2009

2009
Corporate Social Responsibility

2009
CSR ReportShin-Marunouchi Center Building, 1-6-2 Marunouchi,
Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo 100-8246 Japan
TEL:03-3216-1341
FAX:03-3216-0516

http://www.zeon.co.jp

This booklet has been printed on paper
made from forests that are managed inaccordance with internationally agreed
principles and standards with respect
to economic, social and environmental
considerations.

ZEON CORPORATIONZEON CORPORATION CSR Department

ZEON CORPORATIONM essage
CSR Report

Message

Table of Contents

Introducing the 2009 CSR Report

Message
3
5

CSR at ZEON Corporation

Engagement with Society
Relationship with Customers
15
Relationship with Shareholders and Investors
17
Relationship with Local Community and General Public 18

Respect for Individuals
Relationship with Employees

19

Environmental Activities
22
23
25
27
28
29
30
31
33
33

Site Reports
Site Activities

This report was created in line with the following basic policy.
(1) The number of photographs and comments from individuals were increased to enhance thestatement of employees.
(2) This report is issued annually.
(3) The report was collated with reference to the 2007 Environmental Reporting Guidelines of the
Ministry of the Environment and the 2006 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI).

Affiliate Activities

Organizations Covered
ZEON and the following subsidiaries and affiliates are included:
J a p a n: ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd., ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd., Optes Inc., ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co.,
Ltd., RIMTEC Corp., Tokyo Zairyo Co., Ltd., ZEON Environmental Materials Co., Ltd., ZEON
Medical Inc., ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd., ZEON North Co., Ltd., Okayama Butadiene Co.,
Ltd.
Overseas: ZEON Chemicals LP. (USA), ZEON Chemicals Europe Ltd. (UK), ZEON Chemicals Thailand
Co., Ltd. (Thailand), ZEON Advanced Polymix Co., Ltd. (Thailand)

Period Covered
April 2008 to March 2009 (also includes some new information from April 2009 and later)*1 CSR is an abbreviation for "Corporate Social Responsibility".

Head Office (Shin-Marunouchi Center Building)

Environmental Data
Third-party Opinion
How CSR Activities are Conducted
ISO Accreditations
2

Site Reports

ZEON Medical Co., Ltd.
ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd.
ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd.
Optes Inc.
ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd.
RIMTEC Corporation
ZEON Environmental Materials Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Zairyo Co., Ltd.
ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd.
ZEON North Co., Ltd.
ZEON Chemicals LP.
ZEON Chemicals Europe Ltd.
ZEON Chemicals Thailand Co., Ltd.
ZEON Advanced Polymix Co., Ltd.

Environmental
activities

Report Policy

1

34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
57
58
58

Mizushima Plant
Takaoka Plant
Kawasaki Plant
Tokuyama Plant
R&D Center

Respect for
the individual

Achievements
Environmentally Aware Product Development
Safety and Accident Prevention/
Occupational Health and Safety
PRTR Activities
Toxic Chemicals and Waste
Air and Water
Resource and Energy Conservation
Environmental Policy fromthe Economic Perspective
Environment and Safety for Logistics
Environmental and Safety Training

Engagementwith society

ZEON Corporation's 3-year mid-term management plan known as PZ-3 which covers
the years 2005 to 2007 acknowledged the importance of CSR*1 (Corporate Social
Responsibility) and established a shared awareness of this importance across the entire
ZEON group. The company has worked to spread CSR through its business activities
and regional and social involvement by strengthening its compliance systems, achieving
reliable and safe plants, and coexisting harmoniously with local communities.
The IZ-60 (Innovation Zeon 60) 3-year mid-term management plan for 2008 to 2010
looks forward to the 60th anniversary of the company's founding. The plan aims to
produce products and factories that are friendly to the environment and generate valuethat will please both our customers and wider society through our activities as amanufacturer that emphasizes CSR, is rigorous about compliance, and puts safety firstbased on a recognition that the company is a social organization. Despite revisions to
IZ-60 resulting from the rapid changes in economic conditions triggered by the current
worldwide financial crisis, the plan retains both these core concepts and the objective ofconducting our business in such a way that the emphasis on CSR is an unquestioned
prerequisite.
Although it is anticipated the current difficult business climate will continue, we intend tocontinue to work hard to contribute to society, primarily through our core business, by
establishing flexible organizational structures and mechanisms that allow us to satisfy
the demands and expectations of shareholders and other stakeholders associated with
the ZEON group.
We hope that this report will help improve understanding of the CSR activities carried out
by the ZEON group. If you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate tocontact us.
September 2009

7
9
10
11
14

CSR atZEON Corporation

Corporate Philosophy and CSR Activities
Environment Philosophy and Safety Philosophy
CSR Promotion System
Corporate Governance and Internal Controls
AuditsMessagePresident's Message
Business Outline

M essage

CSR Report

President's Message
Our corporate name ZEON is an amalgamation of the Greek words "GEO"(meaning the "EARTH") and "EON" (meaning "ETERNITY"). It represents a
direct statement of our corporate mission.
Messageawarded by the Japan Society of Polymer Processing andthis method of producing optical film by molten extrusion
without the use of solvents has made a significant
contribution to the environment. Similarly, the Zeorora®
next-generation fluorochemical cleaning agent that won
the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award in the US also
helps protect the ozone layer and prevent global warming.

CSR atZEON Corporation

In addition to supplying these products to society throughreliable and safe production methods established throughour past Responsible Care activities, our aim is to operate
our business with even greater efficiency and reliability
through production innovation, NPS, and business
innovation. To strengthen our Responsible Care activities
further, we also signed up to the Responsible Care Global
Charter in January 2009.
Regarding compliance issues and corporate ethics, our aim
is to uphold sincerely the values and ethics required of a corporate member of society, not just thoseobligations imposed by regulation, and by so doing maintain fair business practices and conduct ourbusiness in harmony with the local community and the general public.

Although the difficult business conditions look likely to continue for the foreseeable future, ZEONGroup aims to continue operating our business in a way that is friendly to the global environment inorder to protect the global environment, contribute to society, and achieve sustainable progress of thecompany and society based on our corporate philosophy of "contributing to the global environment
and the prosperity of the human race".

In terms of information disclosure, we have always strived to supply as much information as possible
in an easily understood form and, in a survey that ranked the corporate web sites of all listedcompanies carried out by Nikko Investor Relations in 2008 based on how comprehensive they were,
our web site was placed 18th out of a total of 3,920 companies rated and 2nd amongst companies in
the chemical industry. In the future, we will continue working to improve even further our information
disclosure.

Some examples of these products include rubber for fuel conserving tires, latex for gloves thateliminate protein allergies, and "Zeoglobule®" polymerized toner that helps reduce energy use incopiers.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for reading this report, and wewelcome your opinions and suggestions
September 2009
President and CEO

Naozumi Furukawa

3

4

Site Reports

The excellent optical characteristics of the "ZEONOR®" and "ZEONEX®" cycloolefin polymer products
help to improve the energy efficiency of LCD TVs and make them even thinner. The environmentallyfriendly characteristics of these products is demonstrated by their use in applications such as inmedical containers and equipment and in the substrates for organic EL, the next-generationenergy-efficient lighting technology demonstrated at the G8 Summit at Toyako.
"ZEONOR Film®" received technical awards in two different categories of the 2008 "Katashi Aoki" prize

Based on a recognition that the company is a social organization, ZEON Group aims to continue
contributing to the sustainable development of society and meeting the demands and expectations of
all our stakeholders, including the local community, customers and shareholders, through speed,
dialogue and by contributing to society. We aim to establish ourselves as a group with a strongemphasis on CSR that the public can trust and of which our employees can be proud by strengthening
our compliance systems, achieving reliable and safe plants, and coexisting harmoniously with thecommunity and wider society.

Environmental
activities

ZEON Group has worked on numerous product developments that contribute to environmental
protection through "original technology that does not imitate others and cannot itself be imitated".

Respect for
the individual

1. Move to a business model that remains profitable at 70% utilization.
2. Place an emphasis on cashflow and reduce interest-bearing debt.
3. Improve the quality and speed at which research and development is transformed into
production technology.

Engagementwith society

ZEON Corporation's 3-year mid-term management plan for 2008 to 2010 (IZ-60) published in May 2008
reinforced our evolving commitment made in the 2005 to 2007 management plan (PZ-3) to emphasize
CSR in our activities, and we have operated our business with the aims of improving corporate value
and producing factories and products that are friendly to the environment through our activities as amanufacturer for whom an emphasis on CSR, rigorous compliance, and a safety-first approach is anunquestioned prerequisite, and in our role as a chemicals company that aims, based on a recognition
that the company is a social organization, to contribute to society by using advanced innovation todeliver in a timely manner products that will please our customers around the world.
Although some revisions were made to the IZ-60 plan amidst the rapid changes in economic
conditions triggered by the worldwide financial crisis that started in autumn 2008, the revisions werelimited to adjustments to our corporate targets in accordance with the changed economic
circumstances. The changes left the core concepts unchanged and it was made clear that these will be
our top priorities for the remaining two years covered by the plan. Accordingly, the core strategy for2009 to 2010 identified three key issues on the basis of our all-encompassing emphasis on CSR andthat "difficult times provide an opportunity for fundamental change and build the foundation for
future development".

Business Guide

M essage
CSR Report

ZEON makes an important contribution tosociety with unique technology
Company Profile

Specialty Material
Business

Other Businesses Sales Share (2008)
Other
Business
19.1%
2,689
million Elastomer
yen Business

66.9%

ZEON's Business Sectors
Elastomer Business●●

Other Businesses●Chemicals

Aroma chemicals, organic synthesis chemicals,etc.
Electronics Materials
Photoresist, etching gas, toner products, binder
resin for electromagnetic tape, etc.
Specialty Plastics
Cycloolefin polymers and processed products.

●RIM

Combined septic tank, building equipment
components, RIM (reaction injection molding)combination liquid, construction and agriculturalequipment components, game console cases,
etc.
Medical Devices
Various therapeutic catheters, etc.
Other Products
Vinyl chloride compounds, butadiene extraction
technology, isoprene extraction technology,
butane-1 extraction technology, synthetic
rubber and latex manufacturing technology,
packaging and distribution materials, building
and construction materials

●
●

●
●

Cycloolefin polymer
Raw film
Timing belt usingsynthetic rubber
Gaskets

Gloves usingsynthetic latex

5

Returnable metal
box pallet

Cellular phone using
specialty plastics

Perfumes using
aroma chemicals

Construction equipment
exterior covering made by RIM(Reaction Injection Molding)

Medical equipment(IABP balloon)

Consolidated net sales

3,029
2,816
2,689

2,631
2,314

04
Hundredmillion yen

05

04

05

06

07

08 Year

320
Operating income, Ordinary income
300
302
280
268
260
240
253
200 Operating
income
180
193
160
298
265
140
Ordinary120
income
206
188
100
80
60
40
29 38
20
06

07

08 Year6

Site Reports

Styrene-butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber, isoprenerubber, high-styrene rubber, acrylonitrile-butadiene
rubber, acrylic rubber, epichlorohydrin rubber,hydrogenated nitrile rubber, carbon master batch, etc.
Synthetic Latex
Styrene-butadiene
latex,
butadiene
latex,
acrylonitrilebutadiene latex, acrylate latex
Chemical Products
C5 petroleum resin, thermoplastic elastomer SIS,
concrete fluidizer, water-based dispersing agent, epoxy
hardener, etc.

Specialty Material Business

3,100
3,000
2,900
2,800
2,700
2,600
2,500
2,400
2,300
2,200
2,100
2,000
1,900
1,800

Environmental
activities●Synthetic Rubber

Hundredmillion yen

Respect for
the individual

Specialty
Material
Business
14.0%

Engagementwith society

Elastomer
Business

CSR atZEON Corporation•Head office

Manufacture and sale of synthetic rubber,
synthetic latex, and chemical products
Specialty Materials Business
Manufacture and sale of chemical
products, electronic materials, andspecialty plastics.
Other Businesses (including ZEON groupbusinesses)
RIM combination liquid/molded items,
medical equipment materials, butadiene
extraction technology, vinyl chloride
compounds, packaging and distribution
materials, and building materials, etc.
Shin-Marunouchi Center Building, 1-6-2
Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8246
Japan
TEL: 03(3216)1772 (reception)
FAX: 03(3216)0501

MessageZeon Co., Ltd. (ZEON•Company name Nippon
CORPORATION)
April 12, 1950••Established
Capital24.2 billion Yen (as of March 31 2009)
2,882 (consolidated), 1,693 (ZEON•Employees
only) (as of March 31 2009)
Descriptionof•Business Corporation
Elastomer Business

ZEON boasts a range of products including synthetic rubber especially designed for timing belts
and other safety-critical components in automobile engines, green note aroma chemicals (leafalcohol) for perfumes and food flavors, and environmentally friendly products such as lightweight,
transparent cycloolefin polymer resins and etching gases for semiconductors that do not harm theozone layer.
At ZEON, we strive for innovative and revolutionary new technology that
“does not imitate others” and “cannot itself be imitated” andcontinuous improvement in our core strengths. Our ultimate
aim is to establish a leading presence in society.

CSR at ZEON Corporation

Management
CSR Report

Corporate Philosophy andCSR Activities

ZEON’s 7 Articles (Code of conduct for ZEON executives and regular employees)"ZEON will contribute to the preservation of the
Earth and the prosperity of the human race."

Article 1 ZEON embraces corporate ethics and acts as a socially responsibleorganization.
Article 2 ZEON values the environment and safety.
Article 3 ZEON contributes to society with innovative technology.
Article 4 ZEON delivers products that satisfy the customers.
Article 5 ZEON values an organization that makes the best use of individuals.
Article 6 ZEON overcomes challenges through full participation and distributes
the benefits fairly.

Recognizing our role as a social organization, ZEON aims
to be a company that is trusted by society and at which its
employees are proud to work.

Article 7 ZEON values speed of decision-making and delivery date of work.

