The Asahi Kasei Group's Environmental Contribution Products

What are Environmental Contribution Products?

The Asahi Kasei Group internally certifies products and services that contribute to improving the environment and reducing the environmental burdens along their overall lifecycle as Environmental Contribution Products.

Concept of certifying products as Environmental Contribution Products

Products are judged from raw materials, to production, transportation, use, and disposal.
Even if the environmental burden of Environmental Contribution Products on a particular aspect is heavy compared to standard products on the market and our existing products (baseline), it is still lower than the baseline on a total product basis. We are promoting such initiatives because the deployment of such products will help reduce the environmental burden on society.

The guideline for Environmental Contribution Products is based on the "Guidelines for Calculating the Avoided CO₂ emissions" issued by ILCAJ, the “Guidelines for Calculating the Contribution to CO₂ Emission Reduction” issued by the Japan Chemical Industry Association, and the “Guidelines for Quantifying GHG emission reductions of goods or services through Global Value Chain” issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology’s LCA database IDEA and others are used to calculate the volume of GHG reduction contribution.

Targets and results

The Asahi Kasei Group aims to both contribute to the environment and achieve business growth, and has set two goals. The first one is to more than double the GHG reduction contribution from “Environmental Contribution Products” compared to fiscal 2020 by fiscal 2030. The second one is to increase the portion of sales of Environmental Contribution Products among our total sales (excluding Health Care sector). We are getting a quantitative understanding of our progress toward these goals and continuing relevant initiatives.

Contribution to reducing GHG emissions and increasing sales through Environmental Contribution Products

	FY2030 Target	FY2023 Results
Volume of the GHG reduction contribution from Environmental Contribution Products	At least double our GHG reduction contribution compared to fiscal 2020	1.40 times (Reference value) Approximately 18 million tons^*
Portion of sales of Environmental Contribution Products among total sales	Increase of the ratio of sales of Environmental Contribution Products to total sales	29%

*Regarding reference values for the GHG reduction contribution
The baseline setting and the approach for the contribution ratio in the calculation of individual products are considered appropriate for each product. For this reason, simple sums of the contributions of each product or inter-company comparisons are not always rational.

Internal Certification Process

Products proposed by strategic business units and core operating companies are internally certified as Environmental Contribution Products after external experts on the LCA Review Panel confirm the rationality of the environmental contribution from an LCA perspective. The inclusion of academic perspectives has promoted the improvement of the knowledge and skills of our human resources and has also led to a deeper understanding of the need to promote initiatives for Environmental Contribution Products with a medium- to long-term perspective.

LCA Review Panel (held on May 24, 2024)

Chairman: Atsushi Inaba (Chief Director of Japan Life Cycle Assessment Facilitation Centre (LCAF))
Panel Members: Hiroyuki Uchida (Principal, Mizuho Research & Technologies, Ltd.)
Kensuke Kobayashi (Associate professor, Prefectural University of Hiroshima)
Keigo Matsuda (Professor, Nagoya University)

A meeting of the LCA Review Panel

At the LCA Review Panel, personnel in charge of each product explain the details of environmental contributions and receive comments and advice from outside experts on the suitability of the establishment of baselines and our approach to environmental contribution.

Description of Environmental Contribution Products

Overview of Environmental Contribution Products

	Ion-exchange membrane process for chlor-alkali electrolysis Manufacturing process for acrylonitrile Dimethyl carbonate production process using CO₂ as a raw material Polycarbonate production process using CO₂ as a raw material Cyclohexanol production process Adipic acid production process
	Hipore™ lithium-ion battery separator Celgard™ lithium-ion battery separator Elastomer for asphalt modification S-SBR synthetic rubber for fuel-efficient tires Dinamica™ artificial suede Xyron™ modified PPE for electric vehicle battery modules Asaclean™ cleaning agent for resin molding machines
	Duranol™ polycarbonatediol for soft-touch paint Low-viscosity grades of Duranate™ HDI-based polyisocyanate Xyron™ modified PPE for solar cell connectors Microza™ membrane filtration module AWP™ photosensitive resin for printing plates UVC LED for water sterilization CO₂ sensors Current sensor for large air conditioners Hall elements and Hall ICs for home air conditioners ICs^ for temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (TCXO) for communication base stations* Ecoloop™ OPS film
	Hebel Haus™ unit homes Hebel Maison™ apartment buildings Neoma Foam™ insulation material

^*Photo shows a wafer of ICs for TCXO

Key points of the contribution of Environmental Contribution Products

	Environmental Contribution Products	Key points of the environmental contribution
	Ion-exchange membrane process for chlor-alkali electrolysis	Low electricity consumption in electrolysis
	Manufacturing process for acrylonitrile	High yield (catalysts)
	Dimethyl carbonate production process	CO₂ as a raw material
	Polycarbonate production process	CO₂ as a raw material
	Cyclohexanol production process	High yield
	Adipic acid production process	High efficiency in N₂O decomposition
	Hipore™ and Celgard™ lithium-ion battery separators	Essential for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles
	Elastomer for asphalt modification	Improvement of road durability
	S-SBR synthetic rubber for fuel-efficient tires	Contribution to tires’ rolling performance
	Dinamica™ artificial suede	Improvement of rate of use of recycled PET and reduction of solvents (DMF)
	Xyron™ modified PPE for electric vehicle battery modules	Weight saving of battery cases in hybrid vehicles
	Asaclean™ cleaning agent for resin molding machines	Resource saving in the cleaning of molding machines
	Duranol™ polycarbonatediol for soft-touch paint	Reduction in solvent use (butyl acetate)
	Low-viscosity grades of Duranate™ HDI-based polyisocyanate	Reduction in solvent use for paint manufacturers
	Xyron™ modified PPE for solar cell connectors	Reduction in the number of modules required for high-voltage systems and the quantity of resin used
	Microza™ membrane filtration module	High durability of membrane (resource saving)
	AWP™ photosensitive resin for printing plates	High printing performance, productivity, no solvent required
	UVC LED for water sterilization	Power saving and no use of mercury
	CO₂ sensors	Reduction of unnecessary ventilation
	Current sensor for large air conditioners	Energy conservation with inverter motors
	Hall elements and Hall ICs for home air conditioners	Energy conservation with inverter motors
	IC for temperature-compensated crystal oscillators (TCXO)for communication base stations	Reduction of used electricity due to absence of heater
	Ecoloop™ OPS film	Increased ratio of recycled material
	Hebel Haus™ unit homes and Hebel Maison™ apartment buildings	Durability for 60 to 100 years, energy conservation (ZEH etc.)
	Neoma Foam™ insulation material	Fewer resources required for equivalent insulation performance