The Sumitomo Rubber Group considers the appropriate management of water resources to be an important business issue and has included it as one of the items in its long-term policy. In addition, in the assessment of business risks and opportunities related to nature that we carried out in response to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), we identified water resources and wastewater as one of the important issues in the tire business and conducted a regional analysis of the value chain.
In response to the global shortage of water resources, the Sumitomo Rubber Group has set a target in its Long-Term Sustainability Policy to achieve 100% recycling of factory wastewater by fiscal 2050 at factories with high water risk. We are also working to reduce water intake and recycle wastewater in other regions. The progress of these initiatives is managed by the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Subcommittee, a working group under the Sustainability Promotion Committee.
In 2023, the total amount of water intake at all Sumitomo Rubber Group factories increased by 2.0% compared to the previous year, and the total amount of wastewater increased by 4.0% compared to the previous year.
Data on wastewater by factory are presented in the non-financial data section and the environmental report for each factory.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group has been conducting assessments based on the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, a tool provided by the World Resources Institute (WRI). In addition, we employ our own standards regarding legal compliance, limitations on water intake and other items to conduct risk assessments for our bases.
In these ways, we will continue to perform risk assessments for our production bases to determine which bases may be at high risk and thereupon implement concrete countermeasures.
Examples of Initiatives
The Sumitomo Rubber Group
Participating in the Water Project sponsored by Ministry of the Environment
In conjunction with the enforcement of the Basic Act on the Water Cycle in 2014, the Water Project was launched by Ministry of the Environment in order to maintain and restore the soundness of the water cycle through industry-academia-government collaboration.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has been a participant in this project since 2014.
100% Recycling of Wastewater at Bases with High Water Risk
The Turkey Factory is one of the Sumitomo Rubber Group's factories with high water risk, and in 2018, the factory began trial operations to establish recycling technology. In the summer of 2019, for the first time in the Group, we achieved 100% recycling of factory wastewater by using the concentrated water from the wastewater recycling facility to water the trees on the premises and for toilets. Going forward, we will strive to maintain the 100% recycling of wastewater from our factories.
Reduction of Wastewater Emissions and the Purification of Effluent
The Sumitomo Rubber Group is working to purify wastewater by installing treatment equipment for reuse.
We also conduct the periodic measurement of water quality indicators such as hydrogen ion concentration index (pH), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and concentration of suspended solids (SS) to ensure the appropriate management of wastewater.