Enhance compliancesystems

Achieve reliable
and safe plants

Coexist harmoniously withthe local community and society

Speed

DialogueSocial Contribution

The company as a social organization
7

Customerorientation

Value creation Development ofenvironmentallyfriendly products

Pursue maximizationof corporate value

Establish
business model
for processing
business Establish a cultureof reform
and improvement

Quality
improvement

Production
innovation
Businessinnovation

Emphasis on CSR, rigorous compliance, safety-firstCore Strategies and Key Issues for IZ-60 in 2009 and 2010

Difficult times provide an opportunity for
fundamental change and build the foundation for
future development.
1.Move to a business model that remains profitable at 70% utilization.
2.Place an emphasis on cashflow and reduce interest-bearing debt.
3.Improve the quality and speed at which research and development istransformed into production technology.
8Site Reports

A company that is trusted by society andof which its employees can be proud

IZ-60 Concepts

Environmental
activities

Contribute to the sustainable development of people andsociety and the global environment

3-Year Mid-Term Management Plan (IZ-60)

Respect for
the individual(1) In recognizing that the company is a social organization, we will always keep
our corporate social responsibilities (CSR) in mind.
(2) We will create a group that is trusted by society and that is a rewarding place
to work of which our employees are proud.
(3) We will each take responsibility for implementing CSR through measures
such as enhancing compliance systems, achieving reliable and safe plants,
and coexisting harmoniously with the local community and society.
(4) We will contribute to the sustainable development of people and society andthe global environment by implementing CSR with an emphasis on speed,
dialogue, and contributing to society.

Engagementwith society

CSR Concept

CSR atZEON Corporation

In keeping with its name which derives from the Greek words "geo" (meaningthe "earth") and "eon" (meaning "eternity"), ZEON will contribute to thesustainable development of people, society and the global environment throughinnovative world-class technologies.

Message

Corporate Philosophy

CSR at ZEON Corporation

Management
CSR Report

Environment Philosophy and
Safety Philosophy

A CSR Coordination Diviston was established to oversee the company's social responsibilities as part oforganizational changes that occurred in June 2008.

CSR Promotion Organization

President
Environment Philosophy

2.Our basic belief is that environmental
protection can be achieved with innovativetechnology.

2.Our basic belief regarding safety is that wecan prevent all accidents.

3.Environmental protection will be achieved
when all employees work together with asense of mission to overcome challenges.

3.Safety will be achieved by performing the
5S* and when everyone takes responsibility for their own actions.

Risk Management
Committee

Internal auditing

Compliance Committee

Corporate Communications& Public Affairs Group

Risk Management
Meeting

Anti-trust Law Regulatory
Committee

Environment and Safety
Promotion Meeting

Export and Security
Control Committee

Quality Assurance
Promotion Meeting

Corporate GovernanceCommittee

Environmental & Safety
Affairs Department
Quality Assurance
Department
Legal Department

Engagementwith society*5S: Seiri (neatness), Seiton (order), Seisou(cleanliness), Seiketsu (hygiene), and Shitsuke(discipline)

CSR Team

CSR Promotion Organization
Risk Management Meeting (twice a year)*Responsible Care Policy
1.Prioritize the environment and safety

2.Collect and distribute the latest
information on chemical products

3.Minimize the discharge of toxic chemicals
and waste
We will work to reduce the discharge of toxic
chemicals, minimize waste, and develop
technology for recycling and reusing materials.

We will aim to dramatically reduce the amount ofenergy we use and help alleviate global warming by
developing innovative technology and actively
promoting resource and energy conservation
activities that involve all employees.

6.Live together with society
We will strictly observe regulations related to theenvironment and safety, whether the regulations
come from the local community, the national
government, overseas, or organizations to which
we belong. While cooperating in these activities, wewill work to enhance our communication with thelocal community and society in order to receive a
better understanding of ZEON's activities andfurther strengthen the trust that society has in ourcompany.
7.Perform continuous improvements
We will continuously improve our environmental
and safety management and technology by
operating a Responsible Care Audit, a Safety
Management System, an Environment Management
System based on ISO14001, and an Occupational
Health and Safety Management System.

*Responsible care
Activities undertaken voluntarily by companies involved with chemical substances to maintain the environment,
safety, and health in all processes from the development of chemical substances through their production,
distribution, use and ultimate end use to their disposal, and to make public the results of these activities andenter into dialogue and communication with the public.

9

Meetings

Environment
improvement
and othercommittees

Environment and Safety
Meeting (twice a year)

Problem assessment, planning, reportingand proposals related to the environmentand safety.

Promotion

Discussion and decision-making concerningcompany-wide policies and actions on theenvironment and safety.
Chairman: President

Plant Safety and Environment
Meeting (every month)

Quality Assurance Promotion Meeting(twice a year)

Quality Assurance Meeting (twicea year)

Discussion and decision-making concerning
fundamental, company-wide issues related tochemical safety and product liability.
Chairman: President

Proposal, discussion and reporting
concerning specific measures andactions relating to chemical safety andproduct liability throughout the company.

Discussion
anddecision-making
concerning plant environment and safety.

(1) Reduce discharges of toxic chemicals(2) Reduce waste and reuse materials(3) Conserve resources and energy

Site Reports

4.Promote activities for conserving
resources and energy

We will perform thorough environmental and safety
evaluations from the initial stages of research,develop technology and products that take theenvironment and safety into account, and work tomaintain and improve the quality of our technology
and products.

Environment and Safety Meeting(four times a year)

Company-wide Audits

Audits(1) Review by top management(2) Business audits(3) Responsible Care audit(4) PL audits of operational departments andaffiliated group companies(5) Voluntary safety audit(6) Plant technology audit(7) Safety inspection of affiliated groupcompanies(8) Information security audit

Environmental
activities

We will collect, store and manage the latest
information required for the appropriate handling,
use and disposal of chemical products, anddistribute this information to employees and users.

5.Take the environment and safety into
account when developing new processes
and products and performing quality
assurance

Respect for
the individualProtecting the environment and ensuring safety arepreconditions for all business activities and are themost important priorities. We will work
continuously and uncompromisingly to enact
accident prevention countermeasures, and provide
education and training for all employees to prevent
safety and environmental accidents.

Discussion and decision-making concerning the
progress reports from the five committees (RiskManagement, Compliance, Anti-trust Law
Regulatory Committee, Export and Security
Control Committee and Corporate GovernanceCommittee)
Chairman: President

CSR atZEON Corporation

1.Safety is the foundation of all businessactivities and the greatest priority.

CSR Coordination
Division

CSR Director

Safety Philosophy

1.Environmental protection is a mission forsocially responsible organizations.

Message

Environment Philosophy and Safety Philosophy

CSR Promotion System

Internal Plant Audits(1) Review by plant manager(2) Environment ISO internal audit(3) Quality ISO internal audit

10

CSR at ZEON Corporation

Management

CSR Report

Corporate Governance andInternal Controls
Internal controls system
A “Basic Policy for Implementing an Internal Controls
System” was authorized at the directors’ meeting in
April 28, 2006 and a decision to revise the policy was
made at the directors’ meeting on March 26, 2008 andMarch 23, 2009 based on subsequent progress instreamlining the internal controls system.
In accordance with this basic policy, a "corporate
governance and internal controls system" was created
and activities are under way throughout the ZEON
group aimed at ensuring rigorous risk management
and compliance with regulations.

Operating officers structure

General meeting of shareholders
Decisions, supervision(Appointments, dismissals)
Audits

Decisions, supervision(Appointments, dismissals)

Business implementation andinternal controls system(Dismissal)

Auditors(board)Collaboration

Audits(Appointments,
dismissals)

Accounting
auditorAccounting audits

Collaboration

CEO

Anti-trust Law
Regulatory
Committee

Compliance
Committee

Risk
Management
Committee

Prevention, Problem handling,
External
education, preventive measureslawyertraining, audits
Reporting(internal)
ReportingBusiness divisions, related departments, research laboratories, plants(external)

Basic policy
for quality
assurance

Control, monitoring

Appropriate
information
disclosure

Control, monitoring

Compliance with
anti-trust law

Control, monitoring

Subsidiaries and affiliates

Reporting(internal)

Reporting(external)

Crisis Management Conference
Compliance Committee
Local Compliance Committees

Crisis Management
Committee

Prevention of law violations
Education, training, and audit ofcompliance with laws

Prevention and control of
Risks;Dealing with crises

Anti-trust Law
Compliance Committee

Internal reporting
systemInternal route(1)Superior(2)Crisis
Management
Committee

External route(3)Attorneyfrom law firm

Preventing violationof the Antitrust Law

Security Export
Control Committee

Site Reports

Environment Appropriate
Ensuring
and
information Executive accuracy ofsafety policy disclosure Committee
financialreportingExport andSecurity Control
Committee

Audit group

Internal
ControlCommittee

ReportingInternal audits

Risk Management Meeting
Quality
Environment
PublicAssurance and Safety Relations
Promotion Promotion Committee
Meeting
Meeting

Audit
staff

1.ZEON embraces corporate
ethics and acts as a socially
responsible organization.
2.ZEON values the environment and safety.
3.ZEON contributes to society
with innovative technology.
4.ZEON delivers products thatsatisfy its customers.
5.ZEON, as a vital organization,
shall aid each employee inachievingself-fulfillment
through his or her work.
6.ZEON overcomes challenges through full participationand distributes the benefits
fairly.
7.ZEON values speed ofdecision-making and delivery date of work.

Proper security export control
Internal Control Committee
Promote establishment andevaluation of internal controls
relating to financial reporting

Zeon Compliance Code of Business Practice(1)Relations with society(2)Relations with customers and business partners(3)Relations with shareholders and investors(4)Relations with employees(5)Relations with the company and company assets<Employee Pledge>

Internal reporters:
Employees,
dispatched employees,
and officers andemployees of contractors

Individual stakeholders of the ZEON Group such as its officers, employees, shareholders, and customers
11

Environmental
activities

Board ofdirectors

ZEON's 7 Articles(Appointments, dismissals)
Collaboration (assistance)

Respect for
the individual

ZEON Group's Risk Management / Compliance System

Corporate governance and internal controls diagram

Engagementwith society

The operating officers group structure was establishedto improve management efficiency and speed up
execution of operations.

Work on risk management and compliance activities
in the ZEON group is currently progressing primarily
through five committees under the supervision of the
Risk Management Conference chaired by the President. These committees are the Risk Management
Committee, Compliance Committee, Anti-trust Law
Regulatory Committee, Security Export Control Committee, and Internal Control Committee.
●The Crisis Management Committee is responsible fortaking precautionary measures against potential
risks, handling any actual incidents when theyoccur, and implementing measures to prevent recurrence.
●The Compliance Committee is the body in charge ofprevention, education, training and auditing activities to prevent violations of laws and regulations. In
2008, workplace training on compliance with laws
and regulations was continued from the previous
year, with new initiatives including a revision of thecompliance textbook and proclaiming November as"compliance month". Activities undertaken to
improve awareness of compliance issues by ZEONGroup executives and employees during "compliance month" included a call for people to submit
compliance slogans, publishing of messages fromtop management at the various sites and groupcompanies, and e-learning courses.
●The Anti-trust Law Compliance Committee is the
body established to prevent any breaches ofanti-trust law by executives or employees of ZEON
and ZEON group.
Numerous price changes were made during 2008 in
response to the rising cost of oil, and the committee
performed strict assessments of these changes
before they were put in place. The group's externallawyer was also invited to run a training session oninternational anti-trust law.
●The Security Export Control Committee is the body
responsible for ensuring that export-related laws
and regulations are complied with and applied
appropriately. Activities in 2008 included revisinginternal company rules and holding training
sessions on the revisions to deal with the partial
amendments to the Export Trade Control
Ordinance.
●Internal Control Committee aims to establish andreview internal controls relating to financial reporting and administer the company’s internal reporting
regulated by the Financial Instruments andExchange Law. The committee's activities withregard to the company’s internal reporting system in2008 are described on the next page.

CSR atZEON Corporation

The company focuses on increasing profits andconstantly aiming to enhance its corporate value whilebalancing various interests, focusing on the shareholders and other diverse stakeholders. To achieve this, wehave continued to put effort into corporate governance, building a system to allow efficient and soundcorporate management.
In addition, by establishing an internal controls
system, we are clarifying the functions and roles ofeach organization within the company, enabling
speedy decision-making and implementation. We arealso conducting appropriate monitoring and information disclosure in respect of the progress andoutcomes of our activities to improve business transparency. In order to carry out these functions effectively, we are determined to enhance our corporate
governance system.

Governance system

Strengthening the Risk Management
and Compliance System

MessageOur Basic Philosophy Regarding
Corporate Governance

12

CSR at ZEON Corporation

Management
CSR Report

Corporate Governance and Internal Controls

AuditsZEON Corporation carries out a wide variety of audits to check on how its business,
Responsible Care, and other activities are being carried out.

A plant technology auditor is appointed to audit theplant equipment for safety and stability during operation at the four plants and at ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd. at least once a year.

Affiliate safety inspections
A team led by the head of the Safety Environmental
Affairs Department performs a review and offers
guidance on the implementation status of Responsible
Care activities at affiliates at least once a year.

PL audits
An audit team led by the head of the Quality Assurance
Department performs an annual audit focusing on PL(product liability) and chemical safety at the operational departments and affiliate companies.

Scene at business audits

Responsible Care audits in the workplace
Every year, an audit team led by the director in chargeof environment and safety visits company workplaces
to perform a Responsible Care audit. The progress ofimprovements is checked for issues specified in theaudit using the “Specified Issue Improvement Plan and
Implementation Report”.

Information security audit
An annual information security audit is conducted forall departments that handle information assets tocheck whether information security rules are being
observed correctly and offer guidance. In 2008,
measures to improve the level of security wereconducted in the form of "self-diagnosis" withindividuals conducting self-evaluations using a questionnaire and the person in charge of security in eachdepartment using a security audit sheet to conduct a
security evaluation of their department.

Environmental
activities
Site Reports

13

Plant technology audits

We conduct audits to determine whether all of ourbusiness activities are carried out appropriately andcorrectly in accordance with laws and regulations.
These audits cover the administrative departments,
plants, and laboratories of ZEON Corporation itself as
well as affiliated group companies. In most cases,
these audits involve visiting the department
concerned to perform an on-the-spot inspection.
Audits were carried out at 26 departments or affiliates
during 2008, including at our US subsidiary.

