Special Feature: Chori’s Sustainability-Focused BusinessSpecial Feature

Resolving the Issues of the Fiber, Textile, and Garment Industries
The problem of environmental degradation, which has been a focus of attention for

E C O BLU E TM

BLUE CHAINTM at a Glancea variety of industries in recent years, has become a matter of significant concern
in the fiber, textile, and garment industries. The creation of new apparel made in
response to recent trends and consumer needs requires massive volumes of waterand produces substantial amounts of greenhouse gases. It is also true that large
quantities of unsold clothing are discarded unused. To address these issues, Chori

Realizing a sustainable supply chain from upstream to downstream

introduced BLUE CHAINTM initiatives to create environment-friendly products byseamlessly linking the vast and complex fiber, textile, and garment industries andintegrating the functions of each company. By teaming up with a number of companies and operating businesses by leveraging economies of scale, we will reducethe costs associated with decarbonization measures. Through BLUE CHAINTM,
we will work together with our business partners to contribute to the transformationof the fiber, textile, and garment industries.

Natur a l D ye

Chori’s unique line ofBLUE CHAINTM products

ECO BLUETMTEXBRIDTM

Recycled polyester fiber made of usedplastic bottles

A highly durable, long-lasting, andstretchable material

MILLENNIUM ORGANICTM

MEDITERRANEAN GIZATM

A material made of ultra-white raw cotton
that eliminates the need for chlorine bleachand excess reducing agents used in chemicaldyeing processes

A material that is made using 100% recycledwater and has reduced the amount of waterused in cultivation processes by 30% to
50% through the extensive use of a drip
irrigation system

CottonNatural Dye
A line of apparel that uses plants and foodresidue as dyes, having less impact on theenvironment than chemical dyes

In this section, we will introduce Chori’s initiatives toward realizing sustainability,
centered on its ECO BLUETM concept.

21

CHORI CO., LTD.

Tsumugu Report 2022

22

Special Feature: Chori’s Sustainability-Focused BusinessSpecial Feature

01

ECO BLUETM Recycled Polyester Fiber
At Chori, we handle a wide variety of environmentfriendly products. At the core of these products is ourECO BLUETM recycled polyester fiber made from recycled plastic bottles. ECO BLUETM was introduced in2007 and has continued to evolve over the last 15 years.
While continuing to engage in all areas of the supply
chain, from the handling of yarn to the sale of the final
product, in 2019 Chori partnered with recycled pellet
manufacturer Utsumi Recycle Systems Inc. to tap into
the pellet business—an upstream recycling process—and established its very own recycling facility.
The amount of recycled polyester fiber handled byother companies has also been on the rise in recentyears. However, the strength of ECO BLUETM lies in theCompany’s ability to handle over 200 types of yarn byleveraging the solid relationships it has built with theworld’s leading synthetic fiber manufacturers. Each year,
approximately 520 million plastic bottles are recycled toproduce plastic pellets and yarn. Setting our sights on
continuing to increase corporate value, we will engage
in advanced yarn processing together with processing
plants in the Hokuriku region and other areas.

Recycled pellet extruder
Production processConsumers

Collect PET bottles

BaleSort

Reduces CO2
emissions by approx.
Spin

Pelletize

77 %*

02

Development of Quick-Dyeing Yarn with Business Partners
Chori is expanding its lineup of initiatives that infuse its
ECO BLUETM concept into the products of its business
partners. In 2021, we developed WSTM, a quick-dyeing
material, with KOMATSU MATERE Co., Ltd., a chemicalmaterial manufacturer based in Ishikawa Prefecture.
WSTM is an environment-friendly material that significantly reduces the amount of energy and dye required
for the dyeing process by incorporating special yarnand processing technologies. Ordinary yarn needs tobe dyed at high temperatures due to the inability ofpolymers to move around freely and the many crystalline
regions that are not easy for dyes to permeate.
Meanwhile, WSTM offers less than one-third the numberof crystalline regions as ordinary yarn, enabling polymers
to move around and dyes to permeate easily. As a result,compared with conventional methods, the dyeing
process can be performed at a lower temperature andbe completed in roughly 50% less time, thereby reducing
the amount of CO2 emissions from fabric dyeing processes
by 31.7%.

Although textile recycling has become commonplaceworldwide, WSTM, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions at the manufacturing stage, is attracting a great
deal of interest both in Japan and overseas andis expanding in terms of sales for use in sportswear,
casual wear, and uniforms around the world.

Wash and cut* Based on in-house estimates

Direction Going Forward—TOKYO
9th FaWOtaYKitOibExhLD T
N WOR
FASHIO pril 6—8, 2022)(A23

CHORI CO., LTD.

Chori was among the approximately
360 companies with an exhibit at FaWTOKYO—FASHION WORLD TOKYO,Japan’s largest fashion trade show heldat Tokyo Big Sight from April 6 to April 8,
2022. Consisting of six themes, including
Sustainable Fashion Expo and Japan
Fashion Expo, this year’s event marked
our second appearance following ourparticipation in last year’s event held in
October 2021. Our booth, which unveiled
the redesigned logos of BLUE CHAINTM
and ECO BLUETM and featured keynote
speeches detailing these concepts,
proved to be a tremendous success.

ECO BLUETM and Chori’s other recycled raw materials arealready used in a number of sports and other apparelproducts, and in fiscal 2021 sales of environment-friendly
products grew to approximately ¥10.0 billion. As new
initiatives, we are proposing asystem in which the used plastic bottles we collect are reused
to produce original company
uniforms and developing matsfor riverbeds to prevent flood
damage and sound-absorbing
mats for electric vehicles madeof fiber scraps generated atfactories. Going forward, we will
look to expand our business not
only in Japan but also overseas,targeting the sports and03

outdoors and mid- to high-end apparel markets in Europe.
We will thereby achieve net sales of ¥13.5 billion in fiscal
2022 along the road to ultimately reaching ¥30 billion.
As a company that was founded on its raw silk business,
Chori holds itself accountable for overcoming the challenges facing the fiber, textile, and garment industries andachieving sustainability throughout the supply chain. While
it is important to pursue sustainability at each point along
the supply chain, this alone will not achieve true sustainability. Leveraging the solid relationships it has built withbusiness partners throughout its over 160 years in business, Chori will weave together its sustainability practices
along the supply chain and develop and provide environment-friendly products that pave the way to the futureof the textile industry, which generates large amounts ofwaste, presenting a significant impact on the environment.

Tsumugu Report 202224