For Immediate Release
December 10, 2018
SKYLARK HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Withdrawal of Disposable Plastic Drinking Straws fromAll Gusto Restaurants
Customers who need drinking straws will be offered Biomass Straws*
Phase-out in other business formats from 2019 -Total withdrawal by 2020

Skylark Holdings Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Musashino City, Tokyo; President and CEO: Makoto Tani;
code: 3197, Tokyo Stock Exchange, 1st Section) today announced that it is withdrawing disposable plasticdrinking straws from the drink bars of all 1,367 Gusto restaurants with immediate effect. Customers who
require drinking straws will be offered biodegradable Biomass Straws made from corn.
With the improper disposal of plastic waste becoming a serious environmental problem around the world,
the Skylark Group, the largest restaurant group in Japan, believes that efforts to reduce plastic waste are an
important step for society and announced in August 2018 that it would phase out the use of disposable plastic
drinking straws in all its business formats by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In September 2018, the Group withdrew drinking straws on a trial basis at certain restaurants in Tokyo and,after examining the introduction of an alternative made from paper, biodegradable material or food ingredients
to offer customers upon request, the Group decided on biodegradable biomass.
Biomass is ultimately broken down into water and carbon dioxide by microorganisms in the soil. Even
when biomass burns, it does not produce harmful substances and the amount of carbon dioxide in theatmosphere stays the same because the plants used to make it absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis,suggesting that this initiative may help prevent global warming.
The Skylark Group considers it important to help achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)
through its business activities and has conducted a range of initiatives to realize sustainability andenhancement of social value, In addition to the adoption of LED store lighting and group-wide campaigns tosave energy and water, the Group has steadily made improvements including reducing electricity and water
consumption through the maintenance of equipment and facilities and adoption of the latest energy-saving
equipment (reduction of around 20% over 8 years) and reducing CO2 in the manufacturing and logistics
processes (reduction of more than 20% over the last 6 years).
The Group will continue to contribute to local communities by ensuring food safety and security and will
also actively focus on protection of the global environment in view of rising concern among customers aboutdestruction of the environment through waste and energy consumption.
*Trade mark registration application pending

Withdrawal of disposable plastic drinking straws from drink bars at 1,367

restaurants throughout Japan

Tabletop notices customers for their cooperation with environment protection initiatives【Company Information】
Company Name:： SKYLARK HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Representative： Makoto Tani, Chairman, President & CEOBusiness Activities： Food services and related businesses

Listed Market： First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange （TSE code 3197）

Group Stores:： 3,203 stores including overseas location （as of November 30, 2018）

【Press Inquiries】
Contact: Maki Yokota, Mai Kitaura
Public Reations, SKYLARK HOLDINGS, CO.LTD.
TEL：0422-37-5310

E-MAIL: pr@skylark.co.jp

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