Respect for
the individual

Along with work on establishing a comprehensive
information technology framework for improving
operational efficiency and quality, ZEON Group is also
working on ensuring information security. A
company-wide anti-virus system was installed in 1997,
security policies were established in 1999, a ZEON
information security code was established in 2002,
and comprehensive internal rules were established foraffiliated group companies in Japan in 2005. An information systems committee chaired by ZEON Corporation's head of IT meets regularly as the top-ranked
decision-making body for matters relating to information security.
As improving the level of information security
requires not only organizational and technologicalmeasures, but also the understanding and action of
everyone involved, updated e-learning training
courses were conducted during 2008 as part of aregular training regime. Also, internal audits wereconducted to ensure that policies are being put into
practice correctly in the workplace and to reinforce
awareness amongst staff of the importance of information security.
The information systems department has also worked
with an affiliated company (ZIFTEC) that performs
development, operation, and maintenance work torevise and improve business processes and to introduce and deploy ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) as part of a strengthening of internal controls and information security. ZIFTEC
received ISMS (Information Security Management
Systems) accreditation in 2004 and this accreditation
was renewed after a review audit in 2008.

Business audits

Engagementwith society

Ensuring Information Security

A company-wide project to comply with the internalreporting regime (known as J-SOX, the Japaneseversion of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) was launched in
April 2006 to prepare for full-scale implementation (inApril 2008). The primary focus of the project has been
documenting how the ZEON Group should go about
ensuring the accuracy of its financial reporting. Since
J-SOX came into full force in the 2008 financial year,
the J-SOX regime has been administered based on theoperational standards and in cooperation with theaudit personnel, with the Internal Control Committee
established as the body responsible for administering
the regime, an internal audit team set up in the Audit
Group to evaluate the effectiveness of the controls,
and the staff responsible for the work at eachcompany site appointed as coordinators.
As a result, at the time of the review carried out as ofMarch 31 2009, an internal controls report was submitted to the Financial Services Agency in the President's
name stating that the company had effective internal
controls for financial reporting. The company also
received a favorable internal control audit report fromauditor Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC on June 26.
Now that the J-SOX regime is into its second year ofoperation, we will work to ensure that the administrative systems become established smoothly and to
adopt measures for improving the efficiency withwhich the work is carried out in the field.

ZEON and Affiliate Audits

CSR atZEON Corporation

There is a need to establish business continuity plans(BCPs) to minimize the impact on neighboring
communities, customers, suppliers, and other affectedgroups by ensuring that our business can continue tooperate and recover quickly if risks such as the new
H1N1 influenza, natural disasters, or accidents
become a reality.
ZEON Group started work on developing such plansfrom a CSR perspective in 2007, with specificmeasures being put in place beginning from last year.
Specific plans are to be collated during 2009 for fivepotential risks, these being a large earthquake in the
Kanto region, an explosion at a production plant, an
outbreak of a new strain of influenza, disruption of
product distribution or supplies of raw materials, andproduct liability problems.

J-SOX Compliance

MessageBusiness Continuity PlanningOn-site audit

Internal Plant Audits
Diagnosis by the Plant Manager
All the plant managers review the implementation
status of Responsible Care measures at their own
plant at least once a year.

Internal QMS and EMS audits
Regular internal audits are performed to check theimplementation status of the QMS (Quality Management System) and EMS (Environment Management
System) based on the ISO9001 and ISO14001 manuals
respectively. Both internal and external courses areprovided at each plant to train employees to be internal auditors.
14

Engagement with society

Performance

CSR Report

Relationship with Customers
Quality Assurance

Article 4 of "ZEON's Seven Articles" states that "ZEON delivers products that satisfy ourcustomers". We put this into practice by providing a reliable supply of products that satisfy ourcustomers.

Plants(production)

On-site training
Strengthen the building-inof quality in designand development

Quality Assurance
Department

Operational Departments(sales and distribution)

Quality Assurance Mechanisms
In order to ensure the reliable supply of high-quality
products to our customers, we have implemented
various quality assurance mechanisms based on the
ISO9001 international standard for quality management systems.

Objective

Mechanism fordeveloping policy

Mechanism for identifying the issues at eachorganizational layer based on the President's policy,
and then carrying out the required measures.

Mechanism for
management
planning and review

Mechanism for continuous improvement in theorganization's quality management whereby unit
managers (plant managers and operational
department heads) evaluate the level ofachievement in relation to the issues in eachorganizational layer and identify strategies for the
next round of improvements.

Design reviews forthe design anddevelopment of
products

Mechanism for reviewing whether each stage of the
product design and development process is being
performed appropriately.

Mechanism forproduct safety
evaluations

Mechanism for performing a multifaceted safety
check for the product in which product safety isevaluated at all stages, from initial research throughproduct sale and ultimate disposal.

Mechanism for
modification
management

Mechanism for preventing problems before theyoccur by establishing rules relating to processmodifications associated with product improvements
and so on.

Mechanism for
dealing withabnormal situations

Mechanism for eliminating quality problems bypinpointing the causes of process abnormalities in
production equipment and removing the cause toensure the problem never recurs.

Mechanism for
dealing withcomplaints

Mechanism for responding quickly and openly tocustomer complaints and improving quality by
preventing recurrence.

Mechanism forinternal quality
monitoring

Mechanism for internal monitoring whereby staff
monitor each other to ensure that the company's
quality management systems work efficiently andeffectively.

Considering the safety of the products we deliver to our customers from the design stage, we takeactive measures to ensure the supply of safety information such as handling procedures and hazard
and toxicity information so that appropriate safety precautions can be taken when using the
products.

World-wide Product Safety Activities
Including Reviewing the Safety ofChemical Substances
We are actively involved on a voluntary basis in thefollowing research and evaluation programs on hazardous chemical substances, their safety and their effect on
15

the environment, including ongoing funding and information provision.
(1)We perform our own safety evaluations throughparticipation in the HPV Initiative.
•We sponsored the registration of one compound
under the Japan Challenge Program and submitted asafety information collection report.

*IISRP: International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers

Domestic and International Chemical
Regulations(1)Progress on complying with European Union
REACH rules
The EU's (European Union) new REACH regulation
for the management and regulation of chemicals
went into force on June 1 2007, with pre-registration
closed on November 30 2008. The requirements
imposed by the regulation include that all products
imported into the EU be registered on a substanceby-substance basis and that safety information be
supplied throughout the supply chain. ZEON Corporation has initiated a number of measures aimed atcomplying with the REACH regulation including
submitting provisional registrations for affected
substances and participating in the Joint Article
Management Promotion Consortium to establish
appropriate mechanisms for providing information
along the supply chain.
*REACH regulation: EU rules for the Registration, Evaluation,
Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances*Joint Article Management Promotion Consortium (JAMP): A
consortium of upstream and downstream businesses(manufacturers of materials, parts, finished products, and so on)
dedicated to creating concrete frameworks for the administrationand disclosure of product chemical content information.

(2)Support for green procurement
The RoHS directive prohibits the use of some
substances and conducts checks on the substances
contained in products on the stage of the raw materi-(1) Implementation of product safety reviews
We strive to ensure product safety from every
possible perspective by conducting reviews using
checklists we formulated that consider productsafety at every stage of the product lifecycle frominitial research through development, manufacturing, sales, to disposal. Five risk assessments wereconducted during the 2008 year.
(2) We publish MSDSs for all products
Information regarding product safety is supplied tocustomers in the form of MSDSs (Material Safety
Data Sheets). ZEON has published MSDSs for all our
products and a portion of waste materials, not justfor the hazardous materials required by law(notifiable substances under the Occupational
Health and Safety Act, substances specified in the
Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) Law,
and toxic substances under the Poisonous andDeleterious Substance Control Law).

MSDS(3)We are considering unified management ofchemical substances
We have initiated study into the use of IT to perform
unified management of chemical substances with
objectives that include [1] sharing information aboutchemical substances, especially products and raw
materials handled within the company, [2] more
precise promulgation of MSDSs and other forms ofsafety information for chemical substances, and [3]being able to respond quickly to new domestic andinternational regulations relating to chemical
substances through unified management of thesubstances contained in products.
16

Site Reports

Chemicals and Product Safety*LRI:Long-range Research Initiative(3)We support investigation into understanding
and countering the environmental impact ofsynthetic rubbers through participation in the
Far East subcommittee of IISRP.

Other Initiatives Relating to
Chemicals and Product Safety

Environmental
activities

R&D Center(research and development)

Assess issues
Improvement activities

Mechanism(2)We give our approval and provide ongoing
financial support to the Long-range Research
Initiative (LRI) for research into the effect ofchemical substances on health and the environment which is proceeding with cooperation fromchemical industry bodies in Japan, the USA, andEurope (Japan Chemical Industry Association,
American Chemical Society, and European
Chemical Industry Council).

*RoHS directive: This stands for the restriction of the use ofcertain hazardous substances (An EU directive that limits theuse of specific toxic substances contained in electrical andelectronic products.)

Respect for
the individual

Assess current conditions
Common view between plants
Planning improvements andmodifications

Main mechanisms supporting quality assurance at ZEON

*HPV (High Production Volume) Initiative: An initiative forassessing the hazards of existing chemical substances that are
produced in high volume.
*Japan Challenge Program: A joint initiative between theJapanese Government and industry for collecting and publishing safety information on existing high production volume
chemical substances.
*HSJP (Hydrocarbon Solvent Japan Panel): The domestic panelof the IHSC (International Hydrocarbon Solvent Consortium)

Engagementwith society

Quality management that links production,
sales and technology

At ZEON, all four plants and the operational departments hold current accreditation under ISO9001. At
our affiliates, ISO9001 certification registration has
been performed primarily for production departments. Further, some affiliates have undertaken
combined audits that include assessment under
ISO14001 (environment management systems) as
they move to adopt comprehensive management
systems. A table listing our current ISO accreditation
status is given at the end of this document.

als purchasing. In addition to establishing mechanisms to ensure the supply of products that do notcontain specific substances that have been prohibited by the customer or by laws such as the RoHS
directive, ZEON also works actively to promulgate
information about what substances are contained in
our products.

CSR atZEON Corporation

We are working to continue strengthening the links
between the plants, operational departments andresearch units (R&D Center) in order to improve
quality management on a company-wide basis andcreate an integrated organization for production,
sales and technology.
The Quality Assurance Department at head officemaintains close communication with the quality
assurance units at the plants in order to solve any
issues that arise at the plants. The Quality Assurance
Department works continuously to identify thecauses of defects, evaluate the suitability of countermeasures and resolve issues from a customer
perspective in order to reduce any ongoing problems
in production processes that have the potential tolead to claims affecting production sites across thegroup with the ultimate aim of reducing customer
claims to zero.

•In association with European and American counterparts, we participate in a consortium (HSJP) of
companies producing hydrocarbon solvents tocollect safety-related information.

Message

Status of ISO9001 Accreditation

Quality Management

Engagement with society

CSR Report

Relationship with Shareholders
and Other Investors

Our relationship with the local community is also described in the site reports.

Communication with shareholders

Dialogue with the Local Community

To make it easier for shareholders to understand ourbusiness, on the day of the annual general meeting westage an exhibition that includes staff giving explanations
along with display panels and other presentations showing actual commercial products or models of productsthat use our manufactured goods.
On our web site, we have also posted audio of the financial results presentation at our analyst briefing and videoof the 3-year medium-term management plan presentation
given by top management. (Currently we are posting the"2008 financial results presentation (audio)" and "progressof the 3-year mediumterm
management
plan (video)" from the
May 2009 briefing.)
We are also posting
video of the "Reporting Items" segment of
the annual general
meeting on the Shareholders Meeting pageof our IR Information
site.

Tokuyama Plant
The "Sixth East Yamaguchi Responsible Care Regional
Dialogue" (organized by the Japan Responsible CareCouncil) held on November 7 2008 was the biggest suchgathering yet, being attended by 201 people including
administrative officials and people from regional government and citizen groups.
Professor Ori of Kanto Gakuin University College of Law
was invited to give the keynote address which wasentitled "Environmental Issues from a Family Perspective" and the event also included a panel discussion
which produced a lively exchange of views.

Summer festival

R&D Center

The event was attended by a total of 12 companies including
ZEON. In addition to operating a company booth, ZEON also
staged an hour and a half long IR briefing.

The IR seminar was entitled "Surprisingly ZEON: Contributing
to Society Through Innovative and Original Technology". It
presented top-rated products produced using originaltechnology and described research and development aimed
at creating products that will contribute to society.
Group photograph(The interns are the five young people in the front row)

With private investors making up a steadily growing proportion of ZEON shareholders, the company intends in the future
to be more proactive about conducting IR activities aimed at
this type of investor.

Relationship with Universities
Plant visit

Mizushima Plant

Scene from IR seminar

17

ZEON booth

Each year in August, the ZEON Summer Festival is heldin the company condominium car park at Sasaoki in
Kurashiki City. In addition to staff and their families, theinvited guests include people who live nearby andpeople from associated companies.
Plant employees plan and run stalls and events and dotheir best to ensure that everyone who attends fromchildren to adults has an enjoyable day. Many people
look forward to the annual summer festival and atten-

SPSJ (the Society of Polymer Science, Japan)
Award for the Outstanding Paper in Polymer
Journal sponsored by ZEONThis award promotes research and encourages young
researchers from Japan and overseas by presenting awards
for technical papers of particular excellence chosen fromamongst the papers published in the Polymer Journal of
the Society of Polymer Science, Japan.

18

Site Reports

The booth was based on the theme "Surprisingly ZEON" andpresented examples of ZEON products in a very wide rangeof different applications, with timing belts and other rubber

products, perfumes, LCD televisions, and mobile phones onshow along with presentation panels showcasing the range of
ZEON products that make comprehensive use of C5.

We run an ongoing program of activities aimed at beinga plant that is open to the community, including accepting visits from students, companies and organizations
from Japan and overseas, and inviting nearby companies
and neighborhood associations to join our plant welfare
activities.

Environmental
activities

ZEON attended the IR Technology Forum 2008, an event for
private investors organized by Nikko Investor Relations. The
forum provided an opportunity for private investors andshareholders to gain a better understanding of companies byinteracting with them directly. This was the first time thatZEON had attended such an event aimed at private investors.

