s own unique way of thinking, targeting all parent manufacturing sites and 30 Group companies in Japan (manufacturing companies).

Environmental Costs (Investments, Expenditures)

(Millions of yen)

Cost Classifications Main Efforts Fiscal 2021 Fiscal 2022 Fiscal 2023
Investments Expenditures Investments Expenditures Investments Expenditures
Business Area 3,987 6,048 893 6,350 1,147 6,696
  1. Pollution Prevention Air and water pollution prevention 3,737 3,881 835 4,124 1,073 4,283
2. Environmental Conservation Addressing climate change and energy saving - - - - - -
3. Resource Recycling Waste processing, recycling, and reduction 250 2,167 59 2,227 74 2,412
Upstream and Downstream Product recycling, collection, and processing 0 25 0 24 0 17
Management Activities Environmental education for employees and environmental impact monitoring and measurement 1 419 0 423 2 388
Research and Development Research and development of products contributing to environmental conservation - 9,219 - 11,876 - 12,387
Social Activities Greening, beautification, and disclosure of environmental information 0 107 0 84 2 74
Environmental Damage Payment of sulfur oxide emission charges 0 2 0 9 0 9
Total 3,988 15,820 893 18,766 1,151 19,570

Note: Figures do not include global environment conservation investments and expenditures and research and development investments. Amounts reported here may not fully match, due to rounding.

Quantitative Impact of Environmental Conservation Efforts

Category Initiatives Items Units Fiscal 2021 Fiscal 2022 Fiscal 2023
Pollution Prevention Atmospheric and water discharges of hazardous substances SOx emissions Tons 85.5 81.6 49.7
NOx emissions Tons 876.3 786.7 699.6
Chemical oxygen demand Tons 236.2 228.7 236.9
PRTR Law‒designated chemical emissions Tons 166.0 168.6 186.1
Environment Greenhouse gas emissions GHG emissions Thousand tons-CO2e 1,219.6 1,095.3 1,236.2
Energy consumptions GWh Conversions GWh 4,247 3,802 4,287
Resource Recycling Final landfill Landfill Tons 350.2 279.9 308.0
External recycling Amounts recycled Tons 48,906.8 47,390.1 49,055.5

Economic Impacts of Environmental Measures

(Millions of yen)

Measures Fiscal 2021 Fiscal 2022 Fiscal 2023
Revenue from recycling 184 198 230
Cost reductions by better resource efficiency (output per unit of input) -19 -134 799
Waste disposal cost reductions by recycling 448 306 200
Cost reductions by energy conservation 422 84 364
Total 1,035 453 1,593

Note: Amounts reported here may not fully match, due to rounding.

Environmental Investments (Kaneka)

We continue to invest in environmental conservation.
Environmental investments in fiscal 2023 totaled 1,011 million yen.
Environmental investment over the past five years averages about 1,600 million yen, leading with water quality (54.3%), followed by air quality (30.5%) and the work environment (8.4%). We will continue to invest proactively to maintain and improve the environment.

Environmental Investments in Fiscal 2023

Cumulative Environmental Investments

Environment Efficiency (Kaneka)

Kaneka assesses the environmental impact of our production activities using Environmental Impact Points (EIPs), which are compiled using the JEPIX methodology, and we use these points to assess our environmental efficiency.
Our total environmental impact for fiscal 2023 amounted to 4.11 billion EIPs, a 0.3% increase from the previous year. This was primarily due to a rise in greenhouse gases and phosphorus, despite reductions in hazardous air pollutants, NOx, SPM10, and nitrogen. Environmental efficiency deteriorated by 0.9% compared to the previous year.

Environment Efficiency

Details of Total Environmental Impact

Fiscal Year Net Sales
(million yen)
Environmental Impact
(100 million EIPs)
Environmental Efficiency
(yen/EIP)
2021 334,675 47.7 70.2
2022 369,172 41.0 90.0
2023 366,950 41.1 89.2

CHECK & ACT

Under environmentally friendly management, we continue working to reduce environmental risks by complying with environmental regulations and legislation and criteria in agreements with local governments and by checking compliance with them through various means, including ISO 14001 internal audits and ESG safety and quality inspections.
We will also continue working to further reduce environmental impact and improve environmental efficiency by visualizing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting energy conservation activities.

TOPICSGreen Bond (Environmental Bond) Issued

As its 7th unsecured straight bond, Kaneka issued a green bond (environmental bond) to procure funds for the manufacture and R&D of KANEKA Biodegradable Polymer Green Planet™ (“Green Planet™”) in September 2019. A green bond is an ESG bond, and fund usage is limited to projects that contribute to resolving environmental issues. It is the first such industrial bond issued by a Japanese chemical company.
Green Planet™ is a 100% plant-based material derived from microorganisms that consume plant oils and store them as polymers within their bodies. Biodegradable in seawater and soil, it is expected to help solve the global issue of marine pollution caused by microplastics.
For the issuance of the green bond, Kaneka has established the Green Bond Framework, which conforms to the Green Bond Principles 2018 of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and the Green Bond Guidelines 2017 Edition of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. To obtain eligibility for and transparency of this green bond and raise its appeal for investors, as a third-party evaluation, Kaneka has obtained a second opinion from Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) of how this framework conforms to the Green Bond Principles 2018 and the Green Bond Guidelines 2017 Edition. Kaneka has also obtained top-level evaluation in the green bond assessment by R&I, the GA1 preliminary evaluation.
The relevant business segments of the green bond principles and the relevant development objectives of the SDGs are shown in the table below.

Green bond principles / Green project categories SDGs Development objectives
  • Pollution Prevention and Control
  • Eco-Efficient and/or Circular Economy Adapted Products, Production Technologies and Processes

Redemption was completed in September 2024.

Annual Reporting

・Green Bond 2020 Annual Reporting (PDF)

・Green Bond 2021 Annual Reporting (PDF)

・Green Bond 2022 Annual Reporting (PDF)

・Green Bond 2023 Annual Reporting (PDF)

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