Inside TaKaRa's Environmental Program: How It's Organized TaKaRa's commitment to the environment

Inside TaKaRa's Environmental Program:
How It's Organized TaKaRa's commitment to the environment

The core of our business has always been making fermented alcoholic beverages, a natural process that takes its very method and raw materials from nature: grain from the fields and water from rivers and streams.
From its founding, the business has been conducted with reverence for Nature. In Japan, we took part in the "Come Back, Salmon!" Campaign in 1979 and introduced the first [stay-on-tab] (SOT) drink cans to replace pull-off tabs, which set the standard for the industry, thus playing a pioneering role in environmental consciousness and lending impetus to the nascent environmental protection movement. In 1985, we formally established "harmony between nature and humanity, individually and collectively," as our corporate principle.

Corporate Principles of TaKaRa Shuzo, September 1985

"To contribute to the creation of a vital society and a healthy lifestyle for its members through our fermentation technology, and, at the same time, to achieve harmony with nature." PADI
Japan's first SOT can, containing the TaKaRa sports drink "PADI"

Eco-Challenge 21, A Company-Wide Environmental Awareness Project
The global spreading and worsening of environmental problems have prompted major changes in corporate responses. In July 1997, TaKaRa launched the company-wide environment project Eco-Challenge 21. Its object is to bring attention to the impact of corporate activities on the natural environment; to take a new, comprehensive look at the environmental burden of product packaging, distribution, production, routine business procedures, and sales; and to commit ourselves to reducing those burdens in a planned and systematic manner. Another goal of Eco-Challenge 21 is to continuously increase the company's contribution to society through nature conservation activities and to strive to design and install an environmentally conscious type of management system encompassing the totality of all corporate activities.

Changes in Consumer Consciousness

Green consumers

Green purchase

Growing consumer demand for environment-friendly products and lifestyles

Corporate Environmental Policies Sought by Society:

Natural environment protection	• • •	Enhancement of corporate image
Support for activities

Environmental impact reduction	• • •	Sine qua non of corporate survival
Recycling Energy- & resource-saving Waste reduction

Eco-Challenge 21

Eco-Challenge 21 Organization

Environmental Impact Reduction Activities

<Resource procurement>
• Use of secondary materials
• Quantitative reduction in resource consumption, promotion of reuse
<Product design>
• Design of easy-to-recycle products
<Production>

• Waste reduction and recycling

zero emissions

• Energy saving

<Distribution>
• Rationalization of shipments and deliveries
• Modal shifts
• Lowering fuel consumption
<Sales>
• Review of sales packaging and containers
• Increasing refillable bottles in sales
• Collection of empty bottles from commercial users
<Consumption>
• Increasing refillable & recyclable containers
• Expansion of markets for recycled products
• Support for commercial recyclers

Natural Environment Protection Activities

• Operation of the Harmonist Fund
• Support for local nature conservation activities
• Events publishing recycling

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