Five pupils from Tsuruoka National College of Technology,
Asahikawa National College of Technology, and Tomakomai National College of Technology took up an internshipthat lasted from July 29 to August 8, 2008

Respect for
the individual

Shunan Community Dialogue

Kawasaki Plant
Date: December 7, 2008 (Sunday)
Venue: Roppongi Hills Academy (40F Roppongi Hills)

Engagementwith societyInternship

http://www.zeon.co.jp/ir/stock/meeting.html

Attendance at IR Technology Forum 2008 for Private Investors

dance is growing each year. Last year's event was
attended by about 800 people. ZEON plans to continue
holding this big event to help deepen its involvementwith the local community.

CSR atZEON Corporation

We respond positively to media coverage and visits
by institutional investors and analysts from bothwithin Japan and abroad.
ZEON held briefing sessions for analysts in May andNovember 2008. In addition to summarizing financial
results, the May session also included the announcement of IZ-60, our mid-term management plan for thethree years commencing in 2008. However, becauseof the major changes in the environment in which ourbusiness operates due to deterioration of economic
conditions, the November session included a briefing
by top management on "our outlook for the market"
in place of the progress report for the 3-year
mid-term management plan.
In June 2008, ZEON held a factory inspection tour
with a highlight being the Integrated Production
Center (IPC) as the base for "monozukuri" manufacturing that was completed at the Mizushima Plant onJune 4 as part of our introduction of the Daicel methodology for production innovation. The tour wasattended by 21 analysts.

Relationship with the Local Community
MessageCommunication with Institutional
Investors and Analysts

PerformanceRespect for the individual

Performance

CSR Report

Relationship with Employees
ZEON strives to be a company that inspires
pride in each and every employee.

[Overview of the education program]
Hierarchy

On-the-job
GlobalTraining for
Career Common
Businessdifferent levels of design knowledge Self-develo employee Specialized training
leadertraining
pment
(OJT)
training
training the organization training training

Human resources
system allows asense of challenge
and achievement

An easy working
environment thatemphasizes
dialogue

Encourage Employees to Keep Challenging Lofty Goals Under Their Own
Initiative

ZEON undertakes production innovation activities at
each of its plants aimed at taking a rigorous approachto achieving reliable and safe production. During
2008, at a conference of training staff and elsewhere,
ZEON investigated how to go about establishing astaff training regime that could support production
innovation. The result was the establishment of the
Monozukuri Training Center to take up the role ofproviding operator education and hands-on training
for the entire company. An inauguration ceremony forthe new center was held on June 1 2009. (The term"monozukuri" refers to the Japanese concept of amanufacturing ethos.)Having organized its curriculum and textbooks, the
new center commenced in 2009 by offering training
for people with beginner and intermediate level skills.

Global employee training

I attended a 16-month longadvanced English language
training course as part of my work. The course
content was not limited just to conventional English
conversation and instead focused on areas relevant toactual business situations, including presentation
skills and role-playing in meeting situations. A
particularly significant feature of the course material
was that it included things like theory work on how toconstruct a speech.
Shotaro Suzuki I want to work hard while keeping up
my study so that I will be ready to(Third from left)
put the benefits of the training to
Head Office
good use in overseas assignments.

Awards schemes include the Employee of the Month(bestowed by department managers on a monthly
basis) and the annual President's Award, whereby
individual employees and departments nominate a
specific challenge
at the start of the
year
and
are
judged on theirprogress in thenominated area. A
Winners of President's Award, 2008
newinitiative
adopted at the 2008 awards ceremony was to link allsites together via a videoconferencing system to allow
more people to attend. The ceremony honored theaward recipients and heralded the challenges for theyear to come.

ZEON Master system (Reemployment system)
A reemployment system has been introduced thatallows retired employees who have valuable skills anda desire to remain involved with the company tocontinue working after retirement age. As a mark ofrespect, reemployed staff are referred to as "master(employees)".
Of the 127 employees who retired in 2008, 87 (69%) are
active as master employees.
20

Site Reports

Attendance at advanced
English language
training course

After retirement, former employees have the opportunity to remain involved with the company by becoming a "ZEON Master" to help pass on skills and train
their successors.
Reforming the performance appraisal system toencourage personal development and foster teamwork while challenging even loftier goals in an effort
to "be who we want to be"
The performance appraisal system used at ZEON has
been based on objectives management, seeking tohave all employees challenging lofty goals. Also,annual training has been provided both for those
doing the assessing and those being assessed so thatthe appraisals are done in a fair and balanced way.
A particular emphasis is put on giving employees asense of ownership of the appraisals and the aim is tocreate a corporate culture overflowing with a sense ofachievement and aspiration (a sense of challenge andcreative desire) by making the expectations, workduties and target results for each person clear at thestart of each period and sharing these between superiors and subordinates, and by making a fair appraisalof work and results (contribution to the organization)at the end of the appraisal period.
The revisions to this system have been made based on
the following considerations.
•Standardize the key concepts associated withAwards system (ZEON Challenge Award)

Environmental
activities

To provide ongoing training for the staff who deal withthe company's increasing global expansion, practicalwork programs that run inside and outside the company have been expanding since 2007. Two advanced
English language training courses were held during
2008 to equip staff with practical skills that would beof immediate value in various different business situations. These courses covered not only English conversation but also skills such as presentation, negotiation,and business writing, and the students completed thecourses with a high level of achievement.

The severance pay system takes account of
performance appraisals over the ten years
prior to retirement age and reflects this in thelump sum payment on retirement with the
expectation that employees will remain motivated and feel a continuing sense of achievement right up to retirement age.

Respect for
the individual

19

Monozukuri Training Center established

Engagementwith society

ZEON's concept of "being who we want to be" is about
people who can act on the basis of thinking rigorously
for themselves and who can continue to change inorder to achieve lofty goals. The company aims tofoster people who can take a rigorous approach to
challenges, work autonomously, and undertake ongoing change and improvement toward the achievementof these goals.
For each management level and department, ZEON
maps out each individual's objectives in the form of
an "image of what we want to be", and has revamped
its education and training practices to make them
relevant to specific daily activities and not just to
filling the gap between these objectives and current
reality. The aim is that employees can go on to accept
the challenge of even loftier goals by conducting a fairevaluation of the results achieved by performing thesetasks that can then be reflected in that employee's
terms of employment.
The end result of each employee challenging lofty
goals and accumulating the benefits of these efforts is
to build up the "workplace strength" of the company
as a whole.
Feedback to
Education and training
Being what we want to be
employment conditionsat
ZEON is broadly(Reachingahigherlevel)
Being what
we want to be
divided into core education that is targeted
Evaluation
Education and training
at all employees andfocuses primarily on
Education and training
raising awareness andTasks and results
acquisition of common knowledge, specialist education for various specific jobs, and on-the-job training
conducted in the workplace.
In particular, the way training was conducted wasrevised in 2007 so that, rather than being somethingthat occurs on a temporary basis, the knowledge andskills obtained from this training could be utilized todeal with practical issues in the workplace, and that bydealing with issues in this way, better retention of thebenefits of this training could be achieved. In 2008, thehandling of capability evaluations and education andtraining at each site was made consistent under thecoordination of a meeting of the people responsible

for training. A systematic approach was adopted withplans established to identify clearly the "by whom", "towhom", "what", and "when" of company training.

CSR atZEON Corporation

Encourage employees
to keep challenging
lofty goals under theirown initiative

New entrants

ZEON believes that a truly competitive company is thesum of the skills of
Human resources system creates asense of achievement and challenge
its employees and we
Performance
aim to create aappraisal systemhuman
resources
system that givesZ∑ allowance
Bonus is linked A human resources
awards system employees a sense of
to results
system that gives
employees a sense ofachievement
bychallenge and achievement
givingeach
employee
Severance
ZEON Masterpay system
the opportunity tosystemchallenge lofty goals,
to act on these goals, and to have the outcomes
reflected fairly in their employment terms, with theentire organization pointing in the same direction.
In particular, timely reviews are conducted on thebasis that "there is no such thing as a 100% mark in an
employee performance appraisal scheme in whichpeople rate other people". Following discussion at
various levels of management during 2008, thescheme is to be revised from 2009 onwards to place
more emphasis on process and team performance.
Also a Z∑ allowance has been introduced to act as anincentive for action as part of the company-wide Z∑
program for the comprehensive elimination of loss
and waste.

appraisal and with medium to long-term plans andmanagement policies (innovation, improvement,
human development and self-improvement, sense ofchallenge, contribution to the team, and wellthought out action plans) and get all employees
working in the same direction.
•Ensure the system places an emphasis on process
and on contribution to the team to correct potential
results-oriented problems.
•From the perspective of employee development,
oblige all managers and supervisors to take responsibility for identifying issues relating to organizational activities and training for their subordinates.
•Review feedback methods to increase the sense ofownership of the appraisal system and encourage
dialogue and sharing.
Other significant features include:•Details of the appraisal system are made clear to all
employees.
•Each department and workplace holds appraisal
meetings at the start and end of the appraisal periodthat bring together a number of appraisers. The
beginning of period meeting assigns priorities andagrees on common objectives and issues, and theend of period meeting carries out a review by anumber of different people.
The union carries out a questionnaire on the appraisal
system every year. The results of the 2008 questionnaire indicated that more than 80% of employees
agreed with their appraisals.
In the future, ZEON will continue to work at establishing systems that allow everyone to perform creative
work that adds more value, and that distribute opportunity and rewards fairly and impartially.

Message

New entrants

Coordination with off-site training,technology transfer

Mid-career
staff

Manufacturing, engineering,business, commerce, research,technology, planning and control
Overseas study,
English language training
courses, TOEIC

Deputy line
managersLinemanagers
Deputy line
managers
Mid-career
staff

Communication training, support
for obtaining qualifications

Linemanagers(30/40/50 year)
age ranges

ZEON strives to be a company
that inspires pride in each andevery employee

Department
managers

MOT/MBAManager andsupervisor training

Relationship with Employees ~ Basic
Philosophy

Environmental safety, quality,
production, CSR, compliance,
information systems, accounting

Directors

A Human Resources System That
Gives Employees a Sense of Challenge and Achievement

Respect for the individual

Environmental activities

Relationship with Employees

Achievements

ZEON strives to be a company thatinspires pride in each and every
employee.

[Organizational structure and practices aimed at realizing an easy working environment]
Flexibleworkingpractices
Support for
combining
work andchildcare

Motivation, reliability, achievement,
stability and safety, security
HealthandwelfareFlexible work practices
Working environment,(compliance with regulations) dialogue, health, self-reliance

Support for raising the next generation

Measures to encourage dialogue
ZEON places a high value on teamwork and emphasizes dialogue (communication) as a way to create acommon understanding between all employees and aworkplace in which everyone shows concern for eachother, and to improve "workplace strength".
Not only dialogue between management and employees, but dialogue between the company and the overall
workforce and between separate workplaces are all
critical to overcoming the barriers between different
departments, getting the entire company working in
21

Childbirth cash payment, maternity leave, dependents and tuition
allowances

Holidays and Carry-over of holiday entitlements, My-life holidays, refreshbusiness
holidays (Master employees), public-service leave (jury duty)
shutdown
Recreation facilities, Hakone Gora Facility, Izu Ippeki Facility
training site
Loans andself-help

Bereavement condolence payment, bereavement leave, study
loan, disaster assistance, medical indemnity, compensation forabsence from work (ZEON health insurance cooperative
association), optional group insurance, group life insurance, etc.

the same direction, and building a sense of satisfaction
and pride amongst employees.
(1) Dialogue with management
ZEON takes active measures such as holding policy
explanation meetings where managers from the
President on down visit the workplace to give explanations and provide an opportunity for exchangesof opinion.
(2) Dialogue between management and labor
Numerous opportunities for exchanges of opinion
are provided including formal and informal meetings
between management and labor, RC audits, and joint
management and labor patrols.
Consultative meetings between management andlabor provide ample opportunity for forthright
discussion and both sides enter into this with aforward-looking attitude and a mutual spirit offriendly rivalry based on an underlying trust between
management and labor.
The company and labor union need to work together
to rally the strengths of everyone in the ZEON Group
toward proactive engagement so that policies aimed
at the expansion of the company can be implemented
in a comprehensive manner based on the company's
basic policy that "difficult times provide an opportunity
for fundamental change and build the foundation for
future development". To this end, the parties agreed ona "joint declaration by labor and management aimed at
the growth of the company" that is tailored to the new
era.
ZEON intends to work proactively to provide opportunities for dialogue with the labor union and toproceed with a number of policies aimed at making
ZEON a "company of which its employees can beproud" through abeneficial partnership between laborand management
based on mutual
respect for eachother's positions.
Scene following the signing ceremony for the"joint declaration by labor and management
aimed at the growth of the company"

1
2

Eliminateenvironment andsafetyabnormalities

Promoteoccupational
health and safety

2008 Results

2008 Plan(1) Full implementation of plant safety evaluations

40 investigations performed(2) Enhance the 5S safety program and expand toaffiliates

The same 5S safety audit was performed company-wide at
45 workplaces (once a year). 5S safety audits were also
performed at affiliated group companies.

