Environmental Management System

Fundamental Perspective

The Sumitomo Rubber Group places great emphasis on conducting sustainable business operations while coexisting harmoniously with society and the environment. In December 2020, we established a new corporate philosophy system, “Our Philosophy,” as a driving and accelerating force toward realizing our corporate strategy. We defined our Purpose—our reason for being—as “Creating the ultimate reassurance and joy through innovation that opens the future.”
By making this Purpose the foundation for all decision-making and the starting point for our actions, we are committed to enhancing not only economic value but also social value, thereby contributing to the development of a sustainable society. Environmental conservation is one of the shared and critical responsibilities that corporations must fulfill globally. As a global company, our group actively promotes environmental management at all its locations around the world.

Basic Policy on Environmental Issues (Fundamental Philosophy)

The Group established its Environmental Policy, which is aimed at realizing a sustainable society, in July 2007 as a Group policy for realizing a sustainable society (revised in December 2024).The policy clearly states the environmental issues to be addressed and the measures to be taken, and the Group is working to realize decarbonization and reduce environmental burden.Going forward, we will continue to address environmental issues across the entire supply chain, monitor the implementation status of this policy, and strive for continual improvement based on the PDCA cycle which ISO 14001 requires.
Regarding the Group’s environmental initiatives, we refer to international disclosure frameworks such as TCFD and TNFD, and, while conducting third-party verification, we provide appropriate information disclosure through our website, integrated report, and other communication tools. By doing so, we aim to meet stakeholders’ expectations and ultimately enhance our corporate value.

Related Information

Governance

Our corporate group spearheads initiatives for integrated environmental management through the Sustainability Management Promotion Headquarters, in collaboration with top management and various departments. To drive sustainability management, we convene the “Sustainability Promotion Committee”—chaired by the Executive Director in Charge of Sustainability and joined by officers in charge of respective divisions—twice a year. The committee ensures the alignment of company-wide policies and monitors progress on material issues. Under the umbrella of the Sustainability Promotion Committee, we have established the Sustainability Promotion Working Group (WG). Among its subgroups, the Environmental Management System (EMS) Division operates as a cross-functional organization to advance these efforts.

Related Information

Acquisition of ISO 14001 Global Multi-Site Certification

The Sumitomo Rubber Group’s certificate for the global multi-site certification (above: Japanese version; below: English version)

ISO 14001 Certification

(As of December 2025)

Strategy, Risks and Opportunities

Strategy

The Sumitomo Rubber Group continues to reduce its environmental impact under the Environmental Policy set by top management, utilizing the PDCA cycle established based on ISO 14001 integrated certification and tailored to the characteristics of each base of operations.
In addition to reducing total CO₂ emissions,the volume of water withdrawal, and waste volume across the entire Group, we are promoting communication within and outside the organization to ensure a transition to a carbon-neutral and circular economy.

Related Information

Risk Management in Sustainability Activities

Sustainability-related risks that may materially and adversely affect our business activities shall be addressed by each of the relevant divisions and/or subsidiaries in advance, through the analysis of those risks and the planning of countermeasures in accordance with the Regulations Concerning Risk Control, which define risk management methods for the entire Sumitomo Rubber Group. These risks shall then be referred to the Management Meeting and other bodies for discussion. In addition, the management team monitors and reviews the themes that they believe are especially important in reducing burdens on society and the environment in the Company’s supply chain as well as the global supply chain. The results are reported to the Board of Directors.

Eco-First Commitments

The Sumitomo Rubber Group was certified in March 2009 as an “Eco-First company” under the “Eco-First Program” established by the Ministry of the Environment, and renewed its “Eco-First Commitments,” which summarize fresh targets for environmental preservation, in October 2022.
In light of the increasing seriousness of global social issues, including climate change and other environmental concerns, we also came to the conclusion that a new policy, one based on long-term perspectives that look to the world of 2050 and beyond, would be essential to our efforts to ensure the sustained growth and development of both our group and society as a whole. The Long-Term Sustainability Targets : “Driving Our Future Initiatives” was thus formulated and announced in August 2021. The updated “Eco-First Commitments” include our carbon neutrality targets for 2050 (Scope 1 + 2) and other environmental targets identified by this Long-Term Sustainability Targets.

What Are Eco-First Commitments?

Risk Management

Our group complies with environmental laws and regulations in each country and region, and we strive to minimize environmental impacts such as air and water pollution as well as any potential effects on neighboring communities.For sites with relatively high environmental impact, under the Sumitomo Rubber Group Environmental Policy, we establish EMS committees at each location to share issues internally and promote initiatives aimed at resolving site-specific environmental challenges.
In the event of an environmental incident, the headquarters is immediately notified as an emergency, and under unified global rules, we conduct thorough investigations to identify the root cause and implement measures to prevent recurrence. When necessary, we also carry out risk assessments at sites where no incidents have occurred.There were no incidents related to environmental accidents or pollution issues that resulted in fines or penalties within our group during fiscal year 2025.

