Sojitz Corporation

CLOSE

Sustainable Water Usage

One of Sojitz’s Key Sustainability Issues (Materiality) calls for our company to “develop, use, and supply sustainable resources.” This includes water resources, for which experts predict securing a stable supply will only grow harder in the future due to climate change.

Additionally, the Sojitz Group Environmental Policy calls for business practices that work towards the conservation of natural resources, including water, as well as waste reduction and recycling.

On this page, we introduce some of the initiatives based on these policies that Sojitz Group is undertaking with consideration for sustainable water use.


 ⇒ Sojitz Group Sustainability Issues (Materiality)
 ⇒ Sojitz Group Environmental Policy

Conducting Water Risk Surveys

Sojitz Group uses Aqueduct, a tool for analyzing water risk developed by the World Resource Institute, to monitor the status of water-stressed regions in which Sojitz conducts business.

●Method

  • (1)Identifying risks:
    We comprehensively evaluate sector-specific risks and regional risks (using the Aqueduct indicators "Water Stress," "Water Depletion," "Interannual Variability," and "Seasonal Variability") for Sojitz Group companies, which account for over 99% of the amount of water used by the entirety of Sojitz Group.
    risk
  • (2)Addressing risks we have identified:
    We hold consultations with Group companies to ascertain the status of their efforts to address risks we have identified.

●Results
We have confirmed that there are no problems with the measures taken to address risks at the business sites of Group companies. We have also confirmed that there are no problems with the system to respond to risks and report information to Tokyo HQ in the event that a risk should materialize.

Although some coal mines we operate in Australia are designated by Aqueduct as areas with water stress, we do not expect this water risk to materialize as we have been guaranteed a priority supply of water for industrial use over other businesses.

Sector-specific risks○: No concerns △: There is partial concern○: No concerns △: There is partial concern

  Presence of concern for risk and status of efforts to address those concerns
Agriculture Paper
and pulp
Chemicals Mining Food and
beverages
Textiles Power
generation
Metals Oil
refining
Wastewater regulations Not applicable to the companies in this survey
Securing clean freshwater △ (Water intake restrictions for some Group companies)
Status of efforts taken to address risks Water conservation activities such as water recycling

Region-specific risks○: No concerns △: There is partial concern○: No concerns △: There is partial concern

  Concern for risk? Status of efforts taken to address risks
Water shortages
Annual fluctuations Prior flood damage. Conducting monitoring of drainage and rivers.
Seasonal fluctuations Prior flood damage. Installed levee at project site.
River flooding
Coastal flooding Some business sites are located in expected storm surge flood areas. We are continuing to check the level of impact.
Drought

●When deliberating new investments and loans, we confirm the risk of damage from natural disasters, including regional water risks, in order to enhance our tolerance for physical risks.

Also, moving forward, we are considering using official hazard maps and addressing future physical risks other than water risk, such as rising temperatures and changes in planting areas due to climate change. We will also continue to address physical risks.

Complying with TCFD (Physical Risks)

Initiatives to Reduce Water Consumption

= Initiatives within our Textile Business =
Water is an essential part of textile processing. The following describes one of Sojitz’s current initiatives to reduce water usage within our textile operations.

Sojitz Group company Daiichibo Co., Ltd. has obtained ISO14001 and implemented a number of initiatives dedicated to greater consideration for the environment. Among these initiatives are efforts which aim to reduce water consumption.

Daiichibo was founded in 1947. Little more than just a spinning factory at that time, it later expanded to include a knitting factory in 1972 and a dyeing factory in 1973, creating an integrated production process including spinning, knitting, and dyeing. (This would later be expanded to include sewing, achieving total integration of the production line.).

Generally, spinning factories are extremely hot inside due to the heat emitted by the spinning machinery. Air conditioning is essential to ensure stable product quality and create an environment amenable to workers. This air conditioning uses mass volumes of water.

The dyeing factory also uses a lot of water. Before dyeing the knitted fabric, it needs to be washed of starches and oils, and the liquid dye itself needs to be boiled at a high temperature.