(3) Training to raise awareness of accident prevention

Implemented at all four plants (also implemented at head
office and one affiliated company)(4) Zero environment incidents, zero safety incidents

No environment incidents, two safety incidents
Risk assessments of workplace operations are conducted
an average of 5.4 times/workplace each year

(1) Use risk assessment to eliminate dangers(2) No lost-time accidents, no serious non-lost-time
accidents(1) Implement a voluntary management plan for
air-polluting toxic substances
Reduce the butadiene air discharge from the 2008
level of 21.6t to 15.2t
Reduce the acrylonitrile air discharge from the 2008
level of 20.7t to 13.7t

Reduce3 environmentmetal
burdens

Target achieved,

Acrylonitrile: 14.2t (31% reduction from previous year)(3) Strengthen the company-wide energy conservation
project
Reduce unit energy consumption to 90.0% of the1990 level
Collect information on energy used in distribution

Unit energy consumption was 100.4% of the 1990 level

Collect information on energy used in distribution

Reported in fiscal 2008

(1) Implement product safety reviews for new products
and new applications

5 reviews performed

substance investigation and production regulations,Occupational Health and Safety Law)

distribution safety
5 Promote

Butadiene: 18.4t (15% reduction from previous year)

Final landfill amount: 471t (1,051t reduction from previous
year)(2) Provide customers with environmental and safety

4

One lost-time accident, no serious non-lost-time accidents(2) Implement a zero emissions plan for industrial waste
Reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill from the2008 level of 1,522t to 603t

Promote chemical
information (MSDS)
safety and product(3)
Report new substances (laws related to chemicalsafetyIssued MSDS for all products and implemented corrections(implementation rate: 100%)
Performed correctly(4) Zero law violations

No law violations(1) Full operation of the yellow card

Training performed through the logistics council(2) Reduce burden on the environment

Simplifications to packaging and containers and improved
liquid product transport efficiencies are currently being
implemented(3) Zero logistics accident

No logistics accidents

Target was almost reached,Self
evaluation

Requires improvement

OUTPUT

Overview of Environmental Burdens
INPUT
Amount handled
Energy(Substances
273,000 kl
subject to(of crude oil
the PRTR law)equivalent)
724,000 tons
Water resources
16,987,000 m3

Products
985,000 tons
Takaoka Plant
Mizushima Plant
Tokuyama Plant

R&D Center
Kawasaki Plant

Atmospheric discharges•Substances subject to
the PRTR law 40 tons
177,000 tons-c•CO2564 tons•SOx
408 tons•NOx

Industrial Waste
471 tons•Final landfill•Recycled
6,438 tons
Water discharges•Total water
15,786,000 m3
amount
140 tons•COD
130 tons•Total nitrogen•Total phosphorus 3 tons

22

Site Reports

Our zero-base and waste elimination policies havebeen responsible for significant changes in people's
attitudes in the past. In line with these policies andagainst the background of the current difficult environment, a Waste Elimination Committee, made up
entirely of women reporting directly to the President,
was established. The committee has set to work at
eradicating waste and inefficiencies throughout thebusiness from a female perspective that does not holdany special areas as being beyond consideration.

Marriage cash payment, honeymoon leave, spouse allowance

Item

Environmental
activities

Proactive use of our female staff (Waste Elimination Committee)

MarriageChildbirth

Overview of 2008 Plan and Results

Respect for
the individual

The "Law for Measures to Support the Development of
the Next Generation" came into force in 2005 as part ofgovernment policy for dealing with the low birth rate
and ZEON has established an action plan up to March2010 for supporting the raising of the next generation.
To date, the company has introduced measures suchas the "expansion of reasons for allowing employees
to take a half-day holiday" and a new support systemcalled the "part-time work system" to help employees
manage childcare and support work-life balance. All
female employees who gave birth took child-care leaveand two male employees also took child-care leave.

Maternity leave before and after birth, child care/care giver leave system, part-timework system, limits on out-of-hours work and elimination of late night work, breast
feeding time, leave to care for a sick child, child care/care giver leave support payment
system, babysitting system
Financial planning seminars, employees' savings scheme
Asset(incentives for retirement savings), employee share scheme (withaccumulation financial incentives), defined-contribution (DC) pension
Housing assistance system (dormitory and company housing, rent
Housing
subsidy system, home ownership allowance, home rental forassistance
employees on transfer), housing loan system

Engagementwith societyWith compliance with regulations as aprerequisite, ZEON strives to achieve flexible
working practices based on the company's
key words of "motivation", "reliability", "achievement","stability and safety", and "security". In terms ofhealth and welfare programs, the company has an
ongoing commitment to "creating an easy working
environment" centered around the four perspectivesof "better workplace environments", "encouraging
dialogue", "improving your health" and "supporting
self-reliance (based on a life plan)".

Flexi-time scheme, recognition for work performed outside the workplace, discretionary
work hours scheme for specialist and planning work, special holiday encouragementdays, half-day holidays, no-overtime days, self-improvement activities, training for
managerial and supervisory staff, survey of actual conditions, instruction form for out ofhours work, labor/management committee, labor/management patrol

CSR atZEON Corporation

Creating an easy
working environment

CSR Report

Message

An Easy Working Environment
That Emphasizes Dialogue

Performance

Environmental activities

Performance

CSR Report

Eco-friendly Product Development

Synthetic rubber for
fuel-efficient tires

Synthetic rubber is the primarymaterial used in the car tires that
contribute to the safety and comfort ofvehicles. As growing concern about
global environmental problems brings
with it demand for more fuel-efficienttires, ZEON has succeeded indeveloping synthetic rubber that
reduces energy losses by 20%. Tires
produced using this rubber can
improve fuel consumption by 1.5%
(estimate by ZEON), saving on fueluse and reducing CO2 emissions.

Zeorora® H
Etching gas

Zeorora® ZFL-58

ZEON was presented with an excellence award at the
Eleventh Ozone Layer Protection and Global Warming
Prevention Awards sponsored by Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun

Detergent Objects

Products that Help Eliminate Use of Organic Solvents

BM-400B binder for use in batteries

Products that Take Account of the Environment

Energy savings

Global warming
prevention* NMP: The recommended permissible concentration published by the Japan
Society for Occupational Health is 1ppm or less.

Environmentally Friendly Products that Conserve Energy

ZEON booth at TOKYO PACK

23

Reduction of
VOC Emissions

Products with Low Environmental Risks
New ether solvent

Cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME)CPME is a new ether solvent with properties that make itsuitable for use around the world as a solvent in
manufacturing processes (reaction, extraction andcrystallization processes) for products such as
pharmaceuticals, perfumes, and electronic materials.
Potential benefits from using CPME
OMe
include cost reductions from fasterprocessing times, reduced environmental
burden (fewer waste products) andenergy savings, and the solvent has
attracted attention from the American
Chemical Society for its use in green
chemistry.

Reducing
environmental
risks

Products produced using
ZEONEX® and ZEONOR®

Johkaso that produce clean water fromsewage makes excellent waste water
treatment systems that can be installed
quickly and at low cost. We are working
to encourage the wider use of sophisticated processing-based johkaso so that
we can hand on our limited water
resources to the next generation ingood condition.

Products with Low Environmental Risks
Products that Promote Energy Saving

Cycloolefin polymer
ZEONEX®
ZEONOR®
®

Site Reports

Although metal packaging materials such as cans oraluminum foil are typically used for air-tight packaging of
perishable goods, these have been recognized as aproblem for many years because they use considerable
energy for transportation and are difficult to separate
during disposal. The new QUINTIERTM EV series ofoxygen-impermeable resins developed by ZEON facilitatea move to all-plastic packaging because theirimpermeability with respect to oxygen is equivalent to thatof metallic materials. They are also more easily disposedof and their lighter weight reduces energy use intransportation.

JohkasoLenses and prisms®

ZEONEX and ZEONOR are new thermoplastics that are already used in
optical lenses and optical film. Utilizing their superior properties, ZEON isdeveloping materials for use as pickup lenses in blue-laser optical disks.
Also, even amongst the many different types of plastics, these materials
combine a low specific gravity with heat tolerance and a high level oftransparency. This opens up the potential for their use as a replacement
for materials such as glass or high-specific-gravity engineering plastics
where they could help improve energy efficiency by, for example, making
automotive parts lighter.

Environmental
activities

QUINTIERTM EVZEON Johkaso: GPCN

ZEON's GPCN johkaso is sophisticatedprocessing units that removes nitrogen.
The johkaso removes the nitrogen content
from domestic waste water to prevent theeutrophication of enclosed waterways suchas lakes and bays, and thereby to preventthe occurrence of algal blooms and similar.
The johkaso has a high level of recyclability, and its outer case is made fromPENTAM® dicyclopentadiene resin which
has excellent shock-resistance.
As domestic johkaso become more widelyused, this product is contributing to theprotection of our waterways.

Respect for
the individual

Because ZEON's binder for aqueous lithium-ion secondary
batteries uses water as a dispersant, it eliminates the costof solvent recovery and reprocessing that is required for thealternative material PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) whichuses NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) as a solvent. This also
helps meet working condition standards at battery
production plants and contributes to lower capital
investment and running costs in these plants.

was for the company's Zeorora® H
fluorocarbon detergent and Zeorora®
ZFL-58 dry etching gas used insemiconductor manufacturing. Having
gained initial recognition through theStratospheric Ozone Protection Award
from the US Environmental Protection
Agency in 1998, Zeorora has since EPA Ozone Protection
won a total of five awards including the Award
GSC Environmental Award from the Green & Sustainable
Chemistry Network (GSCN) which was awarded in 2003.
With awareness of the importance of protecting the global
environment being heightened by events such as the
Toyako Environmental Summit held in Japan, we believethat winning this award is of deep significance. Zeorora is a
product that represents ZEON to the world as a company
that places great importance on the environment and we
aim to continue helping to protect the global environment
by promoting its sale in the future.

Engagementwith society

Pulverization is the conventional method for
producing the toner used in copiers and otherprinting equipment. However,
it is also known that using
polymerization for tonerproduction reduces energy
consumption during production and results in finer tonerparticles.
The microcapsule toner produced using a polymerization
Toner electron microscope method developed by ZEON
image
contributes to better print
quality and allows the fixing temperature to belowered. This in turn allows faster printing speeds,
smaller printers, and better energy efficiency.

Products that Help Protect the Ozone Layer and Prevent Global Warming
Next-generation fluorocarbon detergent
Ltd. in September 2008. The award

CSR atZEON Corporation

Automobile tire made of fuelefficient synthetic rubber

Zeoglobule polymerized toner®

Message

Products that Promote Energy Saving

Toru Niitsu
Technical Manager
ZEON Environmental
Materials Co., Ltd.

24

Environmental activities

Performance
CSR Report

Safety and Accident Prevention/Occupational Health and Safety

Dialogue Between Management andPlantsRecognizing that safety takes priority over all othermanagement issues, the President is at the forefrontof strengthening efforts across the whole company totake the safety management system to an even higher
level.

We are making effective use of the reporting,inspection planning, inspection recording andinspection omission detection functions of the new
system that was introduced in 2004. Ongoing upgrades are also being made, such as enhancements
to the system for storing drawings.

The essential elements with the highest priority fora safe and stable workplace are people, equipment
and money. We formulate systematic countermeasures on a scientific basis, such as estimating theremaining life of equipment. We are advancing
fool-proofing to prevent accidents by involving all
employees in brainstorming.

To eliminate safety incidents and prevent worker
accidents, we regularly use modern technology toreview past accidents, determine whether current
countermeasures are effective and consider
whether technology is available to provide evenbetter recurrence prevention.

4.Review of standards ("Always follow therules. Change any rules that cannot be
followed.")We constantly try to improve our standards bymaking them easier to observe and easier tounderstand. We work systematically to eliminate
25

Plant Safety Diagnosis and Plant
Technology Audits
In addition to the safety evaluations we carry out
when commissioning a new plant or an upgrade
to an existing plant, we have also initiated a safety
diagnosis program for our existing plants with theaim of preventing serious accidents or injury byhaving experienced technical staff from a different
department provide technical support and undertake
checks of the production technology to improve thesafety level of our plants even further.
Also, section managers and other staff from different
plants are appointed as technical auditors to provide
support and assistance for improving the plant's
production technology from a technical and safety
management perspective.

All ZEON Safety Conference
April of each year is ZEON Safety Month during
which we increase our emphasis on safety activities.
This year, the focus was on "achieving tidiness andorderliness" which is one of the principles of safety.
There was a heightening of safety-related activity in
Safety Month with achievements during this period
being evaluated and prizes awarded for examples ofIn striving to achieve a stable and safe production
system that increases "workplace strength", ZEON
puts considerable effort into 5S safety audits, risk
assessments and caring-for-each-other activities.
Other initiatives are identifying near-miss incidents,
hands-on learning, supervisor training for production
managers, foremen and others, and running safety
training at affiliated companies.
In addition to physical exercise such as a healthy
2.50

Walking relay(Tokuyama)

Trend in lost-time accidents rates
Manufacturing industry(Ministry of Health,Labour and Welfare figures)

2.00

Chemical industry(Ministry of Health,Labour and Welfare figures)

1.50
1.00
0.50

ZEON CORPORATION
0.00
90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

*1 Frequency of lost-time accidents
An indicator of the frequency of workplace accidents, calculated using the following formula:
Frequency of lost-time accidents = No. of workers who experienced a lost-time accident ÷
total actual working time × 1,000,000 hours

KY ("Kiken Yochi") Risk Assessment
To prevent workplace accidents and deal with thepotential for human error, ZEON has adopted the"4RKY" ("four-round kiken yochi (risk assessment)")
practice whereby employees check for any unsafe
situations before starting a task to avoid placing
themselves in danger. Workers who have received
external training to learn the correct methods are
deployed as "KY trainers" in accordance with the sizeof each workplace. The number of these trainers wasincreased further
during 2008 anda KY Conference
was held to promote KY activities
at which competitions were held
between selected
teams from each
workplace.

Site Reports

3.Review of past accidents and recurrence
prevention ("Never rely on 'maybe' or'should'")

When we commission a new plant or an upgrade toan existing plant, we evaluate the plant's safety infive stages from the basic design through to the startof production. This involves setting up detailed checklists for safety evaluation with the aim of creating amore reliable and safe plant. We performed 54 suchchecks in 2006, 75 in 2007, and 40 in 2008.

walking relay aimed at promoting employees' physicalhealth, ZEON alsoseeks to encouragemental health byproviding support
to industrial physicians in the form of
psychiatrists andpsychotherapists.

Environmental
activities

2.Plant deterioration countermeasures andfoolproofing measures ("Good judgments
save money")

Plant Safety Evaluation

Measures to Prevent Workplace Accidents and Maintain Employee HealthRespect for
the individual

1.Introduction of an equipment information
management system to prevent omissions("Never rely on 'maybe' or 'should'")

Certification under the new law has been obtained
for the certified safety inspectors at our Takaoka,
Kawasaki, Tokuyama and Mizushima plants and at
all other workplaces. Also, staff at our Kawasaki and
Mizushima plants have been certified to perform
completion inspections.
We work to achieve a higher level of certainty in safetyassurance and have established safety management
systems at all our sites to ensure that the potential
hazards in our plants are identified and that systematic
measures, from both hardware and software aspects,
are taken to reduce the associated safety risks.

about the safety activities of one of our partner companies with operations on a ZEON site. This provided theopportunity for a mutual exchange of opinions.
The conference recognized the people working on
ongoing safety activities in the field and the President
distributed commendations and prizes to each participant to help foster a culture of safety awareness.
The Safety Conference was a large and lively event,
being attended by approximately 100 people fromvarious ZEON sites and affiliated companies. For
those unable to attend, scenes from the conference
were broadcast to all ZEON sites to heighten safety
awareness.

