The TOPPAN Group positions the conservation of biodiversity as a critical challenge for management. As a guide to drive conservation initiatives, we established a Basic Policy on Biodiversity in April 2010. A set of Paper Procurement Guidelines for the Sustainable Use of Forest Resources was also established in September 2011 to avoid or minimize the impacts on biodiversity during raw material procurement operations. For intensified biodiversity efforts, we undertake community activities to conserve local environments through preventative and adaptive approaches that take long-term perspectives. These activities focus on cooperation with community members and various other stakeholders with links to biodiversity. We believe that biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of biodiverse resources help to enhance environmental security and decarbonize society.

Actions required for biodiversity conservation throughout the Group are as follows.

Sustainable Raw Material Procurement

1) Sustainable paper procurement

The TOPPAN Group Sustainable Procurement Guidelines (version 3) set out requirements and recommendations for forest conservation. The guidelines state the following: “When using resources derived from forests, oceans, or living organisms, etc., Business Partners should avoid the use of resources that have been illegally extracted, cultivated, or traded. Business Partners are also expected to take resource conservation into consideration when using raw materials, including from the perspective of controlling deforestation and forest degradation.” We survey the legality of lumber as a raw material for paper production, as a means of promoting the sustainable use of forest resources.

2) Thorough paper recycling

We believe that maximum paper resource circulation discourages the new use of forest resources. Paper materials that have not been processed into products are thoroughly recycled.

Cartocans (our paper-based beverage containers) used within Group sites are collected and processed into toilet paper for use in our offices and plants.

3) Green purchasing

We have been engaging in green purchasing for paper products based on our in-house standards for stationery and office goods. Various measures are applied to avoid the purchase of virgin wood-pulp products, such as the preferential purchasing of paper products composed of higher ratios of recycled pulp.

Consideration of Land-use

1) Use of site green space

Our land-use practices support biodiversity in green spaces across the Group sites. To bolster biodiversity efforts, we have received third-party certification from the Association for Business Innovation in harmony with Nature and Community (ABINC)* for two sites (as of March 31, 2023) and applied land-use self-assessments using the ABINC’s Land Use Score Card. The TOPPAN Technical Research Institute (an ABINC-certified site in Saitama Prefecture) has reproduced a living space for plants native to the Edo River waterfronts and banks in the Kanto Plain. This nature space has been created in the water-cycle biotope within the site premises, with help from the Ecosystem Conservation Society-Saitama.

In April 2022 Toppan Inc. became a qualified member of the 30by30 Alliance for Biodiversity, a multi-stakeholder platform formed by several Japanese organizations backed by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). In fiscal 2022 the MOE designated the biotope as an “appropriate” OECM** area where biodiversity is conserved. In September 2023 the MOE upgraded the designation from “appropriate” to “certified” under its trial OECM-certification scheme.

Group personnel also take steps to preserve native species and rare plants within their premises. They conserve green spaces for habitats for assorted creatures through green initiatives, such as nest boxes for birds and greenbelts to grow host plants for butterfly larvae.

*

A certification program for evaluating and accrediting biodiversity-friendly initiatives to be planned and managed in line with the principles stated in the Guidelines for Sustainable Business Site Management® using the Land Use Score Card. The guidelines and score card were established by the Japan Business Initiative for Biodiversity (JBIB).

**

OECMs: Other effective area-based conservation measures

2)

Conservation and restoration of site neighborhoods

TOPPAN employees and families take part in biodiversity conservation activities organized by environmental NPOs and local governments. Many of the activities focus on the cleanup of rivers and natural surroundings in site neighborhoods. With the cancellation of conventional group-style activities during the COVID-19 lockdowns in fiscal 2022, Group sites across Japan invited nature experts to lead online “creature consultation” events where kids could experience and learn about nature and diversity.

We have also been cooperating with a project to plant flowers along the Arakawa River flowing through the Kanto Plain, with support from the Kanto Regional Development Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan. In July 2022 Sakado Plant members in Saitama Prefecture began setting planters to preserve agrimony and motherwort, native species grown in the Arakawa basin. Motherwort seeds were collected in July 2023. Seedlings of the two species will be planted in their original habitat, the Mitsumata-numa Biotope extending from Kawajima town to Ageo and Kawagoe cities.

The Satte and Kashiwa Plants (Toppan Decor Products Inc.) in Saitama and Chiba Prefectures began protecting ginseng, a native plant grown around the Edo River. Personnel from the two plants collected ginseng plants from the riverbanks at the request of the Ecosystem Conservation Society-Saitama, to salvage their lineage in advance of an embankment project along the river terrace. The plants will be replanted from fiscal 2027, once the construction is complete and the lawns are cured.

Pro-biodiversity Products and Services

We promote the sound nurturing of forests and strive to develop products and services that alleviate the overuse of forest resources.

Forest Management Certification

FSC^®and PEFC Certification (as of May 19, 2023)
FSC: Forest Stewardship Council
PEFC: Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes