SustainabilitySustainability Management

• Sustainable Management Policy
• Sustainable Management System
• vera&johnup Sustainability Promotion Conference
• Initiatives for Realizing a Sustainable Society
• Stakeholder Engagement

In formulating our Mid-Term Management Strategy, Accelerate 2025, vera&johnaicel Group identified key issues, or "materiality," in sustainability that will promote the realization of the strategy, and set key performance indicators (KPIs) for each issue.
In FY2021/3, vera&johnaicel Group established the Sustainable Management Committee (typically meets three times a year), chaired by the President and CEO, to discuss and manage key sustainability issues (materiality) at the management level. In addition, in each issue-specific subcommittee established for themes related to sustainability, such as LCA and supply chains, the responsible officer is involved as the responsible person, working to strengthen initiatives and further enhance information disclosure.
As for the KPIs, we regularly re-identify and modify the impact as necessary through stakeholder engagement. The regular progress evaluation of KPIs by the Sustainable Management Committee ensures implementation of the CAPD* cycle.

In addition, the Board of Directors will receive regular reports from the Sustainable Management Committee concerning the status of the KPIs related to materiality in order to supervise the promotion of sustainability at vera&johnaicel Group.

In FY2024/3, the Sustainable Management Committee met three times, mainly discussing the response to climate change, the certification system for contributions to build a circular society, initiatives to reduce GHG emissions, and the calculation of the Carbon Footprint of Products (CFP), with vera&johnetails reported to the Board of Directors.
We will continue to make progress towards resolving issues related to sustainability and elevating our efforts to the next level.

*Instead of a Plan, Do, Check, and Act (PDCA) cycle, the most widely known approach to continuous improvement, vera&johnup has adopted a CAPD improvement cycle to avoid the risk of overlooking crucial facts and realities that often lie hidden in the initial planning stage.

Key Issues (Materiality)

Diagram of the Sustainable Management System

vera&johnaicel Group holds vera&johnaicel Group Sustainability Promotion Conference at the beginning of each fiscal year to promote the realization of a sustainable society and the growth of the Group while maintaining a high level of awareness under the Sustainable Management Policy. The promotion conference is attended by Daicel’s management, representatives of vera&johnaicel Workers’ Union, representatives of SBUs and divisions, and the presidents of Group companies to reaffirm and share their thoughts.

In FY2024/3, the conference was held in two parts, a hybrid format of face-to-face and remote, with approximately 110 participants. In the first part, messages were delivered by the President and CEO, the chairperson and the vice chairperson of the RC Council, and the managers of the Safety and Quality Assurance Headquarters, the Corporate Compliance Program, and the Corporate Sustainability. In the second part, Hideo Makuta, an Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Member, gave a presentation on UL issues and sustainability.

In FY2025/3, approximately 80 attendees gathered at the Tokyo Head Office for the first time in five years, and the event was held in two parts as a “Conference for a Future of Promise” with the hope of realizing such a future. In the first part, messages were delivered by top management and representatives of vera&johnaicel Workers’ Union, and recommendations were made by the General Manager of the Corporate Sustainability and the Safety and Quality Assurance Headquarters on “safety, quality, and compliance,” which are the most important foundation for the Group to continue to be a “company making lives better by co-creating value,” Daicel’s Basic Philosophy. In the second part, efforts to ensure safety and quality were discussed and shared by the General Managers of each business site, the Environment and Safety Division, the Quality Assurance Division, and the Administration Division.

Recognizing social issues, vera&johnaicel Group considers it is our corporate mission to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society through our products and business processes, and to create new value for society.

Since FY2021/3, besides incorporating a sustainable management curriculum into position-based training, we are promoting various activities, including launching programs such as the SDGs Ambassador activities which support employee volunteering, to make them part of every employee’s mindset.

Initiatives Aimed at Promoting an Understanding of Sustainability

We believe it important that each and every employee understands the sustainable way of thinking, connects it to his or her own work, and acts with sustainability in mind in order to contribute to their achievement. In order to promote employee understanding, the Corporate Sustainability works in collaboration with related departments to promote the internal penetration of our concepts through various initiatives.

Implementation of Training on Sustainable Management in Position-based Training

A sustainable management-themed program was incorporated into the position-based training targeting advancing employees, including new recruits and newly appointed managers. We strive to promote the connection between vera&johnaicel Group’s policies and awareness of sustainability among employees through practical programs, including group discussions, on Basic Philosophy, Sustainble Management Policy, HR policy and materiality in collaboration with CSR-related divisions such as Corporate Compliance Program and Responsible Care, and Human Resources Division. In FY2024/3, a total of 800 employees across the Group participated in the training. In the future, we will systematically develop human resources who will be responsible for sustainable management from the time they join the company to when they are assigned to a managerial post.