Engagementwith society

The President Takes the Lead in Promoting Safety Management

Accreditation of Certified Safety
Inspectors at all Sites

excellence.
The All ZEON Safety Conference is also held during
the month. This year’s conference, which included
affiliated companies, gave the various sites anopportunity to make presentations that show off thebest examplesof their safety
activities.
Something newat this year's
conference
was a special
presentation

CSR atZEON Corporation

ZEON conducts an active program of management
visits to each plant to ensure ongoing robust dialogue
between management and plants.
With easily understood slogans such as "good judgments save money" as our key principles, we enter
into direct dialogue with the plant staff who work at
the front line to discuss how best to make the plants
even safer and more stable. The President made 43
such plant visits in 2006, 46 in 2007 and 62 in 2008.

unnecessary standards, simplify the contents ofothers, and make full use of pictures and diagrams
to make the standards easier to use.

Message

A manufacturer's starting point is the plant. Our
management and plants work together every dayon the following key issues in accordance with ourenvironmental and safety policy of "pursuing stable and safe production at minimum cost".
1.Take rigorous measures that put top priority on ensuring the safety of everyone who enters our plants.
2.Achieve stable and safe operation through the ongoing implementation of our master plan for improving safety
management and through risk reduction and by identifying the source of potential new threats.
3.Make steady progress by undertaking measures to reduce the burden on the environment and achieve our zero
emissions and energy efficiency targets.

Scene from KY Conference

26

Environmental activities

Performance
CSR Report

Hazardous Chemical
Substances and Industrial Waste

PRTR Activity
The entire company is making an effort to reduce discharges and transfer of substances subject to PRTR.

Reduction of Hazardous Chemical Substance Emissions into the Atmosphere
We are working actively to reduce emissions, particularly of butadiene and acrylonitrile.

Amount of Discharge and Transfer of PRTR Subject Substances (2008)
Amount of emission into the atmosphere (39.1 tons)

Totaltransfers(126.7 tons)

Amount of transfer (126.7 tons)

Amount of discharges into water (0.9 tons)
Amount of discharges into soil (zero)

Landfill (zero)

Discharge and Transfer Data for Substances Restricted by Law

450

Amount of butadiene emissions
into atmosphere

Tons

400

120

350
300
250
200 401.9
150
100
50
18.4

0
96

97 98

99

00

01

02

03 04 05 06

07

Reduction of industrial waste

08

12,000

Tons

100
80
60

107.3

40
20
14.2
0
95

96

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05 06

07

08

medium-term plan for 2015 has set an emphatic
zero-emissions target of reducing the amount ofindustrial waste that is ultimately disposed of in
landfills to 0.1% or less of the actual disposal volume
in 2007 (a target of 33.4 tons).
ZEON is also working actively to improve sorting inorder to encourage recycling and other ways ofmaking effective use of industrial waste.

Amount of final landfill of waste

Site Reports

10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
9,620
2,000
471
0
95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08
Note: This is the amount of waste generated in routine industrial activity
that is disposed of in landfills.
(Does not include construction waste produced by non-routine
engineering work.)* Units of dioxins are mg-TEQ
Note: The PRTR Law specifies the amount in units of "kg" with fractions to 2 significant digits, but the table above shows values in units of tons.

27

Environmental
activities

Our improvement target for reducing the amount ofindustrial waste that is ultimately disposed of in
landfills is 10% or less of the final landfill amount in1995 (a target of 962 tons). This target was achievedin 2008 with disposal of 471 tons.
Measures adopted to achieve this reduction include
greater incineration of activated sludge and recyclingof waste plastic.
We are planning further improvements and ourAmount of acrylonitrile emissions
into atmosphere

Respect for
the individual

95

Tons

Engagementwith society

Transfer
Volume(tons)
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.3
0.7
125.6
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
126.7

Emissions to the Atmosphere

6
7
12
22
23
24
28
42
46
47
54
56
63
102
159
172
177
179
227
231
232
256
266
268
272
299
307
309
310
313
314
316
320
321

Discharges to
Total
Amount Used Atmosphere Discharges to
Water
Discharges(tons)(tons)(tons)(tons)
0.1
0.0
48.2
0.1
Acrylamide
0.0
0.0
69.1
0.0
Acrylic acid
1.4
0.0
1,149.5
1.4
Ethyl acrylate
0.0
0.0
602.2
0.0
Butyl acrylate
0.2
0.0
543.4
0.2
Methyl acrylate
14.2
0.0
21,838.5
14.2
Acrylonitrile
0.0
0.0
1.4
0.0
Acetonitrile
0.0
0.0
35.0
0.0
Acryl alcohol
0.0
0.0
63.4
0.0
1-allyloxy-2, 3-epoxy propane
0.0
0.0
1,120.5
0.0
Linear alkylbenzenesulfonate and salt thereof
0.8
0.0
136,964.3
0.8
Isoprene
1.1
0.1
813.2
0.9
Ethylene oxide
0.0
0.0
2.7
0.0
Ethylene diamine
0.0
0.0
57.2
0.0
Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid
0.0
0.0
459.7
0.0
Epichlorohydrin
0.0
0.0
5.4
0.0
Propylene oxide
0.1
0.0
1,299.6
0.1
Xylene
0.0
0.0
237.2
0.0
Vinyl acetate
0.0
0.0
6.9
0.0
Diphenylamine
0.0
0.0
219.9
N, N-dimethylformamide
0.0
1.5
0.0
40,381.0
Styrene
1.5
0.0
0.0
0.8
Dioxins*
0.0
1.0
0.7
3,586.8
Toluene
0.3
0.1
0.0
34.0
Nickel
0.1
0.0
0.0
49.7
Nickel compound
0.0
0.3
0.0
155.7
2-vinylpyridine
0.3
0.0
0.0
Phenol
80.0
0.0
18.4
0.0
1, 3-butadiene507,543.4
18.4
0.0
0.0
Bis phthalate (2-ethylhexyl)
176.5
0.0
0.0
0.0
Benzene3,735.5
0.0
0.0
0.0
Poly(oxyethylene) alkylether
49.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
Poly(oxyethylene) nonylphenyl ether
205.9
0.0
0.0
0.0
Formaldehyde
2.6
0.0
0.4
0.0
Maleic anhydride
204.1
0.4
0.2
0.0
Methacrylic acid
2,070.1
0.2
0.0
0.0
Methacrylic acid 2,3-epoxy propyl
5.3
0.0
0.2
0.0
Methyl methacrylate
579.5
0.2
0.0
Methacrylonitrile
0.0
2.9
0.0
40.0
Total
0.9
724,399.3
39.1
Substance Name

Emissions to the Atmosphere

Government
AdherenceControl Number
2
3
4

CSR atZEON Corporation

Amount ofdischarge
andtransfer
volume(166.7 tons)

Totalamount ofDischarges(40.0 tons)

For butadiene, our Tokuyama Plant switched to a
production process that burns the waste gas frommonomer recovery in 2008 and a reduction of
approximately 14 tons in annual emissions isanticipated in 2009.
We reduced acrylonitrile emissions by about 6 tons in2008 compared to the previous year due to lower
production volumes, revisions to the operating
conditions for monomer recovery, and other changes.
We intend to continue reducing acrylonitrile
emissions through better recovery.

Efforts headed by the Chemical Industry Associationof Japan are being made to understand and reduce
the level of emissions into the atmosphere of thetwelve substances with the highest priority.
Meanwhile ZEON is working actively to reduce
emissions of the three substances on this list that areused at the company.
Thanks to process improvements and technologicaldevelopments over many years, ZEON completely
eliminated the use of benzene in 2000 andconsequently has achieved zero atmosphericemissions.

Message

The PRTR (Pollutant Release andTransfer Register) law applies to 38
substances used at ZEON.
Total discharges reduced from 57.6
tons in 2007 to 40.0 tons in 2008.
ZEON is working vigorously to
reduce discharges.

28

Environmental activities

CSR Report

Air and Water Quality

Resource and Energy Saving

We are continuing our efforts to reduce the burden on the environment, and when installing a new plant or
expanding a plant, we try our best to prevent any increase in this burden through technologicalimprovements. We will continue to make additional efforts in the future.

In order to achieve the goal of "reducing the average energy consumption rate to 87% of the 1990 level by2010" set by the Japan Chemical Industry Association, we have held energy conservation promotion
meetings throughout the company and have actions in progress.

800
600
400

400
300

95

96

million m3
25

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05

200
100

95

06 07 08

Amount of total waste
water discharge

96

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05

06 07 08

Amount of COD discharge

Tons

400
350

15
10
5

300
250
200
150
100
50
0

0
95

96

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05

95

06 07 08

100
95

200

90
150
85
100

80

50

75

0

70

200
150
100
50
0

96

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05

06 07 08

Energy Consumption Associatedwith Transportation
Under amendments to the Energy Conservation Law,
responsibility for improving energy efficiency in transport has rested since 2006 with the party responsible
for requesting transportation of the goods and raw
materials (the consignor or owner of the goods andraw materials).
A company with an annual freight volume of 30
million ton-kilometers or more is defined as a designated major consignor under the amended law andis subject to additional requirements.
On the basis of its total freight shipping volumes(including the four production plants and the R&D
Center), ZEON is a designated major consigner and

06

07

08

the company submitted its regular declaration to the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on June 30,
2007.
Transportation energy use for 2008 measured in termsof equivalent consumption of crude oil was 4,960 kl,
which is about 18% of the 272,500 kl of energy used in
manufacturing.
The 2008 unit consumption index was 100.6% of
the previous year. This slight worsening in the unit
consumption index occurred because the lower
production volumes meant less maritime transportation of raw materials which has superior transportenergy-efficiency. However, the unit consumption
index for transportation of products did improve in
2008, to 97.3% of the previous year.

8

Amount of total phosphorus
discharge

Tons

Tons

250

Amount of total nitrogen discharge

7
Amount of Emissions

Amount of Emissions

6
5
4
3
2

200
150
100
50

1
0

0
95

29

96

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05

06 07 08

95

96

97 98

99

00

01 02

03 04

05

06 07 08

Energy conservation plan for the Mizushima industrial complex
At the Mizushima industrial complex, Asahi Kasei Chemicals, ZEON and Nippon Petroleum Refining (the refiningarm of ENEOS) have started work on a joint program tosave energy by recycling petroleum residue.
The project has been adopted as part of the NEDO
Energy Conservation Project Support Scheme. Nippon
Petroleum Refining will build a new solvent de-asphalting
line at the Mizushima Refinery for extracting raw material
for kerosene and other light oil distillates from asphalt andother heavy oil distillates. The petroleum residue (or pitch)
left over after this extraction process will be used as fuelfor new boilers to be built by Asahi Kasei Chemicals and

ZEON. This will save energy by reducing use of the heavy
oil and other fuels used in the past.
It is estimated that thiswill deliver significant
energy savings acrossthe entire industrial
complex (equivalent toapproximately 98,000 kl
of crude oil) andcommercial operationcommenced in August
Energy conservation plan for the2009.
Mizushima industrial complex

30

Site Reports

Energy conservation topics

Environmental
activities

Amount of Emissions

Amount of Emissions

20

250

90
05
06
07
08
90
05
* Note: Unit consumption index (compared to 1990 levels): Averageenergy consumption rate (consumption in crude oil equivalent ÷ production volume) for target year
as a proportion of the average energy consumption rate in 1990 (where the 1990 index is 100)

0

0

105

Amount of CO2 emitted

Respect for
the individual

200

500

300

250

Engagementwith society

Amount of Emissions

Amount of Emissions

1,000

x 1,000 ton-C

110

CSR atZEON Corporation

600

Amount of energy consumed andconsumption rate index

latter part of the 2008 financial year.
Although ZEON undertook various energy efficiency
improvements such as waste heat recovery, these were
not reflected in the unit consumption index because
the benefits of this work was outweighed by the drop
in utilization.
Major energy saving work is planned for theMizushima industrial complex during 2009 and thecompany as a whole continues to work on further
improvements.

Amount Emitted(carbon equivalent)

Amount of NOx emissions

700

x 1,000 kl

350

Unit consumption index(compared to 1990 levels)

Amount of SOx emissions

Tons

Plant utilization was down significantly in 2008 withproduction only 83.8% of the previous year. As aresult, energy use measured in terms of equivalentconsumption of crude oil was 88.7% of the previous
year's level.
Unit consumption index (compared to 1990 levels)*
went from 94.9% in 2007 to 100.4% in 2008.
The drop in production was due to operating at low
utilization in order to adjust stock levels in responseto the sudden fall in demand that occurred during the

Messagewaste water and we have succeeded in reducing ouremissions through operating practices that balance theload on activated sludge and because the shutdown of
PVC production has reduced the load.
Regarding total nitrogen levels in waste water, newnitrogen elimination equipment was installed in 2007
to counter an increase in production at the Kawasaki
Plant of products such as NBR (acrylonitrile and butadiene rubber) that are associated with high output of
waste water by-products, and this showed results in2008 in the form of a higher rate of nitrogen removal.
We are working on further improvements and tighter
management.

Consumption (crude oil equivalent)

Progress on reducing atmospheric pollution includes
improvements in SOx and NOx emissions. The
Tokuyama Plant has achieved better SOx emissions
through a switch to lower sulfur fuel for its boilers
in 2008. Reductions in NOx emissions, however,are a consequence of lower production rather than
improved technology.
In terms of water pollution, the shutdown of PVC
production at Takaoka Plant has reduced the total
volume of water discharges.
Waste water quality continues to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act and agreements withlocal authorities.
COD is a measure of organic compounds contained in

1,200

Performance

Environmental activities

Performance
CSR Report

Environmental Economic Perspective

2002, ZEON has publicly released its
Environmental Accounting Since
environmental protection costs and environmental
protection effects (physical effects and economic effects) in line with guidelines issued by the
Ministry of the Environment.

