Living in Harmony with Nature
Using Sustainable Paper
Nowadays, a variety of raw materials are used to make paper, but the most widely available material is wood pulp. Because wood used for wood pulp is often grown in distant forests, the global environment can be negatively impacted before the users of the paper realize it is happening. Although some of the world’s production sites for raw materials practice eco-friendly sustainable forest management, in other cases high conservation value forests home to precious wildlife are being destroyed, and the rights of Indigenous peoples are being violated.
Considering indirect impacts on biodiversity within the supply chain, Casio established a Paper Procurement Policy in June 2015. Based on this policy, Casio is especially committed to refraining from using paper products that come from paper manufacturers that are suspected of destruction of any forest with high conservation value or of involvement in raw material procurement that ignores the rights of indigenous peoples. Casio preferentially uses reliable paper from certified forests to help increase the use of socially sustainable paper.
│Paper Procurement
To make sure that it does not use paper products that are especially problematic, Casio periodically confirms that its suppliers do not use paper products from paper manufacturers that have been identified as dubious based on an independent investigation conducted by an international NGO related to the protection of wildlife. If it turns out, based on the confirmation results, that a product comes from one of the papermakers in question, Casio switches to products from a different paper manufacturer. By continuing such confirmation and switching of paper products, Casio exercises its indirect influence on the supply chain in an effort to minimize its indirect negative effects on biodiversity.
│Promoting Use of Certified Paper
Since fiscal 2017, Casio has been conducting target management for the percentage of paper from certified forests used for product catalogues. Until now, this has been done for product catalogs for the Japanese market that were ordered by the advertising department, to ensure that the actual situation could be monitored. Since then, however, orders have been diversifying. Accordingly, starting in fiscal 2023, Casio will expand the scope to include product catalogs for the Japanese market ordered by sales departments for all items sold in Japan from general printing companies. The percentage of paper from certified forests used will be recalculated in line with this expansion of the scope, which will result in a temporary decrease in the current percentage used.
One of the challenges in implementing target management under the new scope is how to assess the importance and priority of paper use as a biodiversity conservation measure. This is partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has changed the purchasing behavior of users and tended to reduce the need for paper product catalogs. In addition, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP15), which has been repeatedly postponed due to COVID-19, is raising more important issues and points of focus as discussed at the preparatory and other meetings. Casio will continue to review its medium- and long-term targets, including what measures to prioritize in its efforts to promote “Living in Harmony with Nature.”