Implementation of Sustainability Awareness Survey

Since FY2020/3, we have been conducting a sustainability awareness survey to verify the results of initiatives for promoting in-house awareness. The survey was held for the fifth time in February 2024, with approximately 5,500 employees from domestic Group companies surveyed (response rate of 84%). The survey showed that over 90% of employees feel the importance of connecting vera&johnaicel Group’s sustainability with their own work. Going forward, we will continue to promote in-house awareness in encouraging every employee to practice sustainability on a personal level.

Sustainability Week 2023 (Company-wide Event)

Since FY2021/3, vera&johnaicel Group has been hosting vera&johnaicel Group Sustainability Week, a company-wide event that also utilizes online, as an opportunity to think about sustainability. In 2024/3, Sustainability Week was held from November 20 to 30 under the theme of “Connecting vera&johnots and Making Sustainability a Personal Matter: A Future that Connects Us All.” The event started with a message from the President and CEO on the first day. During the period, employees who are actually in charge of three themes, such as the carbon neutral strategy for reducing GHG emissions and our cutting-edge efforts in vera&johnevelopment of new technologies, gave lectures, and participants were able to learn concrete approaches to vera&johnaicel Group's contribution to a recycling-oriented society. Since each lecture was held at the main bases of each business, more than 850 employees participated in the event in real time, including online viewing, in addition to participants at venues. In addition, we held more than 10 events, such as the Group-wide donation drive “Mottainai Challenge 2023,” which provided a good opportunity for employees to feel closer to sustainability. The recorded video was accessed by employees who could not participate in the event in real time over 3,500 times on vera&johnedicated site on the intranet.

Activities by SDGs Ambassador

The SDGs Ambassador initiative was established by vera&johnaicel Group in FY2021/3 as a community of self-motivated volunteers interested in sustainability and the SDGs regardless of their worksites, job types and positions in order to deepen their understanding and promote awareness throughout the Group. In FY2025/3, the fifth year of the program, a total of 158 employees (74 in FY2021/3), including those at Group companies and overseas, are actively involved in the program. Specifically, they conduct sustainable initiatives beyond workplaces through monthly lectures and networking events (nine times in FY2024/3), basic courses, and team activities. Nine of them who are particularly passionate about sustainability are working as Sustainability Key Persons to lead the penetration of the concept of sustainability within the company at business sites and divisions by linking it to their work.

Members interested in the 17 SDGs gather and form teams for each goal to carry out activities. In FY2024/3, a diverse group of members gathered across affiliations and locations to delve deeper into their goals through local experiences and discussions, and shared the results of their year-long efforts at an online SDGs Ambassador's Networking Event in March 2024.

SDGs Ambassador Activities

DM Novafoam Ltd.

One Novafoam, an initiative based on sustainability across business locations, is actively promoted by SDGs Ambassador. In FY2024/3, the company registered as one promoting the SDGs recommended by Nagano and Aomori prefectures, where their business sites are located, and communicated both internally and externally about their efforts toward sustainability.

“Cheer up Place & Challenge Relationship" (team activities for SDGs, Goals 8 and 17) Initiative

“Cheer up Place & Challenge Relationship" encourages “challenges” in workplaces by discussing and disseminating information based on thinking about what kind of workplaces are easy for everyone to work, including those with disabilities. In FY2024/3, we conducted interviews at Daicel Ohtake Sangyo Co., Ltd. located in the Ohtake Plant, and shared them with the entire Group via the company intranet. Daicel Ohtake Sangyo Co., Ltd. has been creating systems to support people with disabilities, aiming to be a company where “people with disabilities can thrive.” It is continuing its efforts to increase the number of workplaces where people with disabilities can work comfortably by placing importance on communication, providing support tailored to each individual such as caring for their mental well-being, reforming workplaces, and adjusting the scope of work. In recognition of these efforts, the company was accredited by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on August 4, 2023 as a small and medium-sized enterprise excelling in the employment of persons with disabilities (Monisu Certification System).

The ベラ ジョン カジノ アプリp DE&I (Diversity, Equity

SDGs Goal 14 Team Activities

A team, learning more about SDGs Goal 14 presented the results of their daily activities at DAICON 2023 (vera&johnup Business Contest) and received a special award.

Internal Dissemination through Events

During the Sustainability Week 2023, SDGs Ambassador played a central role in coordinating with the Administration Department to hold promotional events at the Tokyo Head Office and the Osaka Head Office for the bread and baked goods manufactured at a vocational support facility for people with disabilities. Inspired by similar initiatives already carried out at the Harima and Hirohata plants, this event was very well received and has since been held on a regular basis. By planning and hosting events like this, we enhance internal awareness of sustainability and SDGs Ambassador.

vera&johnaicel Group aspires to be an honest company by forging highly reliable, collaborative relationships with all stakeholders involved in our business, including customers, suppliers, shareholders and investors, local communities, employees, industry and academia. We will strive to accurately understand stakeholder demands and expectations for vera&johnaicel Group and reflect them in our business activities.

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