Brother Group Environmental Action Plan 2024
Brother Group Environmental Action Plan 2024 (2022-2024)
Basic policy
To realize the Brother Group Environmental Vision 2050, the following initiatives will be actively promoted together with stakeholders.
- Reduce CO2 emissions in the whole value chain
- Expand sustainable business by promoting resource circulation
- Reduce the business impact on the ecosystem and increase biodiversity conservation
- Create eco conscious products
- Comply with environmental laws and regulations
1. Activities at Brother facilities
- Reduction of CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2)
- Reduce CO2 emissions by 47% from the FY2015 level (9%* reduction over the three-year period from 2022-2024)
- Reduction of water consumption
- Reduce quantity of water intake more than previous year at manufacturing facilities (based on sales)
- Waste reduction
- Reduce waste volume more than previous year at manufacturing facilities (based on sales)
- Biodiversity conservation
- Evaluate environmental load and restoration/conservation efforts of all business activities on ecosystems by using a biodiversity assessment method that meets leading international standards
- Expand biodiversity conservation activities for the entire group based on the international guidelines for biodiversity
- From FY2015
| Environmental targets*1 | Achievements in FY2022 | Self-evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | Achieved a 43.8% reduction from FY2015. (Absolute value) | Significantly achieved |
| 1-2 | Achieved a 15.5% reduction from the previous fiscal year. (Per unit of sales) | Significantly achieved |
| 1-3 | Achieved a 0.1% reduction from the previous fiscal year. (Per unit of sales) | Achieved |
| 1-4 | Preparations were made to evaluate natural capital such as water, land, and forests, which are closely related to biodiversity, and the amount of environmental impact caused through procurement, use, and disposal of Brother products was examined. A partnership was formed with the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan ("WWF Japan"), and contributions were made to biodiversity conservation through donations to WWF Japan's forest conservation activities. Furthermore, more than 21,000 participants took part in the "zero ocean waste activities*2" targeting all Brother Group locations in Japan and overseas. |
Achieved |
- The numbers in the chart correspond to the numbers in the "Activities at Brother facilities" section above.
- To further promote the Brother Group's activities, the Group has been supporting World Oceans Day since FY2021.
2. Activities related to products
- Reduction of CO2 emissions (Scope 3 — C1, C11, and C12)
- Implement measures to reduce CO2 emissions by 150,000 tons*1
- Circular economy (resource circulation)
- Achieve a ratio of virgin materials used in products of 81% or less*2 by FY2024 (recycled resources ratio of 19% or more)
- Expand circular economy business
- Strengthen eco conscious product development
- Provide eco-conscious products that meet higher environmental standards in each market region
- Rebuild risk management system
- Rebuild foundation of activities to ensure compliance with environmental laws and regulations related to products
- Contribute to reducing CO2 emissions for society at large
- Establish a process to calculate the contribution toward reducing CO2 emissions for society at large, and calculate/disclose the amount of contribution toward reducing the CO2 emissions of the entire Brother Group.
- Promote innovation
- Identify promising new environmental technologies and implement them in business
- Total amount of CO2 emissions reduced by FY2024 through new product environmental measures compared to the business activities in FY2021.
Examples: Reduction of product size and weight, increase in the use of recycled materials, reduction of standby power consumption, etc. Applies to Printing & Solutions Business, Personal & Home Business, Machinery Business, Nissei Business. - Applies to Printing & Solutions Business, Personal & Home Business, Machinery Business.
| Environmental targets | Achievements in FY2022 | Self-evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| 2-1 | 100% of the measures planned for FY2022 were implemented. Furthermore, to achieve the FY2024 target of "150,000 tons reduction in CO2 emissions," measures to reduce emissions were formulated for each business segment. In collaboration with suppliers in Japan, activities to monitor CO2 emissions during parts manufacturing have been initiated. |
Achieved |
| 2-2 | To achieve the FY2024 target of "a ratio of virgin materials used in products of 81% or less*2 (recycled resources ratio of 19% or more)," the use of recycled plastic materials in newly developed products and existing products is being undertaken. At the same time, research on the use of recycled materials other than plastic is also underway. In addition, to expand a circular economy business, internal studies are underway to establish a product reuse business. | - |
| 2-3 | In the product group of Communications and Printing Equipment, environmentally friendly designs were promoted from the initial stages of product planning and development, and management complying with environmental labeling standards was carried out. As a result, Brother was able to acquire and register for the standards with stricter requirements, such as the "Blue Angel" in Germany, "Eco Mark" in Japan, and "EPEAT" in the United States. EPEAT is currently under consideration for major revision, and the company has joined a group that is studying the draft of revised standards for sustainable use of resources, reduction of use of chemical substances of concern, reuse of consumables, etc., and has begun addressing these issues to reflect them in more environmentally friendly product design. In order to meet the social requirements introduced in the "Blue Angel," one of the manufacturing facilities for the subject products has acquired RBA certification. Other target manufacturing facilities have also started activities to obtain certification. |
Achieved |
| 2-4 | Brother studied the new management system in the management of chemical substances contained in products, determined the direction, and organized and materialized the contents of operations. | - |
| 2-5 | Brother disclosed the avoided CO2 emissions by energy-saving performance and productivity improvement of machine tools on the "Reduction of CO2 Emissions" page. In addition, we disclosed the reduction of waste cartridges and packaging materials used in inkjet printers and garment printers by increasing the capacity of consumables as avoided CO2 emissions. | Achieved |
| 2-6 | Brother has been introduced to new technologies by venture capital fund investees, and is currently seeking cases where they can be implemented in its business. | - |
3. Environmental communication
- Information disclosure
- Strengthen engagement with stakeholders through the Integrated Report and disclosure of sustainability information
- Promote global branding through the special SDGs website "Brother SDGs STORY"
- Environmental education
- Maintain/increase group employees' environmental awareness through eco point activity which is a participatory initiative
- Strengthen environmental education for employees for the promotion of group-wide environmental efforts
| Environmental targets | Achievements in FY2022 | Self-evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| 3-1 | The domain name of the special SDG website "Brother SDGs STORY" was changed to "sdgsstory.global.brother" to make it more integrated with the corporate website. In the "Contributing through Business" category, articles on printers and machine tools were updated with the latest content. In the "Supporting Society" category, articles on the "Brother Earth Kids Academy," an annual environmental education event held in Japan, cleaning activities at beaches, and educational support activities in rural areas conducted by overseas sales subsidiaries were posted to further improve engagement with stakeholders. | Achieved |
| 3-2 | The Brother Eco Point Program continued to be carried out within the Brother Group. Measures to raise environmental awareness among employees were continued through the use of an internal commendation system, information dissemination via the intranet and newsletters, e-learning programs, internal seminars, and workshops. |
Achieved |
