Through 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) promotion efforts, the Otsuka group of companies is helping to build a recycling-oriented society and working to improve resources use efficiency and reduce the waste generated, to achieve the goal of zero emissions in which the final disposal amount is close to zero (internal standard: recycling rate of 99% or above).

[Zero Emissions Initiatives]
The group companies are working on material*1 and thermal*2 recycling, wherever possible, for the waste emitted. As a result, the recycling rate at the 13 group companies in Japan reached 99.1% in fiscal 2017, and the group overall achieved zero emissions for the first time. Furthermore, regarding reduction of the final disposal amount, each company has taken initiatives to achieve its own targets, and as a result a reduction of approximately 100 tons compared to the previous year was achieved, and in particular Otsuka Chemical, Otsuka Packaging, and EN Otsuka made large contributions by revising their disposal methods and subcontractors.

*1 Treating waste to reuse it as raw materials and processed materials
*2 Utilizing the heat energy that is generated during the incineration of waste

Through 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) promotion efforts, the Otsuka group of companies is helping to build a recycling-oriented society.
At Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Naruto Factory and Matsushige Factory received “Tokushima Prefecture Certified 3R Model Site” certification and Toyama Factory received “Toyama Prefecture Eco-Site” certification from relevant municipalities, and Kushiro Factory received registration of the “Outstanding Initiative” category under the “Hokkaido Green Biz Certification System.” The Tokushima Factory of Otsuka Foods is sorting industrial waste emitted from its manufacturing processes and is processing and recycling it into products. These efforts were recognized with “Tokushima Prefecture 3R Implementation Site” certification.
The Hanamaki Factory of EN Otsuka Pharmaceutical is collecting the canisters that are the containers for its raw-material fats and oils as valuable resources, and is reusing them as washed and processed reused cans (recycled cans). Canisters are emitted as industrial waste but reusing them helps to alleviate the environmental load. In addition to this the company is thoroughly sorting cardboard, PP bands, PE films, etc., collecting the sorted plastics as valuable resources, melting them down to pellets, and recycling them in the external parts of ballpoint pens, etc. The Kitakami Factory is advancing initiatives to improve the percentage of raw materials used in manufacturing that are converted into products, in an effort to reduce waste. Its animal and plant residue emissions in fiscal 2017 were reduced approximately 13% compared to the previous fiscal year.
Otsuka Techno is also making efforts to improve its recycling rate by thoroughly sorting its waste and to achieve zero emissions inside its factory, continuing to maintain a recycling rate of over 99%, and in 2017 the Naruto Head Office, Naruto Factory, and Wajiki Factory were recertified as “Tokushima Prefecture Certified 3R Model Sites.”
Overseas, Daiya Foods, a company in Canada which became a member of the Otsuka Group in 2017, regularly donates the products which it cannot distribute or sell due to damage to the packaging, etc. in the manufacturing processes even though there is no problem with their quality, to the largest food bank in Canada, Moisson Montréal*, and is working to reduce the environmental load and solve food loss, firstly by providing the appropriate food to the necessary places.

* Moisson Montréal is an NPO that delivers food to approximately 137,000 people every month in more than 240 regions. It is said that the food provided by this organization is worth more than eight billion dollars quantitatively converted using real retail prices.

The Otsuka Group has presented water resources as one of the important issues in its initiatives for the environment, so it ascertains water usage and water risks and issues at major manufacturing bases around the world, and aims for conservation and improvement of water resources by advancing their management and effective utilization in accordance with the regions.

[Water risk assessment in manufacturing base river basins]
In order to carry out proper water conservation activities while taking into consideration the risks for each region, the group ascertained and assessed water risks in river basins at the locations of 86 manufacturing bases in 14 countries globally using the WRI Aqueduct 2017.*

*A tool developed and published by the World Resources Institute (WRI) that provides water risk information free of charge