Contributing Solutions to Social Issues through Business Activities

Leverage innovation to provide solutions to various social issues such as climate change, resource and energy use, water resource and natural environment conservation, improvement of medical care, and promotion of public health, thereby contributing to sustainable development for society.

Basic Approach

Global environmental issues continue to become increasingly severe, marked by global warming, water scarcity, marine pollution, resource depletion, and loss of biodiversity. The world population is approximately eight billion, a number that is expected to surpass 10 billion by 2050. Meanwhile, developed countries as well as many emerging countries are expected to face rapid population aging, as average lifespans increase and birthrates decline.
In the world of the 21st century, the most critical shared challenges are to resolve global-scale environmental issues and to provide healthcare that helps people lead healthy, independent lives, which involves delivering high-quality medical care that reduces the burden on both patients and medical staff.

In 2018 and 2020 respectively, the Group established and announced the Toray Group Sustainability Vision followed by the Long-Term Corporate Vision, TORAY VISION 2030 to clearly outline the world as envisioned by the Toray Group in 2050. The Group also set KPIs to be achieved by 2030 as long-term milestone targets. Under the Medium-Term Management Program, Project AP-G 2025, announced in March 2023, Toray integrated the Green Innovation and Life Innovation businesses, creating a Sustainability Innovation (SI) Business¹ to better meet diversifying sustainability needs. This is being promoted under the Sustainability Innovation (SI) Business Expansion Project.

With its SI business, Toray Group aims to help achieve “a net-zero-emissions world, where greenhouse gas emissions are completely offset by absorption” (in other words, a net zero emissions, carbon-neutral world),” “a world where resources are sustainably managed,” “a world with a restored natural environment, with clean water and air for everyone,” and “a world where everyone enjoys good health and hygiene” as outlined in the Toray Group Sustainability Vision. Here are some specific examples of Toray initiatives in this business area. To accelerate efforts to combat climate change, the Group is expanding aircraft and automobile applications for its advanced materials and helping to reduce CO₂ emissions by improving fuel efficiency through vehicle weight reduction. It is also working to help society transition to renewable energy by supplying materials for wind and hydrogen power applications. For the sustainable, circular use of resources, the Group is also promoting initiatives for resource recycling and bio-technology. To help ensure safe water and air, it is proceeding with initiatives in areas such as water treatment membranes and air filters. Finally, the Group is expanding its products that support health, longevity, improved quality of medical care, and human safety, as well as help the elderly and home-care recipients to live more independent lives.

1. 1 Sustainability Innovation (SI) business: Businesses or material lines that can help realize the Toray Group Sustainability Vision.

Structure

To promote activities designed to achieve the Toray Group Sustainability Vision, the Group formulates and promotes medium- and long-term roadmaps and action plans under the SI Business Expansion Project and the Climate Change Project, addressing climate change and the need for circular economy creation. The Group is also managing progress toward achieving relevant numerical targets set for 2030.
Through these projects, Toray Group is contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to help achieve a carbon neutral world, as well as promoting the reduction of Toray Group greenhouse gas emissions to become carbon neutral itself. The Group is also accelerating its resource recycling efforts, including recycling and the conversion of key polymers to biomass-based polymers, by developing and promoting group-wide strategies for the implementation of sustainable, circular use of resources.
Furthermore, the Group is examining and promoting an overall strategy to reduce its impact on biodiversity and natural capital.
The Board of Directors is supported by the Executive Committee, which serves as a council for deliberating key group-wide matters. The committee discusses project details, key policies, and important agenda items related to sustainability. Moreover, it collaborates with functional departments responsible for CSR, risk management, safety, health, and the environment, as well as research and technological development, to address sustainability challenges faced by the entire Toray Group.
The Board of Directors receives reports on these discussions from each functional department at least once a year and provides oversight and makes key decisions. When it comes to formulating business strategy and making management decisions, sustainability issues are a key consideration in the overall deliberations and decision-making.
For more information on the Toray Group governance structure related to the issue of climate change, please refer to the Toray Group TCFD Report Ver. 2.1.

CSR Roadmap 2025 Targets

1. 2 Toray calculates the value chain CO₂ emissions reduced throughout the entire product lifecycle in accordance with the chemical sector guidelines of the Japan Chemical Industry Association, and the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA).
2. 3 Water treated annually with Toray water treatment membranes. It is calculated by multiplying the amount of fresh water that the Toray membranes can produce per day, including reverse osmosis (RO), ultrafiltration (UF) and membrane separation bioreactors (MBR), by the number of membrane elements sold.

Looking to the Future

The consolidated revenue generated by the Sustainability Innovation (SI) Business in fiscal 2022 was 1.2828 trillion yen. For fiscal 2023, revenue increased by 2.2% year-on-year to 1.3115 trillion yen. In the carbon fiber composite materials business, while the wind turbine blade segment was affected by inventory adjustments, recovery in the aviation segment had a significant impact. The fiscal 2025 revenue target for this business is 1.6 trillion yen, with the aim of achieving an average annual growth rate of 7.6% compared to fiscal 2022. Along with business expansion, the contribution to CO₂ reduction in the value chain and the environmental contribution of Toray water treatment products have steadily increased.

Worldwide, a range of issues are becoming increasingly interconnected and serious. These include population growth and aging in many countries, as well as climate change, water shortages, and resource depletion. This is inducing a transition to more sustainable modes of production and consumption.
Initiatives will be implemented for moving to a circular economy where used products are recovered and regenerated to make new ones. This will enable a further transition from a mass production/mass consumption linear business scheme to business models such as PaaS (products as a service), sharing, product life extension, resource collection and recycling, and circulated supply chains.

In order to better respond to diversifying sustainability needs, the Group is promoting more vigorous expansion of products that can help achieve the aims outlined in the Toray Group Sustainability Vision. These include aims to achieve “a net-zero-emissions world, where greenhouse gas emissions are completely offset by absorption,” (in other words, a net zero emissions, carbon-neutral world) [CN domain⁴], “a world where resources are sustainably managed” [CE domain⁵]. and “a world with a restored natural environment, with clean water and air for everyone” [NP domain⁶], and “a world where everyone enjoys good health and hygiene” [LI domain⁷].

1. 4 CN domain: Defined as products that support energy conservation by reducing the weight of mobility and decreasing electrical loads; new energy source adoption, with a focus on renewable energy, mobility electrification, and hydrogen-related products; and the absorption and recycling of CO₂. Initiatives in this domain are mainly focused on energy conservation that utilizes lightweight materials and heat-blocking/insulating materials, as well as electrification and hydrogen-related materials.
2. 5 CE domain: Defined as products to support recycling, biomass utilization, and valuable material separation and recovery. In this domain, the focus is primarily on promoting the recycling of key polymers such as PET and nylon, as well as the use of biomass-derived raw materials.
3. 6 NP domain: Products for water treatment, air purification, and reducing environmental impact. The primary efforts are in water treatment membranes, as well as materials and alternative technologies for reducing pollution.
4. 7 LI domain: Products for improving the quality of medical care, health, longevity, and human safety. The focus is on expanding businesses related to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, hygiene products, safety, and health.

Fiscal 2023 CSR Activity Report

Click bellow on activity reports for fiscal 2023.