Chemical Substances Management | Environment ｜ Sustainability

Policy and Basic Approach Chemical substances possess many excellent properties and are beneficial for business activities, but some can be harmful to people and the environment.
To reduce the potential risks of harm to people and the environment from such chemicals, we are working to reduce usage through measures such as switching to safer substances, improving process efficiency, introducing new technologies, and promoting recycling.
Throughout the chemical usage process, we conduct scientific risk assessments based on the hazards of individual chemicals and exposure levels. Based on these assessment results, we continuously improve our practices to ensure more appropriate management.

Management Standards Our Group classifies chemical substances based on domestic regulations such as the Air Pollution Control Act, Water Pollution Control Act, and Industrial Safety and Health Act; international treaties like POPs; overseas regulations including REACH and TSCA; and information on carcinogenic properties.
We establish five management standards: B-rank (specific management), C-rank (use reduction), D-rank (emission reduction), and E-rank (other). When adopting and handling chemical substances within our Group, we implement measures in accordance with our management standards based on the above laws and regulations.

System The Head of the Technology Development Department oversees chemical substance management for our group.
The Environmental Strategy Promotion Office within the Technology Development Department leads efforts to improve the company-wide chemical substance management system.
Individual chemical substance management is handled by the administrative departments at each facility, which investigate the hazards and risks of chemicals and develop countermeasures.
Each facility collaborates with the Technology Development Department to strive for business operations that are friendly to both people and the environment. The Technology Development Department monitors and tracks rapidly changing legal revisions, disseminates information, and adjusts the Group's overall chemical substance management standards accordingly. To enhance the Group's overall chemical substance management level, it also holds regular training sessions for chemical substance managers at each business site.

GUNZE Group Chemical Substance Management System

Initiatives

1.Product Safety Management In our apparel division, certain products such as antibacterial items meet the standards of the Textile Evaluation Technology Council (TETC), and we display the “SEK Mark” on these products.
The SEK Mark guarantees not only “antibacterial and deodorizing effects” but also “durability of effects (wash resistance)” and “processing safety.”
It is a mark of trust awarded to products that contain no harmful substances and have passed skin irritation tests.

2.Safety Management (Environmental Conservation)

Compliance with the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Act (PRTR Act)

Our group strives to reduce emissions of hazardous chemicals by calculating and reporting the discharge and transfer quantities of substances subject to the PRTR Act at each business site and factory.
We analyze the overall results published annually to utilize them for reducing our own discharge and transfer quantities.
We advance emission reductions through measures such as improving or updating manufacturing equipment and devices, optimizing operating conditions, installing removal equipment for the relevant substances, and substituting raw and auxiliary materials.

Efforts to Prevent Air Pollution and Water Pollution

Our group complies with regulations set by national and local governments, as well as environmental conservation agreements.
In addition, we establish and manage voluntary control standards for gases and water discharged from our business sites and factories that are stricter than legal requirements when necessary.
We install monitoring equipment within production processes and utilize environmental conservation technologies, including our proprietary VOC treatment equipment, to remove harmful chemicals from exhaust gases and wastewater. Furthermore, we strive to improve manufacturing processes to minimize the use and discharge of these chemicals.

Example of Chemical Usage Reduction Initiatives

In the textile materials sector, improvements to equipment and processes have reduced total methanol usage, decreased environmental emissions from volatilization, and lowered workplace exposure levels.
This improvement simultaneously reduces resource consumption, environmental emission risks from chemicals, and worker exposure risks.

Collaboration with external parties In the engineering plastics field, we have established and continuously operate a recycling scheme for organic solvents, which are typically treated as industrial waste, through collaboration with suppliers.
This initiative not only reduces the discharge of organic solvents into the environment but also serves as one of our model cases for resource-circulating recycling within the company.