Responsible Care Activities

As a company in the business of handling chemical substances, the Kureha Group makes voluntary efforts to preserve the environment and protect personal safety and health in all business processes, from product development to product manufacturing, distribution, usage, final consumption, disposal, and recycling. The Kureha Group refers to these efforts as Responsible Care (RC) activities.
Responsible Care (RC) activities are based on seven items: environmental protection, safety and disaster prevention, occupational safety and health, product safety & quality assurance, logistics safety, energy management, and community relations.

Declaration of Responsible Care Implementation and Responsible Care Policy

Kureha has belonged to the Japan Responsible Care Council (currently Japan Chemical Industry Association RC Committee) since its inception. We declared the implementation of RC in April 1995, and, having established our RC policy, have been promoting RC activities.

Kureha Corporation and the companies of the Kureha Group believe that preservation of the global environment and ensuring the safety and health of people are core elements of business operations. Recognizing these as our corporate social responsibility, we declare a commitment to implement Responsible Care. Kureha and the companies of the Kureha Group shall formulate and put into practice a plan of implementation under the following Responsible Care Policy.
This policy shall be applied in common to Kureha and the companies of the Kureha Group.

April 20, 1995

July 1, 2002 .......... Partially revised
October 1, 2005 .... Partially revised

Responsible Care Policy

Responsible Care Policy

  • Compliance with international regulations and laws
    We shall comply with international regulations and domestic laws with respect to safety and disaster prevention, occupational safety and health, product safety, and preservation of the global environment, including the environment for community life, and shall participate actively in Responsible Care activities promoted by the Japan Chemical Industry Association.
  • Earth-friendly, safe operations
    We shall take special care to preserve the global environment in our business activities, protect the safety and health of employees and the public in our operations, and make efforts to prevent accidents, disasters, and pollution.
  • Providing safe products to society
    We shall quickly and accurately ascertain society's demands, making use of them in product design and manufacture, and shall provide products and services that customers can trust and use with peace of mind.
    We shall also provide society with products and services that are safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly throughout the entire lifecycle, from product research and development through production and marketing to disposal.
  • Managing and putting to use environmental and safety information
    We shall centrally manage appropriate information on the correct handling and disposal methods of our products as well as the environment, safety, and disaster prevention and shall provide such information to consumers, users, companies involved in product delivery, and others.
  • Building better relationships with society
    We shall practice proper public relations through the provision of environmental and safety information, bearing in mind the concerns of administrative authorities and the public. We shall also participate actively as a citizen in the activities of civil society and strive to maintain and build better relationships with society

Signed the Responsible Care Global Charter and Announced International Cooperation and Promotion of RC Activities

Responsible Care (RC) is a global initiative practiced by chemical companies in 63 countries and territories. The Global Charter has been established as a guiding principle of activities to spread and promote RC activities around the globe, which all chemical companies operating globally are encouraged to sign and implement.
The RC Global Charter, enacted by ICCA, was first published in 2006. By 2014, key activities were changed in the revision of the Charter. Kureha signed the revised Charter in September of the same year, in the name of the President and Representative Director, announcing our international cooperation with RC activities.

RC Management System

Promotion Structure of RC Activities and RC Management System

Kureha's RC activities include the following seven items: environmental protection, safety and disaster prevention, occupational safety and health, product safety & quality assurance, logistics safety, energy management, and community relations. These seven items are integrated into one RC management system, with each item promoted primarily by a department covering that area under the Responsible Care Subcommittee, a subcommittee of the Sustainability Coordination Committee. These departments formulate a plan for every fiscal year, promote activities, then receive reviews of activity results from management, and reflect these results in the next fiscal year's activity plan.
We aim to continually improve results through such a PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) Cycle. We have also acquired external certification for our Environmental Management System (ISO 14001), Quality Management System (ISO 9001), and Occupational Safety and Health Management System (ISO 45001)*, and we are working to utilize this in maintaining and improving each Management System.

  • *Please contact us for more information about the scope of our ISO certification.

Management System Audit

The results of the reviews of our RC Management System and the external examinations of each ISO Management System are reported to the Sustainability Coordination Committee, which then deliberates on how to address important issues of concern.
In fiscal 2020, we decided it was necessary to strengthen company-wide measures for environmental management, for which regulations are becoming stricter globally. We discussed clarifying systems and responsibilities for a more effective management system, and improvements are underway. Since then, in line with the reinforcement measures formulated, we have been promoting improvements by strengthening RC audits as well as regularly providing management and employees with education on environmental laws and regulations to ensure that they are fully aware of legal requirements.

The Kureha Group RC Council

Under the Responsible Care Subcommittee, we have established the Kureha Group RC Council, consisting of Kureha and Group companies in Japan that have declared the implementation of RC. The Council also has working groups to promote each activity. The RC Council promotes activities as a Group by sharing the plans, goals, and issues of RC activities to the entire Group, and by understanding and discussing the activities of each company and working group.

The Kureha Group RC Council
The Kureha Group RC Council

The Kureha Group RC Council

The Kureha Group RC Council

Goals and Vision

  • At each Kureha Group company, RC activities are yielding continuous improvement.

Fiscal Year 2022 Plan

  • Continuously improve Group-wide RC activities.
  • Strengthen Group-wide efforts in environment, safety, and quality.

Fiscal 2022 Performance and Outcomes

  • Improved environmental preservation and occupational safety and health activities in each department and quality assurance activities for each product by using management systems.
  • Improved RC activities (held twice) by sharing information among Group companies at the Kureha Group RC Council meetings.