Rather than dispose of the water used to regulate the temperature in the spinning factory, Daiichibo has it drained into a fire cistern, then rerouted to the dyeing factory. In this way, not a drop is wasted.

This initiative shows consideration for effective water usage, having it play a key role in air conditioning, fire safety, and dyeing. Through these efforts, Daiichibo is aiming to cut water usage by 3% year-on-year.

The spinning factory's
air conditioning tank
Fire cistern Dyeing machinery

Daiichibo’s Homepage:
https://www.ichibo.co.jp/

 

= Initiatives within our Fertilizer Business =
Sojitz Group subsidiary Japan Vietnam Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (“JVF”) produces compound chemical fertilizers using steam granulation. This manufacturing process pulverizes the raw materials, creating dust particles, but JAV has introduced equipment to control the amount of dust released into the atmosphere.

Additionally, the fertilizer mixing process uses water. The water used in this process is the same water used to collect the aforementioned dust particles. In this way, JVF recycles water within the facility to create a factory with zero water discharge.

These efforts to control air pollution and use water resources effectively have helped JVF achieve sustainable operations.

Production and sales of compound
chemical fertilizer Business in Vietnam
(Japan Vietnam Fertilizer)

Water Data

Water withdrawal by source(㎥)

  FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Tap water, industrial water 673,727 659,934 3,020,934 3,351,857 2,971,193
Groundwater 459,526 530,800 521,059 456,654 462,202
Seawater 0 180,516,900 178,401,225 151,920,000 174,576,000
River water 69,545 62,920 1,220,977 1,213,895 1,068,290
Rainwater 2,013 2,630 4,048 3,360 2,847
Freshwater total 1,204,812 1,256,284 4,767,018 5,025,766 4,504,531
Total (including seawater) 1,204,812 181,773,184 183,168,243 156,945,766 179,080,531

Scope of Data

Sojitz Corporation (including offices and branches), all Group companies in Japan, Group companies overseas.
Note: Freshwater usage has increased since FY2019, mainly due to Sojitz’s acquisition of an overseas paper manufacturing company in FY2018. Furthermore, the data for FY2018 does not include emissions from this company.

Amount of wastewater discharged according to discharge site (㎥)

  FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
River 676,824 596,454 2,741,447 2,827,894 2,679,339
Ocean 175,867,270 179,770,418 177,677,695 151,275,080 173,784,135
Sewer 339,915 20,131,366 245,527 166,796 773,007
Underground seepage 13,522 6,214 6,589 5,898 5,879
Underground seepage 107,167 97,353 112,954 68,323 33,471
Freshwater total 1,137,429 20,831,387 3,106,517 3,068,911 3,491,696
Total (including seawater) 177,004,698 200,601,806 180,784,212 154,343,992 177,275,831

Scope of Data

Sojitz Corporation (including offices and branches), all Group companies in Japan, Group companies overseas.
Note : Freshwater discharge has increased since FY2019, mainly due to Sojitz’s acquisition of an overseas paper manufacturing company in FY2018. Furthermore, the data for FY2018 does not include emissions from this company.

Recycle Rate for Water Used

FY2016 FY2017 FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
14% 13% 16% 9% 8% 3%

(Amount of water recycled divided by total usage)

Scope of Data

Sojitz Corporation (including offices and branches), all Group companies in Japan, Group companies overseas.
Note :The recycling rate has been declining since FY2019, mainly due to Sojitz’s acquisition of an overseas paper manufacturing company in FY2018. The data for FY2018 does not include the overseas paper manufacturing company acquired in that year.

COD and BOD Amounts(t)

  FY2019 FY22020 FY2021
COD 3,421 2,796 601
BOD 3,345 2,694 427

Scope of Data

Sojitz Corporation (including offices and branches), all Group companies in Japan, Group companies overseas.
Note :The recycling rate has been declining since FY2019, mainly due to Sojitz’s acquisition of an overseas paper manufacturing company in FY2018. The data for FY2018 does not include the overseas paper manufacturing company acquired in that year.

Number of incidents or violations by Sojitz Group concerning water intake and discharge

FY2021: 0 cases

Page top