Targets and Results

The targets and results are as follows.

Examples of Initiatives

EMS Audit System

Our group passes annual external audits by certification bodies and conducts internal audits at each facility by personnel holding internal auditor qualifications. Furthermore, since fiscal year 2009, we have regularly conducted corporate audits where auditors from Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. headquarters audit each manufacturing facility within the group, both domestically and internationally.
As a result of the external audit for fiscal year 2025, all facilities received favorable evaluations, enabling us to renew our ISO 14001:2015 global integrated certification.
The external audit and internal audits revealed no significant violations of environmental laws and regulations.

Environmental Training

Our group conducts environmental training at the headquarters and each site to raise employee awareness of safety and environmental responsibility. At the headquarters, we provide annual training on ISO 14001 internal auditing for environmental management system personnel, thereby promoting awareness within the organization.
In addition to fostering sustainability awareness, we encourage employees who handle chemical substances to participate in external training programs. We will continue to ensure the safe and appropriate management of chemical substances. Furthermore, each site conducts emergency response drills, including training for leakage incidents.

Environmental Protection Initiatives

Air Pollution Control

Our group establishes voluntary standards in addition to complying with environmental regulations set by each country, in order to detect abnormal values at an early stage and prevent incidents.
We aggregate greenhouse gases annually, including methane, nitrous oxide, fluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride, which are emitted by our group other than CO₂.
In particular, for fluorocarbons, we comply with maintenance and regular inspection requirements for equipment as stipulated by the Act on Rational Use and Proper Management of Fluorocarbons, and we calculate both activity levels and leakage volumes. Regarding the report on calculated leakage volumes of fluorocarbons, there were no applicable cases in 2025.

Odor Control

Our group implements initiatives to reduce rubber odor, which is the main source of odor. Each manufacturing site implements its own specific initiatives to address this issue. Examples include research on odor analysis and installation and inspection of deodorization equipment in compliance with local regulations. We will continue to work toward reducing the environmental impact on surrounding areas.
In addition to improving manufacturing processes, we conduct regular measurements at site boundaries and investigate and resolve causes whenever voluntary standards are exceeded.
Other initiatives include reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) which cause odor by improving processes and substituting materials with lower environmental impact. We also work to reduce usage volumes and dispose of waste using appropriate methods in compliance with local regulations.

Noise Control

Our group conducts regular measurements at site boundaries and implements measures such as limiting operating hours and installing noise filters in certain processes, in order to minimize the impact on surrounding environments.

Soil and Water Pollution at the Kakogawa Factory (follow-up reporting)

In October 2004, we reported to Kakogawa City on the result of our voluntary investigations that tetrachloroethylene and other hazardous substances in soil on the Kakogawa Factory’s premises were found to exceed statutory environmental standards. We also hosted meetings for the neighborhood.
Since then, we have been striving to counter the pollution by removing the contaminated soil, purifying contaminated groundwater, and implementing bio-purification measures to invigorate indigenous soil microorganisms.
We have continued the follow-up investigations and have confirmed that pollutants have not been dispersed outside the factory’s premises. The value measured at the first monitoring point since 2015 has been stable at less than 0.01 mg/l. We added the new monitoring point in an adjoining polluted area in 2016. We continue to periodically monitor the groundwater to constantly monitor the status of pollution by sampling.

Tetrachloroethylene Concentration Measured via Sampling from the Groundwater Wells (continuous monitoring points)

The benchmarking value: 0.01 mg/l or lower

Responsible Management of Chemical Substances

Our group complies with environmental regulations both domestically and internationally, including the REACH Regulation.
We disclose our list of environmentally regulated chemical substances to our business partners and request their compliance.
We respond sincerely to customer requests for investigations on the use of regulated chemical substances in our products.

PCB*¹-Containing Equipment

Our group stores PCB-containing equipment at domestic factories and reports to the authorities based on the Act on Special Measures for the Promotion of Proper Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Waste (PCB Special Measures Act).The disposal results for 2025 were 73 ballasts and 1 transformer.As of the end of 2025, the number of PCB-containing devices in storage is one low-concentration transformer, scheduled for disposal in 2026.

*1 PCB (Polychlorinated Biphenyl): A general term for chemical substances formerly used in transformer and capacitor insulating oils. Confirmed to be harmful to human health and the environment, their manufacture and use are now prohibited. They are classified as specially controlled industrial waste requiring strict disposal procedures.

Related Information

Environmental Reports Issued by Overseas Sites

The Sumitomo Rubber Group’s overseas manufacturing sites issue environmental reports on their own.
These environmental reports disclose data regarding the environmental footprints of our activities, including targets and results, social contribution, and other matters.