Capital investment for environmental protection

Environmental protection costs
We are developing technologies to minimize waste
water and to reduce the level of volatile substancesthat remain in products. We are focusing in particular
on reducing butadiene and acrylonitrile, both toxic air
pollutants, and on developing technology, designingequipment and trialing operating procedures to reduce
the level of contaminants such as T-N (total nitrogen)and COD (chemical oxygen demand) in waste water.
Meanwhile, our affiliated group companies have been
concentrating on administrative and improvement
activities to recycle waste and reduce disposal tolandfill.

Environment Protection Costs (Million Yen)

ZEON Corporation

Affiliated Group Companies

Investment Expenses Investment Expenses
AmountAmountClassification

2,837.2
2,056.8
194.8
585.6
3.1
73.9
1,741.8
71.5
46.4
4,773.9

246.2
141.5
60.5
44.2
75.8
0.0
196.1
0.0
0.0
518.0

27,803
10,664

Scope of accounts
ZEON Corporation
ZEON Head Office, R&D Center, Takaoka
Plant, Kawasaki Plant, Tokuyama Plant,
Mizushima Plant
Affiliated Group Companies:
Okayama Butadiene Co., Ltd., ZEON
Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd., ZEON
Logistical Materials Co., Ltd., RIMTEC
Corp., ZEON Medical Inc., ZEON North
Amount (Million Yen) Co., Ltd., ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd.,ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd. Otsu Plant andAffiliated Group Companies Kawagoe Plant, Optes Inc. Sano
Headquarters Plant and Toyama Plant,
28,439ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd. Ibaraki Plant
Period Covered
10,885
April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008

Environmental Protection Effects
Physical effects

ZEON
Comparison Affiliated Group Comparison
Environmental Protection Effects Corporation
Index
Companies
Index
Environmental Compared to Environmental Compared to
Description of effects
burden index previous year burden index previous year

SOx emissions (tons)
NOx emissions (tons)
COD emissions (tons)
CO2 emissions (amount of carbon) (tons)
Industrial waste sent to landfill (tons)
Total emission of substances subject
to the PRTR law (tons)

31

564
408
140
177,136
471

137
8
54
27,164
1,051

7565
409
140
186,192
957

138
8
54
25,390
1,148

40

18

47

19

Scope of accounts
ZEON Corporation
ZEON Head Office, R&D Center, Takaoka Plant,
Kawasaki Plant, Tokuyama Plant, Mizushima Plant
Affiliated Group Companies:
Okayama Butadiene Co., Ltd., ZEON Chemicals
Yonezawa Co., Ltd., ZEON Logistical Materials Co.,
Ltd., RIMTEC Corp., ZEON Medical Inc., ZEON
North Co., Ltd., ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd., ZEON
Polymix Co., Ltd. Otsu Plant and Kawagoe Plant,
Optes Inc. Sano Headquarters Plant and Toyama
Plant, ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd. Ibaraki Plant
Period Covered
April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008

543.0

546.1

1,735.0

1,806.0

Scope of accounts
ZEON Corporation
ZEON Head Office, R&D Center, Takaoka Plant, Kawasaki Plant, Tokuyama Plant, Mizushima Plant
Affiliated Group Companies:
Okayama Butadiene Co., Ltd., ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd., ZEON Logistical Materials Co., Ltd., RIMTEC Corp., ZEON Medical Inc., ZEON North
Co., Ltd., ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd., ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd. Otsu Plant and Kawagoe Plant, Optes Inc. Sano Headquarters Plant and Toyama Plant,
ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd. Ibaraki Plant
Period Covered
April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008

Environmental Economic Perspective
ing safety and eliminating risks (safety investment).
The graph below shows the cumulative trend in total
environmental and safety investment (environmental
investment + safety investment).

Not only are we making the environmental investments in pollution prevention equipment and resourceand energy conservation equipment that appear in theenvironmental accounts, we are also working to
improve safety through ongoing investment in improv100 million yen

Accumulated amount

250
200
150
100
50
0
90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

Site Reports

In the area of atmospheric pollution, a decrease inSOx emissions has been achieved by switching theheavy oil used to fire the boiler at Tokuyama Plant toa low-sulfur fuel.
Waste water COD (chemical oxygen demand) has
also been reduced significantly due to upgrades to thecapacity of the aeration tanks at Tokuyama Plant andthe shutdown of PVC production at Takaoka Plant.
The total volume of waste ultimately disposed of in
landfill has been reduced significantly by better sorting and by encouraging measures such as incinerationof sludge.

ZEON
Affiliated Group
Corporation Companies
1,098.4
1,163.9
93.6
85.0
0.0
11.0

Environmental
activities

ZEON Corporation

2,979.6
2,108.7
198.6
672.3
78.0
82.9
1,758.3
72.1
48.4
5,019.4

Economic Effects Associated with Environmental Preservation Measures (million yen)
Description of effects
Benefits of reclaiming material and utilization as fuel
Cost reduction through energy savings
Reduction of industrial waste processing costs
Cost reduction through waste-elimination and recovery
and reuse of solvents and catalysts
Total

Investment AmountItem
Total investment amount within applicable period
Total research and development costs within applicable period

277.6
165.7
66.7
45.2
75.8
6.5
196.1
0.3
0.0
556.2

products such as empty drums and other containers.
One energy saving measure is that ZEON pays special
attention to thermal recovery in its energy-intensive
distillation processes.

Respect for
the individual

1. Costs within the business area
(1) Pollution prevention costs
Breakdown (2) Global environment protection costs(3) Resource recycling costs
2. Upstream and downstream costs
3. Management activity costs
4. Research and development costs
5. Social activity costs
6. Environmental damage handling costs
Total

ZEON aims to put the waste resulting from oil
by-product production and similar to beneficial
economic use through measures such as recycling or
burning. Effort is also being put into recycling metal

Engagementwith society

2008 Environment Accounting Sheet

Economic Effects

CSR atZEON Corporation

A major investment in pollution prevention during
2008 was the upgrade to the capacity of the aeration
tanks at the Tokuyama Plant. Through introductionof aeration tubes, we have succeeded in and arecontinuing increasing dissolved nitrogen throughimproved aeration and thereby reducing total COD(chemical oxygen demand).
One example of an energy conservation measure
was investment in optimizing the operation of themonomer production equipment at Mizushima Plant
for energy reduction.
Also, ongoing improvements are made for stable

operation of the new incinerator at the Kawasaki Plant
in our industrial waste performance.

Message

Environmental Protection Costs

08

Environment and Safety Investment AmountAffiliated Group
2008 Investment Amount ZEON
(100 million yen)
Corporation Companies
Environment-related
0.3
3.2
Safety-related
0.8
15.3
Total
1.1
18.5

Total
3.5
16.1
19.6

Scope of accounts
ZEON Corporation
ZEON Head Office, R&D Center, Takaoka Plant, Kawasaki Plant, Tokuyama Plant, Mizushima Plant
Affiliated Group Companies:
Okayama Butadiene Co., Ltd., ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd., ZEON Logistical Materials Co.,
Ltd., RIMTEC Corp., ZEON Medical Inc., ZEON North Co., Ltd., ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd., ZEON
Polymix Co., Ltd. Otsu Plant and Kawagoe Plant, Optes Inc. Sano Headquarters Plant and Toyama
Plant, ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd. Ibaraki Plant
Period Covered
April 1, 2007 to March 31, 200832

Environmental activities

Environment and Safety in Logistics

Site Activities

ZEON works to ensure safety and reduce the burden placed on theenvironment by its distribution and logistics activities.

Logistics Safety

Environmental Countermeasures
for Logistics
Improving transport energy efficiency

The purpose of the program is to go back to the basics of "monozukuri" to establish innovative production systems, ensure that processes operate reliably, take a comprehensive
approach to achieving 100% yield, and improve "workplace strength".

(2) Details of activity

Yellow Card

uses more energy-efficient rail transportation. The
proportion of product distributed as freight (measured
in ton-kilometers) has increased from 8.0% in 2007 to
9.7% in 2008.

Environment and Safety Training
Safety training by past plant managers"Production Manager Training" and "Foreman
Training" programs for plant staff with front-line
responsibility for safety management were jointly
organized by the Human Resource Department andEnvironmental & Safety Affairs Department.
The training has covered environmental and safety
laws, classroom work on basic safety, and education
to improve safety awareness. Also, training is
conducted annually for newly appointed line
managers and environmental and safety managers
and this training was held once during 2008.

A trial using past plant managers with extensive
knowledge and experience to provide safety training
for employees that started in 2003 has been continued.
This training involves group lessons for all plant
employees. In 2008, this course studied a serious
accident that occurred during construction work
to improve awareness of the safety considerations
required during design and provided an opportunity toreinforce details about safety management standards
for non-routine work and related topics.

Production innovation process at Mizushima Plant
Make visible

ChangeDiscontinue•Supply chain•Improvement of production, sales, and distribution•Overall plant optimization•Monitoring support function •Decision support function •Operation support function
IPC completion••Core(materials) area •Specialty area
•Development of intelligent manufacturing systems•Conversion of technical know-how into intellectual property•Configuration of a standardized LAN

Optimization
Standardization

Training course using accident case study•Operational standardization•Eradicate waste and loss by reviewing all activities•Review specialist maintenance, self-maintenance, review shift and maintenance work
Reduce field work •Fundamental organizational issues •Problem reduction
Measures that are ongoing•Stabilization•3S (my tools, my plant) activities •Operators who are strong on fundamental principles. rather than transient
2006

33

2007

2008

2009

2010
Copright: Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd.

34

Site Reports

This system supports decision making by operators by supplying information that has beenprocessed to the required level to the people who require it, when they require it. Chemicalplants change on a daily basis and the system needs to keep up to date. Problems have their
origins in changes and a program of continuous improvement has been adopted whereby thesystem is kept in good condition by identifying the causes of these problems and taking countermeasures before they happen.
Following on from Mizushima Plant, the Tokuyama, Takaoka and Kawasaki plants have also
started production innovation programs.

Environmental
activities

Manager and supervisor training

Respect for
the individual

We are working on improvements in safety management across the company through training organizedfrom head office.

The program commenced at Mizushima Plant in February 2005 with guidance from Daicel
Chemical Industries Ltd. The program's activities followed a master plan that identified theissues after first shining a light on the current situation from different perspectives to those wehave considered in the past and then comprehensively renouncing current practices. The
plan also clarified what we are aiming for and how we intend to get there.
First, all of the work at the plant for preventing production impediments that were not considered a problem in the past was defined as being the responsibility of the operators and atarget was set of halving this each year. In parallel with these reduction tasks, we aimed tokill three or four birds with one stone by steps that included improving logical reasoning andstaff communication skills and undertaking fundamental organizational measures such as
formulating consistent rules, administration practices for keeping drawings up to date, andeasy to understand plant signage.
A characteristic of chemical plants is that, unlike assembly operations, they cannot shut downwhen a problem occurs and therefore they are constantly striving to find ways to sustain
stable operation. Experienced operators put their knowledge and experience to use to makethe necessary operational judgments based on information from sensors in reaction vessels,
piping, and other pieces of equipment that provide little external indication of their status. This
operational judgment is in itself a form of knowledge that needs to be passed on to others.
The knowledge was formalized by undertaking comprehensive interviews with such staff toidentify every last detail and then subjecting this information to scientific verification. Next, thedivision of responsibilities between individuals and the organization was reviewed and standardized in a way the allows operation to be performed in a consistent manner, and this wasthen systematized to prevent a return to the old ways of doing things.
Operation started for Mizushima Plant stage one at which this intelligent production system
was introduced in April 2008.

Engagementwith society

ZEON, like other designated consigners, places aparticular focus on rationalizing the use of energy fortransportation. It has made a "modal shift" whereby
material previously transported by truck now(1) Purpose of production innovation

CSR atZEON Corporation

ZEON has instituted the “Yellow Card Management
Rules” for transport of toxic or dangerous products.
These rules require drivers to carry a yellow card
when such products are being shipped.
Annual plans are also formulated at each plant toprevent logistics accidents by conducting training
on product handling and similar topics through the
Logistics Council.

Message

Production Innovation
ProgramSite Reports
Founded: 1956
Address: 630 Ogino, Takaoka City, Toyama
Prefecture 933-8516
Tel: 0766-21-0252 Fax: 0766-21-4568

Takaoka Plant

Mizushima Plant(1)Reduction of toxic chemical emissions
Following the adoption of closed processing
systems with recovery, we have achieved
zero emissions of butadiene since 2002. We
are dedicated to the ongoing development ofenvironmental strategies including measures toreduce VOC emissions.

(2)Reduction of industrial waste(3)Reduction of atmospheric and waterpollution
ZEON takes every precaution to protect thenatural environment. In terms of "atmospheric

Achieving practical benefits for theenvironment by paying attention to
the small things!

(1)Plant visits and walking tours
We organize plant visits each year and invite local
residents and high school students. We believe thatthese visits bring greater recognition for our close
involvement with the lives of the local populationand give the participants a better feel for what
Mizushima Plant is doing about safety and theenvironment, and about what it is we produce andin what end-products it is ultimately used.
We place great importance on communication withthe community and, in addition to the plant visits,
we also organize walking tours that are followedby an imonikai (a party involving the cooking of a
special potato and meat soup).

(2)Regional volunteering
We regularly participate in volunteer cleaning
programs mainly around the Shionasu district
surrounding Mizushima Plant. This is also an
opportunity to make interesting discoveries abouta place we normally only pass through by bus or
car on our way to and from work. This is a regular
activity and one we intend to continue in the
future.
Local volunteer work(2)Reduction of industrial waste
The volume of industrial waste sent to landfill
in 2008 was significantly lower than in 2007.
In addition to the reduction that resulted from the
shutdown of PVC production, we are also working
to reduce landfill volumes by reviewing how weprocess waste that would previously have been
sent to landfill to encourage greater reuse of resources. We are working with a recycling company
to recover useful resources from waste plastic,
glass, oil, and other materials and we are planningto make systematic reductions in the future.

