Toray Group is carrying out zero emission initiatives as it works toward the realization of a sustainable, recycling-based world. Under the Fifth Medium-Term Environmental Plan, the Group worked to achieve its fiscal 2020 targets for rates of simply disposed waste,¹ landfill waste² and recycled waste,³ which have been set as indicators for measuring progress toward attaining zero emissions.

1. 1 Simply disposed waste rate = (incineration +landfill) / total waste
2. 2 Landfill waste rate = landfill waste / total waste
3. 3 Recycling rate = (recycled resources + resources with monetary worth) / (total waste + resources with monetary worth)

In recent years, Europe in particular has embraced a business model aligned with the concept of a circular economy, which is a resource circulation policy aimed at reducing the procurement of natural resources and the production of waste. Adding to its previous initiatives, Toray Corporate Business Research, Inc. now publicizes its survey results regarding the circular economy as part of its economic trends survey.

Results in Fiscal 2019

Simply Disposed Waste Rate

The simply disposed waste rate for Toray Group was 24.6%, up 3.0 percentage points year-on-year. This was due to the volume of simply disposed waste increasing by around 4,600 tons year-on-year as a result of the merging or closing of plants by group companies in Japan. The result was that the Group failed to meet its target of 22.5% or less. The increase in simply disposed waste due to the merging or closing of plants is only temporary and specific to fiscal 2019. Consequently, the rate is expected to decrease in fiscal 2020 and beyond. Going forward, the Group will continue working to achieve the target for the simply dispose waste rate.

Landfill Waste Rate

As a result of the merging or closing of plants by group companies in Japan, the landfill waste rate for Toray Group was 8.3%, up 7.3 percentage points year-on-year. The increase in landfill waste due to the merging and closing of plants is only temporary and specific to fiscal 2019. As such, the landfill waste rate is expected to decrease in fiscal 2020 and beyond.

Recycling Rate

The recycling rate for the Toray Group was 86.4%, up by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year. Although the rate was impacted by the aforementioned merging or closing of plants by group companies in Japan, it was outweighed by the Group’s continued recycling efforts from the previous year.

Zero Emissions Initiatives at Companies and Plants

Toray Group considers a plant to have achieved zero emissions when the amount of simply disposed waste accounts for 1% or less of the total waste it generates. The Group works on its fiscal 2020 target of achieving zero emissions at 45 or more plants. However, in fiscal 2019, the number of plants with zero emissions totaled 44, at 23 companies, just missing the target.

Companies and Plants with Zero Emissions Status in Fiscal 2019

Toray Industries, Inc.	Shiga Plant, Seta Plant, Ehime Plant, Nagoya Plant, Tokai Plant, Aichi Plant, Mishima Plant, Chiba Plant, Tsuchiura Plant, Gifu Plant, Ishikawa Plant, Nasu Plant
Group companies in Japan	Maruichi Fiber Co., Ltd., Toray Monofilament Co., Ltd., Toray Hybrid Cord, Inc., Sowa Textile Co., Ltd., Toray Engineering Co., Ltd. [Shiga, Numazu], Toray Precision Co., Ltd., Du Pont-Toray Co., Ltd. , Toray Opelontex Co., Ltd., Dow Toray Co., Ltd. [Chiba, Fukui, Komatsu], DuPont Toray Specialty Materials Kabushiki Kaisha, Soda Aromatic Co., Ltd. [Koriyama], Toray Plastics Precision Co., Ltd. [Okazaki, Mishima, Koriyama], Suido Kiko Kaisha,Ltd., Toray Advanced Film Co., Ltd. [Nakatsugawa, Mishima, Takatsuki, Fukushima], Toray Fine Chemicals Co., Ltd. [Moriyama, Tokai], Toray Medical Co., Ltd.
Group companies outside Japan	Toray Plastics (America), Inc. [Rhode Island], P.T. Toray Polytech Jakarta, Toray Chemical Korea Inc. [Anseong, Yugu], Toray Advanced Film Kaohsiung Co., Ltd, Toray Kusumgar Advanced Textile Private Limited, Toray BSF Coating Korea Limited

• Note: Information in brackets refers to the names of the plants.