Dialogue Between Outside Directors
Tackling materiality issues with a strong commitment and resolve based on a clear vision to help build a better world and healthier environment


Ryoko Nagata
Outside Director
Ms. Nagata gained extensive experience and a broad management perspective while serving as a senior vice president of Japan Tobacco Inc. and as an auditor at that company and one of its subsidiaries. She also has expertise in sales and marketing as well as sustainability issues.
Makiko Akabane
Outside Director
Ms. Akabane has led CSR initiatives and set up related organizations as head of CSR at multinational companies in various industries. Drawing from her extensive experience and expertise, she currently offers consulting on sustainability-related issues as a representative director of CSR Asia.
In December 2023, the UACJ Group revised the materiality issues it had originally announced in 2021, and newly specified five materiality issues in response to shifts in its operating environment. Two of UACJ’s outside directors, Ryoko Nagata and Makiko Akabane, met to evaluate the new materiality issues and discuss their outlooks and expectations going forward.
Creating business opportunities from
aluminum’s unlimited potential
- Akabane:
- UACJ first presented its newly revised materiality issues at an ESG briefing held in December 2023. How would you assess these materiality issues?
- Nagata:
- The previous materiality issues covered a broad range of issues facing society, but frankly speaking, companies in all industries were tackling essentially the same issues. In contrast, the newly revised materiality issues put top priority on leading a circular economy in aluminum, which sends a powerful message to the society. Tackling this issue is something UACJ must do and is capable of doing, so it should work hard to appeal to the public on this matter.
- Akabane:
- I also highly commend the Company’s focus on leading a circular economy in aluminum. When management reviewed the original wording of this issue at the draft stage, some suggested that any company could have expressed it that way, while others wondered if it reflected UACJ’s uniqueness. The wording was revised after those viewpoints were considered, and the outcome was a materiality issue unique to UACJ.
- Nagata:
- An important policy of the mid-term management plan launched this fiscal year is to supply aluminum materials with even more added value than before, and one way to add value is to promote recycling. By broadening applications and stimulating demand for aluminum as a material with more environmental value, and by helping build a circular economy for the metal, the Group can strive to raise its overall value while also promoting sustainability. Both the newly revised materiality issues and the new mid-term management plan include financial and non-financial goals that align growth strategies and sustainability. That is very commendable, and I look forward to seeing steady progress.
Adding value to products through recycling is
a source of Group’s competitiveness
- Akabane:
- According to data published by the International Aluminium Institute, global demand for aluminum is projected to rise by about 40% between 2020 and 2030. For aluminum product manufacturers, how to respond to such robust demand will be a major issue.
- Nagata:
- Some are concerned that procuring raw materials will become difficult as competition over resources intensifies in the future. We must also deal with rising aluminum demand while considering the impact of climate change, which means reducing energy consumption at the production stage.
- Akabane:
- Recycling will be an essential way to deal with those conflicting issues. By recycling aluminum over and over again, we can use this resource more effectively, of course, while also greatly reducing the energy that would otherwise be needed to produce virgin aluminum*1. Today, companies in the global marketplace are asking manufacturers what kind of energy was used to make their products and materials. Therefore, it is essential to facilitate the use of green energy in production processes while also stepping up recycling efforts.
- Nagata:
- You are exactly right. The UACJ Group can bolster its competitiveness by incorporating aluminum recycling systems in its operations while taking proactive steps to supply aluminum products that help reduce environmental impacts because they were made using green energy.
- *1. The energy needed to produce recycled aluminum materials is only about 3% of the amount needed to produce the same volume of virgin aluminum in the smelting process. Furthermore, by replacing virgin aluminum with recycled aluminum as raw materials for products, greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by about 97% at the production stage.
Working together in unison to fulfill our commitment
- Nagata:
- UACJ has specified key performance indicators (KPIs) and targets to achieve by fiscal 2030 and 2050 for each of the five new materiality issues. For the issue of leading a circular economy in aluminum, for example, UACJ set its recycling rate*2 as a KPI, and will aim to raise this rate to 80% by fiscal 2030 and 100% by fiscal 2050, compared with the baseline year of 2019 when the rate was 65%. These targets are very ambitious, which reflects the Company’s strong commitment and resolve to help build a better world and healthier environment.
- Akabane:
- To fulfill that commitment, the Company is urging a wide range of stakeholders to join its efforts in creating recycling loops for aluminum products other than can stock. The Board of Directors will need to monitor the progress of such efforts for all five materiality issues.
- Nagata:
- When monitoring progress, it is important not only to understand what has or hasn’t been accomplished, but also to engage in constructive discussions about what actions should be taken next, such as analyzing issues and examining countermeasures. A broad perspective should be adopted whenever appropriate, taking into account other companies’ initiatives, global trends, and so on.
- Akabane:
- I think we should also closely watch the Group’s human resources development, even though it was not included among the five new materiality issues.
- Nagata:
- Yes, there were opinions that human resources development should remain as a materiality issue during the review process, but in the end, it was regarded as an operational foundation that should be maintained as a matter of course rather than treated as a priority task on the level of a materiality issue.
- Akabane:
- The successful execution of the mid-term management plan as well as measures related to the materiality issues depend on each and every employee of the Group. Therefore, the Group must continue enhancing its human resources development to allow all employees to demonstrate their full potential. To become a more attractive company that really talented people want to work for, UACJ must ensure that its workplace environment is employee friendly.
- Nagata:
- That will also strengthen the Group’s operational foundations. Furthermore, everyone must be strongly committed to executing the growth strategies of the mid-term management plan and the measures for tackling each of the materiality issues. All members of the Board of Directors are working in unison to facilitate the achievement of those objectives.
- *2. UACJ’s recycling rate is calculated by dividing the total weight of aluminum it recycles by the total weight of all aluminum entered in its melting furnaces.