Environmental Load Reduction

Santen seeks to reduce environmental impact by taking measures to deal with the depletion of natural resources by converting to renewable raw materials and resources, contributing to solving water resource problems by efficiently using water resources in business activities and purifying wastewater, and preventing environmental pollution.

Waste Reduction

Conservation of Water Resources

Appropriate Control of Chemical Substances

Prevention of Environmental Pollution

Forest Conservation Activities

Local Environmental Clean-up Activities

Detailed information on reducing environmental impact is disclosed in the Environmental Data.

Environmental Data

Waste Reduction

In Japan, Santen promote the 3R initiatives of "Reducing" the production of waste, "Reusing" packaging and stationery used during the distribution process, and "Recycling" waste by sorting, at each operational site. Furthermore, we ensure that our waste is properly treated at our outsourced waste disposal service provider by confirming the waste policy, and the form of management of the waste treatment, and by making regular visits to the service provider. Before concluding an agreement with a new outsourced waste disposal service provider, we visit it and check that appropriate waste treatment is being conducted. The recycling rate was 99.8% and the final disposal rate was 0.01% in FY2021.

The recycling rate as a group was 98.5% maintaining the FY2030 target of 98% or higher.

Scope of data: 6 locations
Shiga Product Supply Center, Noto Plant, Nara Research and Development Center, Shimoshinjo Office, Tampere Plant, Suzhou Plant

Conservation of Water Resources

While no Santen plants or laboratories are located in areas under water stress(*), we view water as a precious resource and are striving to reduce our environmental impact by restricting water consumption and other means. Our water consumption per unit of revenue in FY2021 was 2.0 thousand m³ per billion yen, constituting of 9.8% reduction from FY2020. Water consumption per unit of production, which is our target for FY2030, was 13.4 m³/10,000 bottles in FY2021.

Being under water stress: Situation where the annual amount of water available for use per person is below 1,700 m³, causing people to suffer water-related inconveniences in their everyday lives

Appropriate Control of Chemical Substances

The company seeks to provide appropriate control of chemical substances at every operational site that handles chemical substances.

In Japan, based on the Law concerning Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (hereinafter, "PRTR") and the Industrial Safety and Health Act. we appropriately manage and register the amount of release into the air as well as the amount of transfer to the outside of the operational site according to the PRTR.

Furthermore, we introduced a "system for controlling chemical substances" to provide centralized control of the amount released and stored and the location of storage, as well as to appropriately purchase and use chemical substances. In order to reduce the release of chemical substances into the air as well as to decrease the impact on the environment, we installed an instrument to recover organic solvents, and ensure that the performance of the instrument is maintained through inspection and maintenance of the instrument.

Organic solvent recovery equipment at Nara Research and Development Center

Prevention of Environmental Pollution

The company regularly measures and analyzes a variety of indices at each operational site, including air pollution, water contamination and noise levels, in order to appropriately control and identify pollution levels according to the regulatory standards stipulated in laws and local regulations.

We also compile procedures to prevent the leakage of pollution and install equipment that prevents wastewater leaked from the storage container from flowing into the general discharge channel outside the plant, and practice the operation thereof. We establish the system to prevent impact on the environment and the neighborhood.

Hazardous Waste trend

We have defined as "Hazardous Wastes," according to the laws and regulations of each country, substances that fall under specially controlled industrial waste as stipulated in the "Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Act" in Japan, and substances to be treated as dangerous waste in China. We started collecting data from FY2020. The Hazardous Waste emissions in FY2021 were 89 tons.

Forest Conservation Activities

Because appropriate forest conservation contributes to not only facilitating the absorption of CO₂ but also maintaining the rich natural environment and headwater conservation capacity, leading to the protection of biodiversity, the company engages in forest conservation activities.

Activities of Noto Plant

Noto Plant supports the Environmental Education Project to conserve nature at Mt.Hodatsu, organized by the board of education of Hodatsushimizu Town, the local government of the area where it is located.

Activities of Shiga Product Supply Center

Santen employees participate in events held by a Shiga Prefecture-based NPO to offer practical training on the management and use of satoyama (village forest) forests and other matters. Although it was not implemented because of the COVID-19 infections also in FY2021, we will consider participation after the activity resumed due to infection control measures, etc.

Employees are taking training on the use of satoyama forests.

Local Environmental Clean-up Activities

To contribute to the cleaning up and beautification of local environments, Santen's sites , including the Noto Plant, the Shiga Product Supply Center and Nara Research and Development Center, conduct clean-up activities in collaboration with local governments and regional organizations. However, we have reduced the scale of activities due to the COVID-19 infections also in FY2021.

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