Mitsui Chemicals Group’s Implementation of Clean-up Caravan Activities
Undertaking grassroots activities worldwide to reduce marine litter
2020.05.28
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo: 4183; President & CEO: HASHIMOTO Osamu) launched the Mitsui Chemicals Group Clean-up Caravan to consolidate clean-up activities undertaken independently across Mitsui Chemicals Group sites in an effort to reduce marine litter. A total of 3,682 people have participated in the activities, gathering 28,580 kg of litter.
Mitsui Chemicals now has created a webpage to showcase the results of these activities in fiscal 2019.
Clean-up Caravan Web Page URL
in Head Office
in Singapore
in Mitsui Chemicals America
in Mitsui Chemicals China
Mitsui Chemicals has long undertaken clean-up activities in areas around its sites. In fiscal 2019, Mitsui Chemicals called on affiliates within Japan and overseas to join in these activities while also devising approaches that would make it easier to undertake them in a spontaneous manner. Going beyond the range of activities seen to date, the scope here was broadened to include participation in clean-up activities organized by nonprofits and government bodies, company events centered on clean-up activities, as well as clean-ups following community events.
The Mitsui Chemicals Group aims to transition to a circular economy, based on a plastics strategy that focuses on enhancing the use of recycled and biomass products. In addition to executing its plastics strategy, Mitsui Chemicals will continue in its efforts to avoid generating waste, to gather any waste generated and dispose of it appropriately, and to conduct activities aimed at collecting litter discharged into rivers or the sea.
Background to Mitsui Chemicals’ Activities
Since 2015, Mitsui Chemicals has used its One-Coin Club*1 joint CSR framework for the company and its employees to support the activities of JEAN General Incorporated Association,*2 which is a pioneer in tackling the problem of marine litter. Mitsui Chemicals holds lectures and workshops to learn about the current situation and consider what we can do about it. The Mitsui Chemicals Group Clean-up Caravan started as a result of a spontaneous desire that emerged through these lectures and workshops, looking to go beyond the clean-up activities that had been carried out to that point.
A Message from KOJIMA Azusa
Director, JEAN (Japan Environmental Action Network)
General Incorporated Association
Thank you very much for supporting the activities of our association. As someone who has been tackling the issue of marine litter for many years, I was delighted and most encouraged to hear that more than 3,600 people have participated in Clean-up Caravan activities across Japan.
Just a glance over the list of activities shows exactly how assiduous everyone has been. Some business sites carry out clean-up activities every month, while others have collected such a large amount that one wonders what kind of litter it was. I am sure that local residents too are pleased to see how clean these activities leave their communities and coasts. I hope that you will continue with your clean-up activities, inspired by our common desire as fellow litter-pickers to create beautiful, litter-free communities and seas!
Reference
Beginning in 2007, this CSR initiative sees Mitsui Chemicals match the donations of its employees. A committee of donating employees directs contributions to organizations that are working to solve social issues.
*2 JEAN General Incorporated Association
A pioneer in addressing the problem of marine litter, JEAN undertook Japan’s first nationwide clean-up campaign in 1991. As the Japanese national coordinator of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), JEAN has for more than 25 years been Japan’s only organization undertaking surveys using world-class scientific techniques, working in partnership with international nongovernmental organizations Ocean Conservancy and Clean Up The World. Every year, JEAN shares a summary of its activities in Japan and the results of its surveys with relevant parties across the globe. It also offers policy proposals aimed at resolving the problem of marine litter with the goal of bequeathing beautiful seas to future generations.