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Environmental Protection

GHG and Energy

The Mitsui Chemicals Group is striving to reduce GHG emissions and energy consumption by adopting a decarbonized manufacturing approach under its climate change policy.

*Please refer here for other information concerning climate change.

GHG Emissions and Energy Consumption

In response to increasingly serious environmental problems and growing demands for global decarbonization, the Mitsui Chemicals Group announced 2050 Carbon Neutrality Declaration in November 2020, and set a Group target in June 2021 to reduce the Group's global GHG emissions by 40% (compared to FY2013) by FY2030. To achieve these targets, we will actively engage in increasing the adoption of low-carbon raw materials and fuels, promotion of energy efficiency, conversion to renewable energy, and creation of process innovation technologies to build a decarbonized society.

The Mitsui Chemicals Group's GHG emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) in FY2023 increased compared to FY2022 as a result of the increase in the number of domestic affiliates subject to the calculation and the expansion of the scope to non-energy origin CO₂, which is outside the scope of calculation by the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures. This is in accordance with the revised scope of calculation to comply with the GHG Protocol.

Meanwhile, since fiscal 2007, Mitsui Chemicals has set a target of reducing GHG emissions through energy efficiency, and is continuing comprehensive energy conservation activities at its plants. This includes step-by-step enhancement of heat recovery and streamlining of the refining process. In fiscal 2023 as well, we achieved a reduction of 28,000 tons, exceeding our target (a reduction of at least 20,000 tons from the previous year).

GHG emissions reduction rate (Scopes 1 and 2) (Mitsui Chemicals Group)

*Compared to FY2013

*In FY2023, the scope of calculation was expanded to comply with the GHG Protocol

GHG Emissions reduction rate (Scopes 1 and 2)

GHG Emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) (Mitsui Chemicals Group)

*In FY2023, the scope of calculation was expanded to comply with the GHG Protocol

With regard to our energy consumption, our target was to achieve a five-year average reduction rate of 1% or more in energy intensity, but despite various energy efficiency measures in fiscal 2023, we were unable to offset the deterioration in energy intensity due to low capacity utilization, which increased by 1.0% in fiscal 2023. We will continue to aim for a five-year average reduction rate of 1% or more, which is the target of the Energy Conservation Law. However, since it is difficult to evaluate long-term reduction efforts with a five-year average reduction rate because the base year shifts, we will use the benchmark target of the Energy Conservation Law (11.9 GJ/t or less energy consumption per unit production of ethylene at ethylene production facilities) and an energy consumption intensity of 92% or less, which is based on fiscal 2009, as reference indicators for our initiatives to reduce energy consumption.

Energy Consumption (Mitsui Chemicals Group)

In addition, for GHG emissions, we calculate GHG emissions regarding Scopes 1 and 2 emissions generated from in-house operations and production activities as well as Scope 3 for indirect emissions in order to identify GHG emissions throughout the entire supply chain, extending from purchasing raw materials to customer use and disposal.

GHG Emissions (Scope 3) (Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.)

Breakdown of GHG Emissions (Scope 3) (Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. Fiscal 2022)

Category	Emissions (Thousands of tons CO₂eq/year)	Method of calculating emissions and reasons for excluding from the scope of calculation
1. Purchased goods and services	5,525	Emissions coefficient National Institute for Environmental Studies, "Embodied Energy and Emission Intensity Data for Japan Using Input-Output Tables (3EID)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Calculated from the purchase price.
2. Capital goods	136	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Emissions Intensity Database for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 3.3 (March 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Calculated from the capital goods purchase price.
3. Fuel- and energy-related activities (not included in scopes 1 or scope 2)	272	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Emissions Intensity Database for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 3.3 (March 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Fuel, electricity, and steam purchases. Includes companies that are located on our Company plant premises and have signed a memorandum of understanding with us to integrate energy management.
4. Upstream transportation and distribution	65	Emissions coefficient and calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation and Reporting Manual (Ver. 4.9, April 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Transport weight and distance by means of transport.
5. Waste generated in operations	43	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Emissions Intensity Database for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 3.3 (March 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation methods, etc. Treatment amount by type of waste treated outside the Company.
6. Business travel	7	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Emissions Intensity Database for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 3.3 (March 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Calculated from the amount of transportation allowance and accommodation expenses by mode of transportation in Japan and overseas. Because the allowance by domestic means of transportation is not classified in detail, a sampling survey was used to determine the percentage of airplanes, trains, buses, taxi, etc.
7. Employee commuting	4	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Emissions Intensity Database for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 3.3 (March 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Allowance per transportation classification.
8. Upstream leased assets	1	Emissions coefficient and calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation and Reporting Manual (Ver. 4.9, April 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Calculated based on electricity and air conditioning usage by tenants in the main and branch offices.
9. Downstream transportation and distribution	Outside scope of calculation	Transports from the Company to the customer (BtoB) are included in Category 4. In addition, because we are in the materials industry, we have a high ratio of intermediate products and are unable to grasp the distribution to the consumer. Therefore, given that it is impossible to reasonably calculate the transportation volume, these are excluded from the scope of calculation.
10. Processing sold products	Outside scope of calculation	As we are in the materials industry, we have a large proportion of intermediate products, and even customers have numerous potential applications. It is difficult to collect data from customers on the processing performed by those value chain companies and their emissions intensity. In addition, it is excluded from the calculation because it is impossible to accurately calculate the data using secondary data at this time.
11. Use of sold products	2,985	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation and Reporting Manual (Ver. 4.9, April 2023)," etc. Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Calculated from the CO₂ sales volume of fuel, electricity, heat, and dry ice. For our products sold as domestic automobile components and materials, CO₂ emissions during automobile use are allocated by weight of parts and materials for calculation.
12. End-of-life treatment of sold products	2,034	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Emissions Intensity Database for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 3.3 (March 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. Calculated from the sales volume of the Company's polymer products and products that customers make into polymer products.
13. Downstream leased assets	Outside scope of calculation	The Company does not have such assets, so they are excluded from the calculation.
14. Franchises	Outside scope of calculation	The Company does not have franchises, so they are excluded from the calculation.
15. Investments	619	Emissions coefficient Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculation and Reporting Manual (Ver. 4.9, April 2023)" Calculation method Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Basic Guidelines for Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Supply Chains Ver 2.5 (March 2023)" Assumptions, allocation method, etc. CO₂ emissions of the Group's affiliates are accumulated in accordance with their shares.
Total	11,691

