Zeon's Sustainability
Basic Approach
Contributing to the preservation of the Earth and the prosperity of the human race
In keeping with its name, derived from the Greek words “geo” (Earth) and “eon” (eternity),
Zeon will contribute to a “Sustainable Earth” and “Safe and Comfortable Life for People”
by providing original technologies, products, and services.
• We aspire to realize a “Sustainable Earth” and “Safe and Comfortable Life”.
• We will firmly maintain fairness and integrity in our activities to be a trustworthy company.
• Each of us will think and act proactively for a better future.
Based on our corporate philosophy of “contributing to the preservation of the Earth and the prosperity of the human race”, sustainability at Zeon means achieving sustainable growth together with society. To achieve this, we will provide products and services that are valuable for solving global and social issues, build trust with our stakeholders through fairness and integrity and have each one of us act proactively thinking how to create a better future for the society and ourselves.
Explanation of the schematic diagram
Zeon’s Sustainability Policy can be explained with reference to the schematic diagram shown above. Firstly, the inner arrows (① and ②) represent how, by helping to solve social issues and providing new value for society, Zeon itself can also obtain profits in return for providing this value. Arrows ③ and ④ show how continuing to implement a “virtuous circle” can lead to sustainable development for society and continued growth for Zeon. The image in the middle representing two people shaking hands denotes how, by realizing this kind of virtuous circle, the relationship of trust between society and Zeon can be further strengthened.
CSR Code of Conduct
Based on the Zeon Corporate Philosophy and Sustainability Policy, we have established the CSR Code of Conduct, to serve as a guideline for each and every employee to earn the trust of society and act in accordance with its expectations.
Sustainability Management
Organizational Bodies and Committees
In December 2022, we newly established the Sustainability Conference and Sustainability Committee as organizational bodies tasked with reviewing and promoting group-wide sustainability initiatives. Both the Sustainability Conference and the CSR Conference are chaired and overseen by the President, with reports delivered to the Board of Directors on an as-needed basis. Risk management and compliance are handled by the CSR Conference, while general sustainability issues besides these are handled by the Sustainability Conference.
Sustainability Promotion Structure
With the aim of realizing carbon neutrality by 2050, in April 2022 the Carbon Neutral Endeavor Department which previously reported directly to the President was placed under the Corporate Sustainability Division. In July 2022, we established a new Carbon Neutral Division to strengthen organizational functions such as strategy formulation, and the Carbon Neutral Endeavor Department was placed under it. In addition, a new Carbon Neutral Laboratory has been established under the Research and Development Center, and we have put in place a system for promoting R&D that is oriented toward monozukuri manufacturing that helps to realize carbon neutrality and the circular economy.
In May 2022, we implemented an organizational reform, with the existing Raw Material Division and Logistics Division that had been under the Elastomers and Chemicals Business Headquarters being brought together to form the new Supply Chain Division, which is under the Administrative Headquarters. The Supply Chain Division undertakes the comprehensive collection and analysis of all supply chain related information, and implements measures intended to reduce Scope 3 CO2 emissions in the supply chain. It also puts in place the systems needed for the formulation, proposal, adjustment and implementation of supply chain related policies to help ensure the building of the foundations needed for business growth, and accelerating initiatives aimed at realizing carbon neutrality.
Sustainability Promotion Plan
Since 2011, we have instituted our “Vision for 2020” in respective fields based on our CSR Matrix, and have been engaged with CSR issues at the Zeon Group level.
In 2021, we presented our “Vision for 2030,” formulating the Three Group-wide Strategies to help us achieve our goals for the year 2030, and which represent the embodiment of that vision. We then established our “Targets for 2030,” corresponding to these Three Group-wide Strategies. These include those relating to sustainability objectives, such as: “a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions”; “50% of turnover from products which contribute to the SDGs”; “75% employee engagement”; and “a 30% ratio of foreign-national and female directors and officers.”
In FY 2023, we started Phase 2 (FY 2023-26) of STAGE30, our Medium-Term Business Plan. These four years are designated as the time to shift to implementing the specific activities that we devised in Phase 1 to achieve our Vision for 2030, to be “A company that lives up to societal expectations and the aspirations of employees.” We are promoting Four Group-wide Strategies in Phase 2, adding the new fourth strategy of “‘Polish up’ the management base” to our original Three Group-wide Strategies. Target values for FY 2026 have been set for each of these Group-wide Strategies, and we are broadly sharing our progress toward them with stakeholders. Through this, we will make steady progress toward realizing our Vision for 2030.
Timeline of CSR/Sustainability Initiatives
| 1995 | Joined the Japan Responsible Care Council and declared our commitment to Responsible Care |
|---|---|
| Established Zeon’s Responsible Care Policy | |
| 1996 | Revised the group-wide safety management system and established the Plant Technology Audit System |
| 1997 | Established the Safety Philosophy |
| Held the first Zeon Safety Month and the All-Zeon Safety Conference (subsequently held each year in April) | |
| Established the Code of Conduct (Zeon’s Seven Articles) | |
| 1998 | Established the Responsible Care Policy |
| 1999 | Established the Risk Management Rules |
| 2000 | Published the first Responsible Care Activity Report (1999 edition) |
| 2001 | Established the Environmental Philosophy |
| 2003 | Amended the Risk Management Rules and renamed them as the Risk Management and Compliance Rules |
| Established Zeon’s Seven Articles Code of Conduct | |
| 2004 | Implemented the Internal Reporting System |
| Published the Compliance Textbook I | |
| 2005 | Published an English version of the Responsible Care Activity Report |
| Conducted third-party verification for the Responsible Care Activity Report | |
| Published the Compliance Textbook II (Q&A Edition) | |
| 2006 | Switched from publishing the Responsible Care Activity Report to publishing the CSR Report |
| 2008 | Published the Compliance Textbook I (Revised Edition) |
| 2009 | Signed the Responsible Care Global Charter |
| 2010 | Established the CSR Policy and CSR Code of Conduct |
| Published the Compliance Textbook (Q&A Edition) | |
| Revised the CSR Implementation System and established a new System | |
| Published the CSR Textbook | |
| 2011 | Began using the CSR Matrix |
| 2012 | Started the CSR Core Projects (comprehensive Zeon social contributions package) |
| 2013 | Switched from publishing the CSR Report to publishing the Corporate Report |
| 2017 | Revised the CSR Matrix based on ISO 26000 |
| Along with publishing the Corporate Report, also published a PDF version of the CSR Report on the corporate website | |
| 2018 | Revised the CSR Code of Conduct |
| 2019 | Became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact |
| Established the Zeon Group Human Rights Policy | |
| 2020 | Expressed its support for the TCFD |
| 2021 | Established the Declaration for Health and Productivity Management |
| 2022 | Established the Sustainability Policy |
| Switched from the Corporate Report to the Integrated Report; and from the CSR Report to the Sustainability Report | |
| Newly established the Sustainability Conference and Sustainability Committee |
Sustainability Report
The Sustainability Report provides more detailed information.