The Green Ink Accounting Structure

Calculating the Environmental Impact Reduction Green Ink Indicator

• The indicator is the accumulation of 11 types of environmental impact data collected for products' life span (raw material procurement production distribution sales consumption recycling disposal) and is expressed as the degree of improvement (or worsening) for FY 1999, relative to the base year of FY 1997.
• We assign a weight to each category of environmental impact based on our estimation of its degree of importance to us in preservation of the global environment.
• 1 ECO is defined as a 1% improvement.

Weighting of the 11 Environmental Impact Categories
Our Green Ink Accounting is a process that integrates improvement in 11 categories of environmental impact, different in type and measure, into one indicator. Corporate activities to improve the environment vary in content and how they are measured. The process of creating one indicator for a single standard of evaluation and for comprehensive decision-making is the "weighting" used in Green Ink Accounting.
Takara Shuzo gathered a team of eight individuals -- three environmental issue researchers from outside the company and five employees from Environment Services -- to discuss 11 environmental impacts from the viewpoint of their importance to Takara Shuzo's environmental conservation activities. This was followed by votes to determine a 5-tier ranking, with the following results:

The burden on the environment from the company's raw material use, water use and effluent are relatively low.	Weight 1
Reduction of CO2 is recognized as a recent priority, as are the related categories of electricity use, fuel use and CO2 emissions.	Weight 3
In comparison to CO2 issues, the company's emissions of SOx and NOx are within standards.	Weight 2
Factory and other industrial waste is a major social issue, and its reduction is a top priority. In particular, our company is lagging in its implementation of 100% resource recycling and is speeding up efforts to achieve this.	Weight 5
Categories related to container waste (containers and packaging that are discarded rather than recycled after the product is consumed) are a major concern for makers of alcoholic beverages, with solutions a high priority.	Weight 4

Participants in the Environmental Impact Category Weighting Discussion

*Positions and assignments current at the time the committee was in session.

Professor Takashi Gunjima, Doshisha University Economics Department
Assistant Professor Masanobu Ishikawa, Tokyo University of Fisheries, Fisheries Department
Tatsuya Nakaji, Chief Researcher, Green Marketing Institute Co., Ltd.
Yoshihisa Umeda, Shuji Nishio, and Kuniharu Matsumoto, Environment and Quality Insurance Division, Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.
Akira Yoshida, Yuichiro Suzuki, Environment/Business Division, Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd.

Calculating the Social Contributions Reduction Green Ink Indicator
In addition to financial contributions, social contribution activities also include other activities that cannot be given a monetary value, such as volunteer activities. However, for the "Social Contributions Green Ink indicator," 1 ECO is defined as an increase of 1% in contributions in FY 1999 over FY 1997 for natural conservation and environmental education activities.

Publications
We published a "Green Accounting Annual Report Abstract for FY1999" in June of this year, using data that had been collected up to that point. (In the final report, the Environmental Impact Reduction Green Indicator actually increased 1 ECO from the figure reported in the abstract, thanks to newer data for our recycling rate of glass bottles.) The publication of the abstract is significant in fulfilling our corporate policy of releasing results to the public as quickly as possible.
The abstract was released to the news agencies on June 8 and was printed in the July 4 edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.