In recent years, natural disasters, such as droughts and floods, are frequently occurring as a result of climate change. There are regions with increasing risks of water resource shortages as the world population increases. We believe that water resources are essential to our Group's business activities, and it is important to promote business activities that effectively assess water stress* and utilize water resources. As a company-wide initiative, our Group is working to reduce the use of water resources by recycling cooling water for equipment and reducing raw materials waste, including water used for preparations at all major production sites.
We will identify regions facing high water stress and consider possible actions by conducting water withdrawal surveys and evaluating our domestic and overseas production facilities for water stress using the World Resources Institute's Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas with the aim of effectively using water resources.
We have confirmed that there are no areas with extremely high water stress in the regions where the Morinaga & Co. Group's production sites, which account for the majority of its water intake, are located. We are working to understand the local conditions at sites located in areas with high water stress. Total water intake in areas with extremely high water stress in FY2023 is 0% of the Morinaga & Co. Group's total, which is 0m3.
*Until FY2022, third-party assurance by LRQA Limited was conducted for the consolidated figures of the domestic group. Starting from FY2023, the assurance also includes consolidated figures of the overseas group.
*Scope: Four factories of Morinaga & Co., Ltd. (Yokohama, Kanagawa; Oyama, Tochigi; Mishima, Shizuoka; Anjo, Aichi), four affiliated production companies (Takasaki, Gunma; Yamato, Kanagawa; Tosu, Saga; Amagasaki, Hyogo), and three overseas production sites (North Carolina, USA; Taipei, Taiwan; Zhejiang, China.)
Based on the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, our Group reviews the list of legal and regulatory requirements at each production site every year and confirms water-related regulations. In particular, since the quality and quantity of wastewater has a significant impact on the lives of local residents, we have established voluntary standards that are stricter than local standards for management purposes.
In addition, at our domestic manufacturing sites, we report our annual well water usage and collaborate with local governments by obtaining information on regional water supply conditions and water usage. We respond appropriately to requests regarding water issues, such as wastewater treatment and water restrictions due to drought, through regular engagement with local residents and river basin protection associations.
Morinaga Group works to optimize the air conditioning functional capacity required for production, and to reduce water consumption by introducing air-cooled AC and consolidating cooling towers.
Air-cooled AC are the air conditioners that use outside air to diffuse heat, thus reducing the use of cooling water.
By introducing energy-efficient air-cooled AC, we have reduced the number of cooling towers with electric fans, electric pumps for water circulation, and cooling water used in water-cooled AC, thereby saving energy and reducing water consumption.
As an example of our efforts in FY2023, at the Chukyo Factory, we reduced water consumption by more than 5,000m3 compared to FY2022, by reviewing the air conditioning system at a plant of the Chukyo Factory which resulted in introducing air-cooled AC and consolidating the cooling towers used for the water-cooled AC.
Cooling tower for water-cooled AC at the Chukyo Factory (after consolidation)