Green Transformation (GX)
Accelerating GX Promotion by Involving Society as a Whole
Message from the Green Transformation Committee Chair
Eiji Kan
Senior Managing Executive Officer
Green Transformation Committee Chair
Accelerating GX Promotion by Involving Society as a Whole
Two years have passed since the establishment of the Green Transformation (GX) Committee. Although initially established for the purpose of building a business that would contribute to GX, too much of the committee’s time is spent on trying to keep up with rapid changes in society, the environment, values, and so on, to achieve its original purpose. At the same time, the Company is gradually increasing its environment-related investments both overseas and in Japan and is looking forward to future developments.
As an entity directly under the Management Committee, this committee operates on a quarterly reporting basis, planning, proposing, promoting, managing, and supervising projects that contribute to GX, and conducting other activities based on the PDCA cycle. The GX Accelerator Team, a subordinate body of the GX Committee comprising approximately 90 volunteer employees from across the Kanematsu Group, has been generating many commercial seeds that will contribute to GX, and we expect that efforts to commercialize these seeds will be accelerated in the future. In addition, the Steel, Materials, and Plant Division, which I serve as division head of, has originated a number of projects that contribute to GX, such as the creation of credits from renewable energy and the use of lumber that has a low environmental impact. In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, Kanematsu Sustech Corporation, which is involved in many GX-related businesses, became a wholly owned subsidiary, creating a structure that allows the Kanematsu Group to work together as one.
One of the basic policies of the “integration 1.0” medium-term management plan is to promote Groupwide management that will facilitate the more effective utilization of Kanematsu Group assets. The Growth Strategy Office, which leads business development beyond divisional and corporate boundaries, is set to serve as the Group’s core organization. A person in charge of GX-related matters has been appointed within this organization to work closely with the GX Committee toward the creation of new value, thereby strengthening organizational capabilities.
Furthermore, the Company has identified renewable energy, GX for agriculture and food, GX for raw materials, and the venous business* as its four key focus areas. We believe each of these to be highly promising and hope to steadily reap the rewards over the current plan’s three-year period. Rather than simply taking the easy way out by focusing on making reductions in items that can be accounted for in purely numerical terms, like credit transactions, we will endeavor to give back to the world by building and developing businesses, especially in our key areas of focus, while leveraging all the assets of the Kanematsu Group, including human, intellectual, and social and relational capital.
The GX Committee’s vision is —through the collective efforts of the Kanematsu Group and as a leader of inter-industry and inter-company collaboration—to become a leading light in the transformation of the supply chain into one that coexists in harmony with the Earth. Together, the Kanematsu Group, its business partners, and society as a whole will achieve long-lasting growth.
GX promotion framework
Initiatives
Agricultural GX
Kanematsu has an edge in the food supply chain, serving many entities, including farmers, fertilizer manufacturers, animal feedstuff manufacturers, meat packers, food manufacturers, retailers, and food service companies, and is leveraging this strength to add value to GX.
As part of producer efforts to promote GX, the Company is working with Green Carbon Inc. on the creation of carbon credits by reducing methane gas emissions from rice cultivation, and selling environmentally friendly rice in local markets. In addition, we are collaborating with TOWING Ltd. and EF Polymer Private Limited, utilizing these companies’ respective products, high-performance biochar and biodegradable water-holding polymer, in line with our efforts to work with suppliers and customers to contribute to climate change countermeasures and sustainable food production systems by storing carbon in the soil, reducing chemical fertilizer use, and improving production efficiency. For livestock, we are also working on creating carbon credits for livestock farmers and promoting sales of low-carbon meat.
As for GX at the manufacturing stage, we are building a system to make use of vegetable waste and substandard products by converting them into vegetable powders, and we are also working on upcycling other food wastes.
In the Japanese market, we are also promoting the use of food ingredients produced using sustainable methods, such as sustainable pork in cooperation with Danish Crown A/S of Denmark, sustainable coffee in cooperation with Brazil-based coffee company Daterra Atividades Rurais Ltda., and plant-based meat in cooperation with DAIZ Inc.
Collaboration with Spiber Inc.
Developing applications for Brewed Protein™, a structural protein material
In 2024, together with bio-venture company Spiber Inc., we began developing applications for Brewed Protein™, a structural protein material. Brewed Protein™ is an innovative new material that is produced from plant-derived biomass through a microbial fermentation process and is expected to find applications as a substitute for synthetic fibers, resins, synthetic leather, adhesives, and functional films derived from fossil fuels, as well as in the food industry to create meat substitutes, and in the medical field to produce biocompatible materials.
As the material is environmentally degradable, it may, depending on the design of the final product, contribute to solving the problem of microplastic emissions, which are caused by products derived from fossil fuels. Also, as it is possible to incorporate properties not found in conventional plant-derived materials, the material is expected to earn a place as a next generation material.
Biomass fuel
In 2017, the Kanematsu Group entered the biomass fuel supply business for biomass power generation, one of its renewable energy projects, a business that continues to expand. Our share of biomass fuels handled by Kanematsu Energy Department has grown to approximately 25%. Through this business, we aim to expand our share to 40% by 2030, and contribute to an environmentally friendly society.
In order to realize a sustainable society, carbon neutrality and circular economy are the important environmental aspects. While immediate action is necessary, companies are facing various problems, such as the extremely difficult tasks of selecting the best solution among the various options including new technology, as well as the additional costs to take action.
For such customers, with our knowhows based on the actual business experiences of the decarbonization solutions adopted by various companies, Kanematsu formed a business alliance with partner companies including Asuene, Inc. and The Norinchukin Bank to support the viableand effective Green Transformation (GX), covering from calculation to reduction and visualization, that follow the latest trends required for the company. and eventually becomes an added value of the supply chain.
