Interview with the Executive Officer in Charge of CSR
Recognizing our role and responsibilities as a major global manufacturer, we will work towards sustainability in accordance with the Group’s corporate philosophy.
Katsuyasu NiiboriDirector, Member of the Board, Senior Managing Executive Officer, Chief Executive of the Corporate Strategic Restructuring Office, Chief Executive of the Corporate Strategy Division
Having served as the executive officer in charge of CSR since April 2020, how do you view the UACJ Group’s current approach to CSR, and what are the challenges ahead?
To meet global standards related to sustainability, we must clarify the issues that the Group needs to address and raise awareness among employees.
Until last year, I had served as president of UACJ Foil Corporation for four and a half years. During that time, interest in sustainability actions grew very quickly in Japan—so much that I felt it could affect sales and profits in the near future. Therefore, I realized that the UACJ Group had to meet global standards not only for product quality and performance, but also with respect to sustainability.
Today, society and people’s lives are being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasingly serious effects of global warming. At the same time, more and more people are becoming aware of the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). For these reasons, the roles and responsibilities of large corporations are expanding. Pursuing sustainability without a clear philosophy, however, is not the way to meet the expectations of stakeholders and the public, in my view. The UACJ has stated its philosophy: “contribute to society by using raw materials to manufacture products that enhance prosperity and sustainability.” To realize this philosophy, it will be essential to have all employees understand the importance of sustainability through a process of clarifying specific issues that the Group should address.
To facilitate this approach, we newly established the Corporate Sustainability Department within the Corporate Strategy Division in April 2020 as the Group’s central organization overseeing CSR and ESG. Recently, we have been specifying material issues based on our new corporate philosophy by collecting a wide range of views from the Group’s members, including officers and employees in and outside Japan working in manufacturing, R&D, procurement, sales, and management divisions. We plan to disclose these material issues in fiscal 2021 after a general consensus has been reached. In combination with the material issues, we are also designating priority tasks for helping achieve some of the 169 targets of the SDGs, and plan to create related action plans for every division to execute.
What direction should the UACJ Group take in the future to contribute to the prosperity and sustainability of society in accordance with its philosophy statement?
The Group will work together to contribute to a healthier environment while strengthening cooperation with stakeholders in recycling initiatives.
The UACJ Group has one of the highest levels of production capacity in the global aluminum products industry, and it meets about half of all demand for flat-rolled aluminum products in Japan. Recognizing the extent of this influence and the weight of the Group’s responsibility, I believe that we should always consider how the Group can contribute to its stakeholders and society as a whole.
With that in mind, facilitating recycling in society is, undoubtedly, one of the goals we must pursue. In the aluminum smelting process, through which aluminum is extracted from raw materials and refined as finished ingots, a vast amount of electricity is consumed. In contrast, only about 3% of the energy consumed during the smelting process is needed to produce the same amount of aluminum through recycling. In other words, recycling aluminum saves energy and is also very economical. We have already begun jointly researching aluminum recycling with our customers, and are exploring practical ways to collaborate with them in the future. To execute such new projects, however, communicating with stakeholders will be essential. In that regard, in July 2020, UACJ Corporation joined the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative, an international organization involved in setting global standards. We intend to incorporate such standards in our business activities and work together with other aluminum companies in the initiative while stepping up cooperation with our customers and suppliers.
Finally, for the Group to grow sustainably and fulfill its responsibility to society, we will need to ensure that our workplace environments are motivating for employees. I want to help foster a corporate culture that encourages everyone to take on whatever challenges arise with a collective sense of purpose, guided by our vision to build a better world and a healthier environment.