Highly Efficient Gas Turbine Power Generation System for Self-Sufficiency

Mitsui Chemicals installed a highly efficient gas turbine power generation system in its Osaka Works and commenced operation in December 2020. This was a joint project with Daigas Energy Co., Ltd. under a grant from the 2018 Subsidy for Promoting Investment in Energy Saving provided by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The system increases the Works’ self-sufficiency in power. It also reduces fuel usage by the naphtha cracking furnaces in the ethylene plant by taking the high-temperature exhaust gas generated by the power generation facilities for use as the combustion air in the furnaces. This is reducing CO₂ emissions from Osaka Works by 70,000 tons per year (compared with fiscal 2016).

Energy-Saving Process Using LNG Cold Energy

Together with Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., Mitsui Chemicals and its consolidated subsidiary, Osaka Petrochemical Industries, Ltd. have adopted energy-saving process by using liquefied natural gas (LNG)-generated cold energy in the ethylene plant. This world-first energy saving process using LNG-generated cold energy on a large-scale at our ethylene plant commenced in October 2010.
To transport and store natural gas, it is liquefied by cooling it to -160°C. Liquefied gas is a good source of cold energy. During its liquefied state, LNG emits boil off gas which has auto-refrigeration properties. When returning LNG to its gas state, it continues to retain superior cooling abilities. At Mitsui Chemicals’ Osaka Works OPC ethylene plant, after thermal decomposition of naphtha (crude gasoline) at high temperatures, base materials such as ethylene and propylene are separated and purified by cooling the cracked gas. By efficient use of LNG cold energy from the adjacent OPC ethylene plant of Osaka Gas Senboku Works, a significant reduction in CO₂ emissions was possible.

CCU (Carbon Capture Usage) Technologies

Mitsui Chemicals took part in the CCU Project (CO₂ + H₂ ⇒CH₃OH +H₂O) lead by the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) (commissioned by NEDO), and developed a high activity catalyst. Refinement of this highly active catalyst eventually was tested by the pilot plant of CCU technology in Mitsui Chemicals Osaka Works in 2009. This was a verification test, producing 100 tons of methanol per year from hydrogen and CO₂ which was contained in the exhaust gases. We have confirmed the conversion ratio from CO₂ to methanol and the catalyst life and obtained necessary data items for creating a technological package. However, due to several issues that remained to be addressed concerning costs and availability of hydrogen source, this technology has not yet been commercialized. Nevertheless, we believe that this promising technology should greatly contribute to the realization of low-carbon society which is currently sought by the world.

Installation of Solar Power Generation Facilities

The Mitsui Chemicals Group has adopted renewable energy as a measure to reduce the Group's GHG emissions based on its carbon neutral strategy. In March 2024, we adopted the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) model and installed a solar power generation system (power generation capacity: 950 kW) on an idle lot (approx. 8,300 m²) on the former site of a wastewater plant at our Nagoya Works. In the PPA model, the PPA operator installs the power generation equipment and the Nagoya Works purchases all the electricity generated. The Group will continue its efforts to further increase the ratio of electricity produced from renewable sources.

Solar power generation facilities installed at the Nagoya Works

Other Initiatives

Transition to low-carbon raw materials and fuels: Switching to alternative fuels for naphtha crackers—ammonia utilization

Transition to low-carbon raw materials and fuels: Regional and multi-company collaborations toward building the hydrogen/ammonia supply chain