Materiality
Materiality (Important Issues)
Environment
Delivering solutions to environmental issues through our business activities
- Promoting eco-friendly product planning and technological development
- Reducing environmental impact throughout our business activities
- Contributing to environmental conservation and preservation
Society
Valuing and nurturing people
- Promoting employee health and safety
- Developing and cultivating the capacity to offer total solutions related to packaging
- Promoting diverse work styles that encourage all employees to thrive
Building and enhancing relations of trust with our business partners and customers
- Co-creating brand value with our customers
- Maintaining and improving quality through joint efforts with business partners
Contributing to social development and prosperity
- Contributing to developing future generations and fostering environmental awareness
- Providing solutions to increasingly diverse social issues
Governance
Enhancing management foundations
- Securing soundness, transparency, and efficiency in management
- Promoting supply chain risk management
List of Materiality Issues Organized from an ESG Point of View
| Major themes | Materiality (Important Issues) | Initiatives | Association with SDGs | |
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| E (Environment) |
Delivering solutions to environmental issues through our business activities |
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| Major themes | Materiality (Important Issues) | Initiatives | Association with SDGs | |
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| S (Society) |
Valuing and nurturing people |
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| Building and enhancing relations of trust with our business partners and customers |
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| Contributing to social development and prosperity |
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| Major themes | Materiality (Important Issues) | Initiatives | Association with SDGs | |
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| G (Governance) |
Enhancing management foundations |
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Identification Process
Step
Organizing study meetings held by the Sustainable Business Team, which is a member of the project team that identifies materiality topics
The project team has at least one individual from each department responsible for topics such as sales, quality control, finance, legal affairs, human resources, general affairs, and business strategy. Multiple study meetings to date have strengthened the understanding of team members regarding terminology and sustainable management at other companies. Study meetings have also been held for executives to promote their understanding and discussion of initiatives to help build a narrative on sustainable management and value creation as well as initiatives related to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Step
Reviewing the value chain and ascertaining our management capital (strengths)
We examined our value chain in great detail, identifying our unique qualities and points of differentiation from our competitors.
Based on the findings, we identified our management capital: financial capital, manufacturing capital, human capital, intellectual capital, social and relationship capital, and natural capital.
Step
Identifying themes (issues) for maintaining and growing our management capital and defining initiatives for each issue
We studied how to maintain and grow management capital comprising these six types of capital and identified related issues. We also defined initiatives for each issue as it relates to the environment, customers, people and labor, local communities and society, and management.
Step
Deciding on materiality topics based on their importance to stakeholders and to the Company
Step
Submitting the materiality topics through the Sustainability Committee to the Board of Directors for approval
External Environment (risks and opportunities)
To be able to adapt to any societal changes, the Group anticipates the following risks and opportunities. Corresponding materiality issues also are shown below.
○：Materiality issues corresponding to risks and opportunities
| External factor | No. | Risk/opportunity | Item | Materiality (important issues) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environment | Society | Governance | |||||||||||||
| Promoting eco-friendly product planning and technological development |
Reducing environmental impact throughout our business activities |
Contributing to environmental conservation and preservation |
Promoting employee health and safety | Developing and cultivating the capacity to offer total solutions related to packaging |
Promoting diverse work styles that encourage all employees to thrive |
Co-creating brand value with our customers | Maintaining and improving quality through joint efforts with business partners |
Contributing to developing future generations and fostering environmental awareness |
Providing solutions to increasingly diverse social issues | Securing soundness, transparency, and efficiency in management |
Promoting supply chain risk management | ||||
| Politics | 1 | Risk | Interruption of imports of raw materials or rising import costs due to disputes or national security policies | ○ | |||||||||||
| 2 | Opportunity | Establishment of local-production/localconsumption models leveraging our robust supply chains in Japan, the United States, and China | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||||||
| 3 | Opportunity | Increase in institutional investors through enhancement of ESG initiatives in line with laws, regulations, international standards, etc. | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | |||||||||
| Economics | 4 | Opportunity | Birth of new merchandise, services, and business models | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | |||||
| 5 | Risk | Increasing costs of raw materials, manufacturing, and shipping | ○ | ○ | |||||||||||
| 6 | Risk | Rising hedge costs in raw-materials procurement | ○ | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Opportunity | Building energy-saving supply chains | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||||||
| Society | 8 | Risk | Difficulty securing diverse human resources and partners | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||
| 9 | Opportunity | Developing diverse human resources, increasing labor productivity | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | |||||||||
| 10 | Opportunity | Growing demand for new product use | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||||||
| 11 | Opportunity | Creation of products and services emphasizing safety and reliability | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | |||||||||
| Technology | 12 | Risk | Declining purchases in brick-and-mortar stores, rising risks of information leaks, and increased response costs as new technologies spread and are widely adopted | ○ | |||||||||||
| 13 | Opportunity | Reduced operation costs due to the arrival of new technologies and services | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | |||||||||
| Environment | 14 | Risk | Rising tax burdens due to the adoption of carbon taxes | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||
| 15 | Risk | Rising procurement costs due to changes in forestry resources | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | |||||||
| 16 | Risk | Supply chain disruptions and production suspensions due to increasingly frequent natural disasters | ○ | ||||||||||||
| 17 | Opportunity | Growth in business opportunities due to move away from plastics | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||
| Legal | 18 | Risk | Increasing costs of adapting to legal, regulatory, and litigation risks | ○ | ○ | ||||||||||
| 19 | Opportunity | Increasing corporate value through enhanced governance | ○ | ○ | |||||||||||
| 20 | Opportunity | Birth of new business opportunities in response to enhanced laws or regulations | ○ | ○ | ○ | ||||||||||
KPI
| Major themes | Materiality (Important Issues) | KPI and Action plan | Date established | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Target FY for achievement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivering solutions to environmental issues through our business activities |
Promoting eco-friendly product planning and technological development | Achieving a ratio of sales of FSC®-certified products (paper bags, paper cartons, corrugated boxes) to total sales of 50% or higher*1
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September 2023 | 5.5% | 10.8% | 13.2% | 17.4% | 20.2% | FY 2030 |
| Reducing environmental impact throughout our business activities | Reducing CO2 emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 46% vs. FY2018 (targeting 8997t)
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September 2023 | 6.9% (15,512t) |
10.5% (14,914t) |
10.6% (14,894t) |
7.6% (15,399t) |
-0.6% (16,756t) |
FY 2030 |
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| Implementing 15 The Pack Forest® Environment Fund activities, with 500 participants per year | Implementing 15 The Pack Forest® Environment Fund activities, with 500 participants per year
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September 2023 | 4 160 |
0 0 |
0 0 |
4 111 |
9 253 |
FY 2030 |
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| We value and nurture people. |
Promoting diverse work styles that encourage all employees to thrive | Increasing women’s percentage of managers (managers or above) to 15% or more
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September 2023 | 3.3% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 6.7% | 6.3% | FY 2030 |
| Building and enhancing relations of trust with our business partners and customers |
Co-creating brand value with our customers | Earning the support of 300 firms for The Pack Forest® Environment Fund*2
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September 2023 | 24 | 44 | 67 | 94 | 123 | FY 2030 |
- ※1Sales: The Pack (nonconsolidated) paper products business as a whole
- ※2Number of companies with sales results
KPI Management
The Sustainable Committee and the Sustainable Committee Secretariat, its executive arm, set and manage materiality KPIs. The Sustainable Committee Secretariat reports every half-year to the Sustainable Committee on progress toward the KPIs, ascertained in partnership with Business Units and Group companies. In addition, it assesses results each year, proposes improvements for the following year, and sets new KPIs and updates existing ones.
The Sustainable Committee works together with the Conference of Business Divisions to promote practical efforts targeting the KPIs in individual business sections.
Each business section employs the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle to improve productivity across the organization and strives to achieve the KPIs.
A management structure has been established to promote and monitor progress toward the KPIs, striving toward fair assessment of individual business sections.
