Responding to Climate Change

The Eiken Group recognizes that responding to climate change is an especially vital issue for the sustainability of society. One key task is to reduce emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases that are factors in climate change. The Group sets medium-to-long term targets for reducing these emissions, as part of energy-saving activities under its environmental management system, and carries out activities to achieve them. As climate disasters grow more intense and frequent, the world’s attitude to global warming is changing, as the Paris Agreement and other landmark events testify. In view of these trends, the Eiken Group is strengthening its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In the past, the Group has framed its reduction targets in terms of CO₂ emission volume per unit of net sales. Beginning in FY2022, however, to clarify its approach to reaching carbon neutrality, the Group is switching to targets for absolute emission volume reduction Group-wide. In this way the Group is redoubling its determination to mitigate climate change.

In 2015 the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body based in Switzerland, established the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In its final report, tabled in June 2017, the TCFD recommended that companies disclose climate-related information that may affect their finances. The TCFD recommends disclosure of risks and opportunities presented by climate change in terms of four elements: governance, strategy, risk management, and indices and targets.

The Eiken Group recognizes the risks that climate change poses for financial markets. The Group’s policy is to redouble its current efforts on climate change while conducting repeated analysis and discussion of disclosure in view of the TCFD recommendations, to gradually broaden the scope of its disclosure.

Eiken Chemical aims to be carbon neutral (Scope 1 and 2) by 2050 and is promoting the introduction of sustainable power. As one of our efforts, we have adopted "Tochigi Furusato Denryoku", which is power generated solely from water without emitting CO₂ during power generation, at our Nogi Plant (Nogi-machi, Tochigi Prefecture) since March 2022. Tochigi Furusato Electricity" is a locally produced and consumed renewable energy provided by Tochigi Prefectural Government and Tokyo Electric Power Energy Partner, Inc. A portion of the electricity charges are used for environmental conservation projects in Tochigi Prefecture, thus contributing to the local community, and we are working to achieve both community partnerships and global environmental conservation.

At the Company, an initiative to calculate supply chain greenhouse gas emissions as Scope1, Scope2, or Scope3 is underway. At each step from procurement of raw materials to shipping products, usage, and disposal, the steps with the largest greenhouse gas emission volumes and potential for reduction can be identified. In this way, we can reduce not only our own emissions but also those of raw material suppliers, product buyers, and other parties within the supply chain as a whole. This can also promote the sharing of information with the companies that make up the supply chain, helping to build understanding among these related parties so we can all work together to reduce greenhouse gases.

• •*Scope1: Direct emission from own fuel usage or usage in manufacturing processes of the Company
• •*Scope2: Indirect emissions from usage of electricity or heat purchased by the Company
• •*Scope3: Indirect emissions related to processes other than Scope1 and Scope2 (procurement of raw materials, product shipment, usage, and disposal, employee commuting, business trips, etc.)

The Company is always carrying out environmentally-conscious initiatives for product development. The polyvinyl chloride used in conventional products has been reduced by planned replacement, and this material is currently no longer used in our products. One specific initiative is the transition of storage requirements from freezing to room temperature for the TB-LAMP tuberculosis detection system which is also used in developing countries. This reduces the energy requirements related to cooling during shipping and also eliminates the need for a refrigerator in testing facilities, making examinations possible without concern for electricity. This also links to reduced plastic requirements for examinations, reducing waste and achieving a more environmentally-conscious product. Through initiatives for detail-oriented design and development of medical devices to meet customer demands, we are working to improve characteristics such as miniaturization, weight reduction, power conservation, short-term processing, and recyclability. Installation of the latest energy conservation equipment and high-performance processing machinery is promoted by setting goal values for each fiscal year.

Once a year, Eiken Chemical conducts environmental impact assessments of all existing products. The criteria applied differ by type of product. For reagents and fixtures, criteria include sales volume, storage conditions, shipping load, expiration date, inclusion of toxic substances, user complaints and environmental requirements. For devices, criteria include number of units installed, service life, power consumption, use/non-use of consumables, device materials and packaging, user complaints and environmental requirements. Similar criteria are applied to new products, which are assessed before product launch.