The Sanyo Chemical Group is working to strengthen sustainable procurement by working with our business partners across the entire supply chain. Following our signing of the United Nations Global Compact in March 2021, we reviewed our “Purchasing Policy” and revised it as our “Sustainable Purchasing Policy” in January 2022.
Sustainable Purchasing Policy
- We conduct procurement activities based on social common sense and corporate ethics in addition to ensuring compliance, and strive to cooperate with our business partners, and build relationships based on trust.
- We provide fair business opportunities to both domestic and overseas companies and conduct procurement activities from a global perspective.
- We consider various conditions such as the quality, price, and stable supply of materials and raw materials in procurement activities. Moreover, we make efforts to set appropriate prices and maintain and improve quality in cooperation with our business partners. Simultaneously, we promote green procurement in terms of environmental conservation and chemical substance control.
- We aim to create a sustainable society throughout the supply chain in conjunction with our business partners to fulfill the corporate social responsibility, including considerations related to the global environment and protection of human rights and the working environment.
Sustainable Procurement Guidelines
As a tool for working with our business partner to achieve a sustainable society, we have summarized what we would like our business partners to work on in our Sustainable Procurement Guidelines. The Guidelines present concrete actions based on the ten principles of the United Nations Global Compact from seven perspectives: sound corporate management, fair corporate activities, the environment, human rights, labor, quality and safety, and coexistence with local communities.
In addition to posting our Sustainable Purchasing Policy and these Guidelines on our website, we attach them to requests for CSR questionnaires to business partners to ensure they are widely known. CSR questionnaires are conducted annually targeting specific themes and corresponding business partners. In addition, the Sustainable Purchasing Policy and these Guideline are translated into English and made known to the general public in order to support global procurement activities.
≫ Sustainable Procurement Guidelines
≫ Respect for Human Rights > Addressing Human Rights Issues Related to “Labor in the Supply Chain”
Promotion System
In October 2023, we established the SCM Supervisory Division to enhance the value of our entire supply chain by innovating Supply Chain Management (SCM) operations from the overall optimal perspective of the Sanyo Chemical Group and strengthening competitiveness through the creation of customer value. The SCM Supervisory Division consists of the Supply & Demand Planning Dept., the Logistics Dept., the Global Procurement Dept., and the Production & Sales Management Dept., and promotes the creation of a system that reliably delivers the necessary goods to the place where they are needed, when they are needed, in the quantities they need, with high quality and low cost.
System Diagram
When Starting Business Transactions
We ask our business partners to submit the following documents when starting business transactions.
Based on their contents, we wish to work together to improve the level of sustainable procurement by understanding and evaluating the status of CSR activities, sustainable procurement, and green procurement promotion of our business partners and holding meetings to exchange views.
In FY2024, we held two meetings to exchange views with our business partners’ procurement departments regarding general CSR activities and CSR questionnaires.
Documents required for adoption
Raw material-related
CSR Questionnaire
The CSR questionnaire uses the “CSR/ Sustainable Procurement Self-Assessment Questionnaire”(SAQ) of Global Compact Network Japan to quantify the extent to which our business partners meet the requirements of the United Nations Global Compact. For items that do not meet the requirements, a message will be sent to them to urge improvement.
In FY2024, we also surveyed our business partners of key raw materials and mineral-based raw materials (81% of all business partners).
Additionally, since FY2024, we have been seeking to increase survey effectiveness by appointing a third-party organization specializing in ESG evaluation to conduct CSR questionnaires , evaluate responses, and provide feedback. Based on objective and effective feedback, we are now taking appropriate follow-up measures as needed.
We will continue to survey our business partners in FY2025. We plan to complete our questionnaires of almost all business partners by the end of FY2026.
SAQ Response Results for Key Raw Material Suppliers
(Unit: %)
| FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human rights | 98 | 88 | 79 |
| Labor | 98 | 95 | 87 |
| Environment | 98 | 90 | 81 |
| Fair corporate activities | 100 | 89 | 80 |
| Quality and safety | 100 | 97 | 94 |
| Information security | 98 | 91 | 82 |
| Supply chains | 97 | 76 | 78 |
| Local communities | 98 | 88 | 78 |
- The results to all 114 questions (out of 5 points) are averaged for each evaluation item and displayed on a 100-point scale.
RSPO Certification
We joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2013, and in January 2023, we obtained RSPO Certification with the Mass Balance (MB) model at our Head Office, the Tokyo Branch Office, and domestic factories (Nagoya Factory, Kashima Factory, and Kyoto Factory). In September 2024, Sanyo Kasei (Thailand) Ltd.’s head office and its Rayong Factory obtained the certification.
As part of our supply chain management, our Group will ask our business partners to procure and use properly managed palm oil. We will also expand the use of certified sustainable palm oil to promote the procurement of sustainable raw materials and the establishment of a responsible supply chain.
Halal Certification
In 2017, Sanyo Kasei (Thailand) Ltd.'s Rayong Factory obtained Halal certification for industrial surfactants for the first time. Currently, we have six Halal-certified products, including industrial surfactants and ingredients for personal care products.
In February 2025, Sanyo Kasei (Thailand) Ltd. received a Credit Level Award* from the Central of Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT), Thailand's Halal certification body. This is the third time the Company has received this award.
- Credit level award: An award given to companies that undergo a Halal audit and meet 80-90% or more of halal requirements
≫ Sanyo Kasei (Thailand) Ltd. Newly Obtained Halal Certification for Three Products for Personal Care
Conflict Minerals
Our Sustainable Procurement Guidelines states that we will ensure transparency in our supply chain and will not be involved in the procurement of conflict minerals or crimes. We investigate the presence or absence of conflict minerals and the country of origin of the raw materials we procure, and we also require our business partners to do the same. We buy tin compounds, but we do not source them from conflict areas.
Implementation of a BCP for Raw Material Procurement
We are working to implement a business continuity plan (BCP) for raw material procurement so that we can continue our business in the event of a natural disaster, large fire, terrorist attack, or other such calamity. As part of this effort, we are working with our business partners to procure raw materials from multiple sources, consolidate and streamline similar raw materials, and decentralize the production and supply bases of our business partners.