In FY2023, we established a common theme for CSR across our entire Group, including overseas group companies, and implemented the CO₂ Reduction Challenge as the first initiative. Each company in the Group implemented unique activities, such as each household saving electricity for three months, to encourage employees to reduce CO₂ emissions in their daily lives. Through these efforts, the entire Group has been able to reduce annual CO₂ emissions by approximately 36 tons.

In Hong Kong, a “Green Monday” event was held every Monday in July for eating meatless lunches. Among food products, meat is said to have the highest carbon footprint. The event was organized with the goal of reducing employees’ carbon footprints by reducing their consumption of meat. A total of 13 employees participated in the four events, switching 41 meals to vegetarian meals.

Our Leuna Plant (Germany) has started a greening program to create a flower garden on the plant premises, to conserve biodiversity. Planting flowers with a long blooming season is an ingenious way to contribute to the conservation of insects and other ecosystems. This initiative is expected to absorb approximately 200 grams of CO₂ per square meter of flowerbed.

Farmington Hills (USA) donated 26 pounds of food to a local food pantry throughout the year to bring food to those in need. We also donated a total of 18 books, ranging from novels to picture books, to the “Little Free Library,” a public bookshelf located near the food pantry.

For the sixth consecutive year, we conducted “Mottainai Initiatives,” a program to collect items that people are no longer using at home and donate them to an NPO. In FY2023, the event was further scaled up with the addition of four new Daicel sites, and a total of 3,590 donated items were collected, exceeding the number donated the previous year.
*Mottainai means “What a waste!” in Japanese

In Shanghai (China), volunteers distributed charity meal boxes to the elderly who are living alone, the needy, and those living on the streets. Eight employees participated in the event, and were divided into two groups: those who distributed the lunches at designated locations and those who walked around distributing the lunches on the street, distributing a total of 80 boxes.

Farmington Hills (USA) implemented a goods exchange project called “Buy Nothing / Sell Nothing,” in which employees give away goods from their homes to each other that they no longer need. This project is expected not only to eliminate material waste, but also to stimulate interaction among employees. Of the 89 goods collected throughout the year, 35 were exchanged and 54 were donated to local NPOs.