Waste Reduction

Management information

Relevance to our business

As a natural consequence of Fuji Oil Group’s business characteristics, the Group’s manufacturing processes produce waste. Most of the waste is sludge contained in wastewater from the plants and waste activated clay generated after adsorbing impurities in the oil and fat refining process. Reducing waste is important because it conserves the environment through the efficient use of materials and energy resources necessary for our business, and because it helps to reduce the cost of manufacturing. Reducing waste and reusing resources will be increasingly important in the coming years as the circular economy grows.

Basic approach

The Fuji Oil Group aims to reduce waste in its product manufacturing processes based on the Basic Policy of Environmental Integrity.*1 The Environmental Vision 2030,*2 to be fulfilled by 2030, shows our Groupwide commitment to waste reduction.

Management system

The Chief “ESG” Officer (C“ESG”O) oversees initiatives in this area. The ESG Committee,*1 an advisory body to the board of directors, has been monitoring the progress and results of initiatives as a material ESG issue.*2 The ESG Committee reports insights to the board of directors for review.

Goals / Results

2030 targets*1 FY2020 results*1 Progress
10% reduction in waste intensity*2 (All Group companies*3) 1% increase 0%
Maintain a recycling rate of at least 99.8% (All Group companies in Japan) 99.37% Not achieved

At least 90% complete At least 60% complete Less than 60% complete

FY2020 Goals FY2020 Results Self-assessment
Promote the reduction of waste in an effort to realize Environmental Vision 2030 by providing support to and raising awareness at Group companies
  • Sent FY2019 environmental data (including CO2 emissions, water use, and waste generation) to Group companies as feedback and facilitated the sharing of best practices between companies
  • Categorized the types of waste generated by Group companies
  • Sought to raise awareness of our approach to waste reduction through environmental audits
Introduce an environmental data collection system Completed basic design of the system. To be introduced in FY2021

Analysis

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to carry out in-person awareness-raising activities by traveling to Group companies outside Japan. However, we made efforts to raise awareness by having local staff wear wearable cameras and communicating with them via live video as they walked through the facilities. For collecting environmental data, we focused on the basic design of a data collection system.

Annual waste generation and waste intensity

Annual waste generation and recycling rate at Fuji Oil Group companies in Japan

Next step

Raising awareness at the level of each employee is essential for driving reduction of our waste generation. To address this issue, we set the following goals for FY2021.

  • Make sure all employees are familiar with Environmental Vision 2030
  • Take waste reduction efforts to the next level through environmental audits
  • Support Group companies in putting together a waste reduction strategy (e.g. introduce data collection systems that make it easier for managers to check their waste data quickly and easily; share best practices, such as ways to make use of animal and plant byproducts* and convert industrial waste into salable material, between Group companies)
  • * Such as processing residues and product samples

Specific initiatives

Waste reduction initiatives

In FY2020, Group companies carried out the following initiatives to reduce waste.

  • Omu Milk Products Co., Ltd. (Japan) worked to recycle wood scraps.
  • Fuji Sunny Foods Co., Ltd. (Japan) worked to reduce product waste by managing inventory more strictly, striving to raise the turnover ratio, and revising the number of product categories.
  • Blommer Chocolate Manufacturing (Shanghai) Company Ltd. (China) reduced the disposal of expired products by shifting from make-to-stock production to make-to-order production.
  • Shanghai Xuyang Food Co., Ltd. (China) improved its product defect rate, which led to a reduction in sludge generated from product disposal. It also reduced waste mass by removing water content and processing sludge into a solid.
  • Fuji Vegetable Oil (U.S.) began recycling pallets.
  • Blommer Chocolate Company (U.S.) found a way to reuse cocoa shells it previously discarded.

Food recycling initiatives

Group companies in Japan are working to reuse food waste pursuant to the Food Recycling Act. The amount of food waste generated was approximately 33,026 tons in FY2020, decreasing by approximately 1,384 tons from the previous fiscal year. The recycling rate decreased by 4% from the previous year to 99.3%.
For the food industry, the Act sets a recycling target of 95% for recyclable food resources. The Fuji Oil Group has exceeded a food recycling rate of 97.3% since FY2007, when it first set a food recycling target, and has maintained the rate at such a level or higher. However, expanding production in the future could increase the absolute volume of waste we generate, and we recognize this as an issue. For this reason, we will continue our efforts to maintain a high recycling rate while also developing new ways to reuse byproducts.

Related documents