Biodiversity and Pollutant Countermeasures

The Shin-Etsu Group aims to design environmentally considerate product starting from the product development stage. At the same time, we are also meeting our responsibilities as a chemical company by working actively to ensure the strict control of chemical substances, mitigate global warming, reduce energy consumption, reduce the amount of waste generated, prevent air and water pollution, and make other environmental contributions. We are also engaged in activities such as tree planting at our plant sites in compliance with the Factory Location Act and voluntary river cleaning in areas around our plants. Furthermore, we request our suppliers to implement environmental conservation initiatives in accordance with our CSR procurement guidelines.

The Group preserves the earth's ecosystem through these efforts.

We have purchased pulp derived from wood as the main raw material of cellulose derivatives. When purchasing pulp, we ask all our pulp suppliers to consider the conservation of biodiversity, and we have confirmed that they have all obtained national and/or international forest certifications. In addition, we work hard to learn about our pulp suppliers' biodiversity activities.

In February 2021, the Company participated in a meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) as an associate member. The RSPO is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable growth and use of palm oil by way of cooperation within the supply chain and open dialogue with interested parties. The Company agreed with the purpose and participated in the RSPO, and obtained mass balance certification in March 2023.

We strives to prevent health hazards and minimize the environmental impact of chemical substances in the processes of development, manufacturing, distribution, use, consumption and disposal. We appropriately design chemical substances in accordance with laws and regulations, evaluate their safety based on the latest information collected in cooperation with government agencies and affiliated organizations, manufacture our products using optimal facilities, and strive to reduce emissions of chemical substances.
For example, we are taking measures to reduce the amount of chemical substances we use that are released into the environment and transferred through the Chemical Substances Control Law^*1 and the PRTR system^*2.Furthermore, in order to minimize the impact of chemical substances on workers, we are promoting the reduction of emissions and the use of safer alternatives by improving processes and equipment through the implementation of risk assessments of chemical substances, as mandated by the revised Industrial Safety and Health Act.

With the enforcement of the revised PRTR Law, silicon carbide and other substances have become a Type 1 designated chemical substance and is now subject to reporting from 2023 onwards, which has resulted in a significant increase in the total transferred volume of PRTR controlled substance.

The Group does not use or produce substances that fall under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants^*3.

The Group is working to reduce emissions of air pollutants by setting emission reduction targets at each of our Group companies and by converting to the use of fuel components with less sulfur. Each group company carried out regular investigations on their emitted gas to confirm that they comply with laws and regulations.

Groundwater and soil monitoring is carried out at each plant in accordance with the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act, and we make sure that we are in compliance with laws and regulations. In FY2023, the company performed groundwater and soil monitoring 239 times at its plant sites.