Development of Eco-Friendly Products

Policy and Approach

In recent years, expectations for reducing the environmental impact of products have been increasing among customers, local communities, governments, and other stakeholders. In this context, Sunstar is developing products to reduce environmental impact from three perspectives.

  1. In all processes from product development to disposal after use, we strive to promote effective use of resources, pollution prevention, and resource circulation from the perspectives of the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renewable and Biodiversity Conservation.
  2. We will reduce the environmental impact of our products by adopting the product life cycle assessment method and quantitatively visualizing the magnitude of the impact of our products on the environment.
  3. We will share best practices and issues related to reducing the environmental impact of products and containers development in a timely manner through the global network of our group sites to speed up the development process.
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Eco-friendly plastic products and containers

Reduce

Reduce plastic consumption

De-plasticized design

(Utilization of metal, glass, paper)

Recycle
Use of recycled materials
(Reduction of virgin plastic）
Design for easy recycling
(Monomaterialization and easy disassembly)
Renew
Use of plant-based plastics
(Reduction of oil-based plastics)
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Mid- to Long-Term Environmental Targets and Results

＊ Scope of data: data for production at the Group’s 15 global plants are integrated excluding U.S. sites in the Consumer Business and Tsubamex in the Industrial Business.
Consumer Business ＝ Oral care products, cosmetics, health foods, and other consumer product-related businesses

Industrial Business = Adhesives and sealants for automobiles, construction and electronics, and metal parts for motorcycles and automobiles

＊ Evaluation criteria: ◎＝Exceeds plan, ○＝Progress almost as planned, △＝Missed plan but making progress, ×＝Worse than current status

＊1 Includes European procurement for consumer business

＊2 Product containers and primary packaging materials (excluding subcontracted products for Japanese consumer goods and industrial goods)

＊3 Recyclable or reusable material = Easily separable by material after product use ）

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“Environmental Data” for details
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Product Examples

Here are just some of the eco-friendly products we have developed.

Ongoing reduction of plastic use in dental rinse bottles, toothpaste tubes, etc.
(Japan, Asia)

Title
Annotation
Table
Year Activities Results
2015 Thinning toothpaste tube Plastic material reduction 2 tons/year
2016 Expanding SKU for thin toothpaste tube Plastic material reduction
2017

Expanding SKU for thin toothpaste tube

Tninning PET bottle for vegetable juice

Adopting paper can package for health drink

Plastic material reduction 8 tons/year

Plastic reduction 2 tons/year

Paper use 2 tons/year
2018〜2019

Lightening mouthwash bottle

Lightening mouthwash cap

Expanding drink SKU of paper can package

Plastic material reduction 40 tons/year

Plastic material reduction 5 tons/year

Paper use 10 tons/year
2020

Lightening mouthwash pump

Changed packaging for mouthwash set

Plastic reduction of 27 tons/year

Plastic reduction of 9 tons/year
2021

Pump-type mouthwash with

replacement bottle

Changed mouthwash sampler

POP packaging from plastic to paper

Plastic reduction of 27 tons/year

Plastic reduction of 6 tons/year
2022 Reduce weight of cases and toothpaste caps for portable toothbrushing sets Plastic reduction of 1.8 tons/year
Reduce weight of small mouthwash bottles Plastic reduction of 22.4 tons/year

GUM BIO toothpaste (Europe)

Received COSMOS-ORGANIC certification, a global standard for organic products
It contains 99% of natural ingredients and 22% of ingredients from organic farming. Its packaging box is made with 80% recycled paper and is 100% recyclable.

Use of low environmental impact materials in products and packaging (Japan)

Major toothbrush products use toothbrush bristles that contain plant-based plastic and packaging made of recycled plastic and FSC®-certified paper

30% reduction of plastic in shared pumps (Japan)

Two-bottle mouthwash set with reusable pump. Saves 1 pump’s worth of plastic

Reduction of package weight, package plastic and package waste for automotive and construction adhesives and sealants (Global)

We are promoting the use of crushable and film-like containers to reduce waste after use.

KENKODOJO Brown Rice & Soy Drink Sesame Plus (Japan)

Adopting a lightweight paper cartocan package helped reduce CO2 emissions in transportation
This health drink is a tasty way to consume nutrients from rice bran, which is often wasted during rice polishing

Commercialization of highly durable and weather-resistant construction sealants (Japan)

We are promoting the use of stain-resistant and long-lasting materials.

Use of recycled paper and recycled plastic in packaging for toothbrushes and interdental cleaners (Europe)

We are expanding our lineup of products that use recycled packaging materials, such as recycled paper for the package backing and recycled plastic for the transparent package covers of toothbrushes and interdental cleaners.

Use of less plastic in in-store display units (Europe, Japan)

In Europe and Japan, we are striving to reduce our environmental impact by using as little plastic as possible in our in-store display units for toothbrushes and interdental cleaners, and instead using recyclable paper and wood materials. In Japan, we reduce environmental impact by blending paper powder, plant-based biodegradable plastic, and recycled plastic into the plastic parts of our store display units. In addition, we strive to reduce waste by using common parts repeatedly and replacing only parts with new descriptions.

Adoption of plant-based plastics for mouthwash bottles (Japan)

In July 2023, we switched from petroleum-based plastics to plant-based biomass PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for 13 mouthwash bottles produced in Japan.

Use of recyclable containers for shipping adhesives and metal parts (global)

In an effort to reduce our environmental impact, we use reusable drums to ship automotive adhesives and construction sealants to business partners and we have switched from drums to jumbo tanks to reduce the frequency of shipping. We also use returnable boxes and recyclable metal baskets to ship metal parts for motorcycles.

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