Asahi Kasei begins providing carbon footprint (CFP) data for each high-performance resin product

        Asahi Kasei, a diversified Japanese multinational company, and NTT DATA have jointly established a platform to grasp the greenhouse gas emissions of various grades of high-performance plastics used as molding materials for automotive parts, consumer electronics, etc. and calculate the carbon footprint (CFP) of the products. Applicable high-performance plastic products are Leona™, Tenac™, Tenac-C™, Xyron™ and Thermylene®. The platform will be used in April 2022, and the provision of CFP data to customers will start in May 2022.

        Asahi Kasei Group has worked hard to strengthen its business platform for sustainable growth from the perspectives of green, digital and people in its previous mid-term management plan "Cs+ for Tomorrow 2021". In the new mid-term management plan announced on April 11, 2022, green transformation is positioned as one of the key areas for strengthening the management foundation. Asahi Kasei is promoting the reduction of its own greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to the reduction of world greenhouse gas emissions to achieve carbon neutrality.

        Asahi Kasei is advancing the carbon footprint calculation of each product in turn, starting with its main products, and has begun to provide information to some customers. Leona™, Tenac™, Tenac-C™, Xyron™ and Thermylene® are high-performance plastic products that are widely used in materials for automotive structural parts, electrical equipment, consumer electronics, etc., with excellent properties such as strength, lubricity, and flame retardancy. Asahi Kasei's high-performance plastic business has more than 10 production bases and sales points around the world, providing products and technical services to customers around the world. Because the supply chain is complex and involves different sites, it is difficult to obtain detailed management information in a timely manner, such as budgets, actual results and forecasts, and the comprehensive carbon footprint of each final product from production to sales. For Asahi Kasei's high-performance materials business, in addition to promoting decarbonization through business operations and procurement, it also calls for providing carbon footprint information of each product to customers downstream in the supply chain to promote decarbonization of the entire supply chain.

        Asahi Kasei and NTT Data have jointly established a platform that enables Asahi Kasei's high-performance materials business to grasp comprehensive management information on a global scale in fiscal 2020. The platform has been expanded to grasp carbon footprint (CFP).

        1. Including greenhouse gas emissions from procurement and transportation to outsourced processing, internal manufacturing and transportation

        The CFP of each material purchased from upstream suppliers is added to the greenhouse gas emissions of outsourced processing and internal manufacturing processes calculated in proportion, making the CFP include visualization of the supply chain from upstream to manufacturing and transportation. (When calculating the CFP of materials, the LCI database "IDEAv2.3" provided by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of Japan was used.)

        2. Even in a complex supply chain, the CFP of each final product can be calculated monthly

        The supply chain for high-performance plastic products is a complex supply chain with many different product grades, production bases distributed all over the world, and many production process steps. In order to cover complex supply chains, we introduced the "Anaplan" planning and analysis tool with high-speed mathematical processing functions. By entering various data on materials and production bases into Anaplan, the monthly CFP of each product can be grasped.

        3. Combine management information to achieve dual analysis of cost and CFP

        Since the platform was created by expanding the existing management information platform, it is possible to conduct a comprehensive analysis of cost and CFP from different perspectives, such as by final product or by customer. Since these analyses are visualized through the business intelligence (BI) tool "Tableau", it is not only possible to reduce CFP, but also to make recommendations to customers that emphasize the balance of cost and CFP.

        CFP is calculated by combining the total greenhouse gas emissions of products and services throughout their life cycle (from raw material procurement to disposal and recycling), and then converting that number into carbon dioxide equivalents. Asahi Kasei's CFP calculation is based on a "cradle-to-gate" assessment that combines emissions from upstream materials and transportation, emissions from internal manufacturing processes, and energy-related emissions such as electricity used in manufacturing.

        Going forward, Asahi Kasei will consider the optimal CFP calculation system and disclosure method corresponding to the characteristics of each product. Asahi Kasei aims to achieve a carbon-neutral sustainable world by contributing to solving various challenges in society through its business.