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In 2019, the Lion Group established the LION Eco Challenge 2050, a set of long-term environmental objectives, with the goal of promoting business activities that help to address global problems, such as those identified in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2022, many countries, including Japan, began raising their environment- and sustainability-related targets. We have also revised our objectives as we work to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Aiming to realize a decarbonized, resource-circulating society, we will promote environmentally friendly habits with consumers to continuously provide planet-friendly lifestyles that make more sustainable living easy.
The Lion Group’s Environmental Policy adheres to the spirit of the Lion Group Charter for Corporate Behavior, which states: “We shall play a positive and active role in creating a sustainable society that harmonizes economic development and environmental protection.”
The purpose of the Lion Group’s Environmental Management System is to identify, evaluate and remedy the adverse environmental impacts of our business activities, products and services, and to improve our environmental conservation activities on an ongoing basis.
We strive to enhance systems for environmental management and reporting with the aim of addressing environmental issues globally. Environmental data on the Lion Group is available on our website.
Environmental DataLion acquired ISO 14001* certification covering its production sites in July 2001 and has maintained this certification since. Including the plants of Group companies in and outside Japan, the Lion Group continues to push ahead with its management systems and environmental conservation activities in accordance with ISO 14001.
*ISO 14001: An international standard for environmental management
Lion Group ISO 14001 certificationsTo grow our businesses while reducing our impacts on the global environment, the Sustainability Promotion Council, which consists of the executive corporate officers, including the President, and representatives of related divisions. The council deliberates on policy for dealing with environmental problems and monitors the progress of related efforts.
Lion’s top management has been carrying out environmental audits of Lion and domestic Group production sites since 1999. Since 2009, we have formulated audit plans based on the characteristics of each plant and carried out regular audits every three years. In 2023, the Akashi Plant, Osaka Plant and Chiba Plant underwent environmental audits under Director Kobayashi, the director in charge of the Sustainability Promotion Department.
Trained internal environmental auditors regularly conduct internal environmental audits to check compliance with the requirements of ISO 14001. The relevant departments then take responsibility for implementing improvements regarding any issues thus identified. In addition, the general managers of offices and plants conduct management reviews to confirm that organizational management systems are constantly being improved to be more apt, fair and effective.
Lion ensures compliance with environmental laws and regulations. In addition, we carry out management based on proprietary management standards.
For waste disposal, a waste disposal officer at each operating site commissions waste disposal contractors based on contractor selection standards laid out in Lion’s waste management regulations. We also perform regular on-site inspections of waste disposal contractors’ facilities to determine whether we should continue to commission them.
Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) was once widely used as an insulating oil in electrical equipment for its excellent fire resistance and electrical insulation properties, but its manufacture and import are now prohibited by law. Lion had been strictly storing and disposing of PCB-containing equipment in its possession in compliance with the Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Appropriate Handling of PCB Wastes until disposal could be outsourced. The disposal was completed in 2022.
We manage ordinary wastewater to ensure that we do not emit wastewater that violates legal or regulatory water quality standards through such means as enhancing the stability of wastewater treatment facilities, maintaining and reinforcing treatment control, and carrying out emergency drills. Furthermore, operating sites form agreements with individual municipalities and establish and enforce voluntary standards to ensure thorough wastewater management.
Identifying the facilities covered by the Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act, doing simple and periodic inspections, keeping records, and calculating the amount of leakage are all part of Lion’s response to the legislation. No operating sites in fiscal 2023 had fluorocarbon leaks that required notification. We will keep working to prevent leaks and encourage the introduction of non-fluorocarbon and low Global Warming Potential (GWP) equipment when updating facilities.
With regard to revisions of environmental laws and regulations, namely, the Act on the Rational Use of Energy, the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures, the Act on Confirmation, etc. of Released Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof, the Act on the Evaluation of Chemical Substances and Regulation of Their Manufacture, etc., the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Act and the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act and the Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act, information is collected from administrative agencies and industrial associations to ensure that related departments are up to date on and fully compliant with the latest developments.
There were no violations resulting in fines or other penalties in 2023.