(3)Reduction of atmospheric and water pollution
In 2008, a reduction in production volumes over
and above those associated with the shut downof PVC production meant that both atmosphericemissions resulting from boiler operation and thetotal discharge of waste water into the environment were significantly lower. Emission of atmospheric pollutants can vary widely depending on
how well boiler operation is integrated with steam
requirements in the factory, and stable operation
is maintained by managing the plant in such a way
as to avoid sudden variations. We aim to preventthe discharge of water pollutants by maintaining
appropriate active sludge treatment conditions
to ensure the stable operation of our waste water
treatment facilities. We are also working on emergency management measures including conducting drills for responding to abnormal situations
and installing fault detection and emergency
shut down equipment to prevent the dischargeof pollutants if an abnormal situation arises.

(4)Resource and energy saving

Kensuke Mizoguchi
Logistics Section
Walking tour departs ("kaze no michi" isone of the 100 best walks)

Although energy saving efforts by everyone
involved resulted in lower energy use during
2008, the main reason was lower production

Living Together with the Local
Community(1)Cleanup activities in conjunction with local
government
Each year on May 30th, the plant joins with thelocal government to hold a "zero trash" cleanup of
the streets around the plant by removing weeds
and collecting empty cans and other litter.
This year's cleanup was the fifth time this event
has been held.

(2)Contributing to the community throughvolunteer work
A total of 264 people from ZEON Group in
Takaoka, including family members, participatedin the Himi Waterfront Cleanup which washeld on June 1 2008 and organized by volunteer
groups such as the Himi Chamber of Commerce.
Similarly, 190 people joined the Fushiki Kokubu
Waterfront Cleanup organized by the Takaoka City
Fushiki District
Beautification
Volunteer Groupon July 6 where
they all worked
up a good sweat
under the clear
blue skies.
Volunteers participating in the Fushiki
Kokubu Waterfront Cleanup

Bright, Happy, and Spirited!
The entire ZEON Group in
Takaoka comes together toundertake environmental andsafety activities under the
motto "achieving no accidents,
no disasters, and no pollution!"

Yasuo Kawaguchi,
Junko Matsuda
Environment and Safety Unit

36

Site Reports

At Mizushima Plant, we make a habit of everythingfrom the obvious through to small initiatives, including
shutting down our computers when we finish for the
day and turning off the office lights when we go out forlunch. Turning off the lights for 50 minutes during ourlunch break not only reduces the burden on theenvironment, it also saves about 460 yen per month.
Even new employees like myself want to be actively
involved in these measuresand keep doing things that
help both the plant and theenvironment.

Living Together with the Local
Community

Although in the past we have achieved the voluntary targets set by the PVC industry association
through emissions reductions work that included
the adoption of closed process methods andequipment upgrades for dealing with emissionsof un-reacted monomer during PVC production,
the shutdown of PVC production in March 2008means that emissions of un-reacted monomer
are no longer an issue. Meanwhile, work on emissions reductions continues elsewhere and we areconducting an ongoing technical investigation
into further reducing emissions of the organic
solvents used in other manufacturing processes.

volumes. As a result, the unit energy consumption
increased. Although unit energy consumption depends on production volume, we are working to
get everyone to apply their collective knowledge
in the area of energy conservation in orderto make further reductions and become anenergy-efficient plant by operating efficiently
with the minimum energy use and by rigorous
day-to-day operational management and anawareness of the need for incremental savings.

Environmental
activities

The facility is jointly owned by ten companies
from the industrial complex.

Although we made significant investment inenergy conservation, our results for unit energy
consumption were 93% of the 1990 level in2007 and 96% in 2008. The cause was low plantutilization resulting from the sudden deteriorationin economic conditions that occurred in 2008.

(1)Reduction of toxic chemical emissions

Respect for
the individual*1 A combined waste processing facility that handles bothordinary waste from the Kurashiki municipality and industrial
waste from the Mizushima industrial complex.

(4)Resource and energy saving

Environment and Safety Activities

Engagementwith society

ZEON is one of the investors in Mizushima
Ecoworks(*1), a waste processing facility basedon resource recycling that started operation in2005. Since then, the volume of waste ultimately
disposed of in landfill has been dramaticallyreduced from 1,032 tons in 2004 to only 19.3 tons
in 2008.
Since last year, we have also worked on measures
for recycling or utilization as fuel of waste plastics
which have been disposed of by burning in
manufacturing processes so far, and the measuresare expected to be established.
We are continuing with 3R (reduce, reuse andrecycle) initiatives in 2009 with a target of 10 tonsof less of waste ultimately disposed of in landfill.

management", this consists of making regularmeasurements at designated locations andmeasuring soot levels. For "water quality
management", it involves daily monitoring, water
quality measurement, and periodic analysis of
all the constituents in water. We will continue toundertake measures aimed at reducing the burden
on the natural environment.

Yoshio Umezawa
Corporate Officer
Plant Manager, Takaoka Plant

CSR atZEON Corporation

Environment and Safety Activities

Toru Nishijima
Corporate Officer
Plant Manager, Mizushima Plant

Takaoka Plant was established in 1956 to produce PVC. It began the
production of a specialty synthetic rubber called hydrogenated nitrile
rubber in 1983. After that, it began its foray into new areas and is
expanding into the fields of medical products, environmentally friendly
next-generation fluorine solvents that do not affect the ozone layer, andcomponent fabrication, particularly optical component applications.
Although production of its original product, PVC, shut down in March
2008, the plant has already carved out a new role for itself. This includes
plans for expansion into new areas and the plant is enthusiastic about its
transformation into an up-and-coming future-oriented plant.

Message

Mizushima Plant is ZEON's flagship site and represents the core of our
in-house technology which is unrivaled by our competitors. It wasestablished in 1968 as a part of the Mizushima Industrial Zone inKurashiki City. Starting with the technology for our butadiene extraction
facilities which has been licensed for use at 47 plants in 19 countries
around the world, the plant works closely with our many customers tomeet their diverse requirements with products derived from our "C5
Fraction Total Use Business" which include optical material resins (used in
LCD displays, optical disks, camera lenses, CD pickups and elsewhere),aromatic chemicals (including jasmonic and green note chemicals), andpetroleum resins (including binder for traffic paint and adhesive tape).

35

Site Report
CSR Report

Founded: 1956
Address: 630 Ogino, Takaoka City, Toyama
Prefecture 933-8516
Tel: 0766-21-0252 Fax: 0766-21-4568

Site Reports

Kawasaki Plant

Environment and Safety Activities(2)Reduction of industrial waste

Living Together with the Local
Community(1)With the aim of being a plant that is rooted in thelocal community, we conduct cleanups of the areaaround the plant as part of our program of beautification work. In 2008, these were conducted incooperation with neighboring companies.

37(2)Reduction of industrial waste
We have established plans for reducing the volume
of waste disposed of in landfill and are making
improvements year by year.
For the future, we have formulated a zero emissions plan that aims to reduce landfill disposal to
one ton or less and will expand activities.

(3)Reduction of atmospheric and water pollution
Investment in environmental enhancements to ourboiler has succeeded in reliably reducing SOx andNOx emissions.
We are planning further improvements and will
strengthen management to ensure that these lowlevels are maintained in the future.
Improvements in waste water treatment andelsewhere have seen a year-by-year reduction in
COD and total nitrogen emissions. We completed
an upgrade of our waste water treatment equipment in February 2008 and expect to be able to
make further reductions in emissions in the future.

Living Together with the Local
Community(2)Higashi-gawa river cleanup campaign
A total of 67 people participated in the 2008 cleanup campaign.
An annual cleanup is held for the Higashi-gawariver that runs past the plant. The river clean-up(which involves 400 to 500 people) is organized by
the local government and ZEON has been volunteering its help for the last four years. Much sweat
has gone into working alongside local residents totidy up the river. Many thanks were received fromthe local residents which helped refresh the volunteers. Even the river's carp were able to swim
upstream with added vim.

Volunteers help with Higashi-gawa river cleanup(1)Waraku Odori (Japanese dance)

Already seven months
have passed since I took
over responsibility for the
Administration
Group.
The factory is locatednear a residential area. I
intend to continue doing
my best to deepen
interaction with the local
community and gain theirtrust through safe andreliable operation.

Cleanup in the area around the factory(2)Twice a year, we carry out emergency drills in cooperation with public fire fighting and other emergency services to practice dealing with accidents
and injuries. During 2008, we also assisted in the
training of emergency response personnel by
allowing the elite squad of the Kawasaki Fire
Department to use a building planned for demolition as a training site.

Scene from dance festival

Site Reports

Aiming to be an urban plant that is
kind to the environment

Group Leader
Environment Improvement Group
Quality Engineering Section

Equipment to burn waste gas produced by theplant has been installed as a means of significantly
reducing emissions of toxic substances to theatmosphere. The plant is currently working
earnestly on further reduction measures with theaim of minimizing emissions.

features stalls run by plant staff along with goldfish
scooping and dancing. Everyone from kindergarten children to grandparents enjoyed dancing
around the platform and spending some fun times
with neighborhood residents.

Japanese dance has become a regular feature at
the Tokuyama Plant and more than 3,000 people
gathered at the 2008 event, the highest number
ever.
The event is an opportunity for plant employees
and their families to mix with local residents andWe completed installation of a new incinerator in
May 2007 and are working to maintain reliable
operation to reduce atmospheric pollution. As aWith global warming coming to be recognized as a newenvironmental problem, we are doing everything we
can to conserve energy and reduce emissions ofgreenhouse gases, while at the sametime we are working to make ourselves
into an urban plant that is kind to theenvironment in order to achieve ouraim of zero emissions by reducing
emissions of toxic chemicals.

(1)Reduction of toxic chemical emissions

Hiroshi Asahina
Corporate Officer
Plant Manager, Tokuyama Plant

Environmental
activities(3)Reduction of atmospheric and water pollution

Although we have been working hard to meet ourtarget of reducing the average unit energy
consumption rate for the 2008 to 2012 period to
87% of the 1990 level or better, unit energy
consumption deteriorated during 2008 due to thelarge fall in production volume. Improvements inunit energy consumption are anticipated for 2009
and 2010, however, thanks to the full-scale operation of new refrigeration equipment installed in2008 and the purchase of steam from a highly
efficient external source. In addition, we intend to
draw on the know-how of all plant employees towork towards achieving our goal.

Environment and Safety Activities

Tokuyama Plant

Respect for
the individual

The plant is working to reduce the volume ofindustrial waste by sorting waste for collection
and by improving reuse of resources (recycling
and heat recovery). Through a range of measuresthat included more recycling and processing ofsludge and greater use of sorting to separate out
glass, ceramics and waste plastic, the volume ofwaste sent to landfill in 2008 was reduced from 400
tons to 120 tons. We intend to continue our efforts
to reduce industrial waste through rigorous
sorting of waste and by encouraging morerecycling and processing of sludge and disposal in
our own new incinerator.

(4)Resource and energy saving

Tokuyama Plant started operations in 1965. The plant produces butadiene using the“ZEON Process of Butadiene” (GPB), an extraction distillation technology
developed by ZEON. The butadiene is used as a raw material in the manufacture ofsynthetic rubber and synthetic latex that is then sold on the global market. The plant
was the first in the world to produce polymerized toner commercially and has
successfully expanded production.
Given our close proximity to residential areas, we place considerable importance on
maintaining a dialogue with the local community and the entire workforce iscommitted to making Tokuyama Plant an environmentally friendly factory that istrusted by the community for its stable, safe and reliable operation.

Engagementwith society

Kawasaki Plant is introducing new equipment inan effort to reduce emissions of butadiene andacrylonitrile, the main raw materials in synthetic
rubber and synthetic latex. Butadiene processing
volumes were increased through full-scale operation of a catalytic combustor installed in 2004 andthe adoption of closed production processes.
Emissions in 2008 reduced from 4.5 tons to 3.1
tons.
Full operation of a new acrylonitrile recovery
process commenced in 2005 and we have madefurther improvements in recovery system utilization. Emissions in 2008 reduced from 20 tons to
13.5 tons. We aim to achieve even greater reductions in emissions of both butadiene and acrylonitrile through ongoing technical improvements.

result, we have made good progress in reducing
emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide,soot and other pollutants.
To reduce water pollution, we have been studying
how to operate the new waste water treatment
tanks we added in 2006. As a result, we succeeded
in improving the total nitrogen removal rate from
30% to more than 50% in 2007 and 65% in 2008. Our
aim is to optimize our operating practices further
to maintain and improve this removal rate.

Tokuyama Plant

CSR atZEON Corporation(1)Reduction of toxic chemical emissions

Yoshiyuki
MitsuhiraCorporate Officer
Plant Manager, Kawasaki Plant

Founded: 1965
Address: 2-1 Nachi, Shunan City, Yamaguchi
Prefecture 745-0023
Tel: 0834-21-8501 Fax: 0834-21-8793

Message

Mizushima Plant is ZEON's flagship site and represents the core of our in-house
technology which is unrivaled by our competitors. It was established in 1968 as apart of the Mizushima Industrial Zone in Kurashiki City. Starting with thetechnology for our butadiene extraction facilities which has been licensed for use
at 47 plants in 19 countries around the world, the plant works closely with ourmany customers to meet their diverse requirements with products derived fromour "C5 Fraction Total Use Business" which include optical material resins (usedin LCD displays, optical disks, camera lenses, CD pickups and elsewhere),aromatic chemicals (including jasmonic and green note chemicals), andpetroleum resins (including binder for traffic paint and adhesive tape).

Mitsuru Sugawara

Site Report
CSR Report

Founded: 1959
Address: 1-2-1 Yako, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City,
Kanagawa Prefecture 210-8507
Tel: 044-276-3700 Fax: 044-276-3720

Mitsuo Takeyasu
Administration Group Leader
Administration and
Human Resources Section38

Site Reports
Founded: 1959
Address: 1-2-1 Yako, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki City,
Kanagawa Prefecture 210-8507
Tel: 044-276-3721 Fax: 044-276-3720

R&D Center

Activities at AffiliatedGroup Companies

The R&D Center undertakes research and technology development
for ZEON Corporation. The Center's research work takes account ofregulatory considerations from the earliest stages and, along withdesigning in product quality from the research stage, the center also
develops production technology that takes account of safety and theenvironment, ensures the smooth introduction of new products inthe production plants, and performs research and development
work that delivers customer satisfaction.
No. 10 Building

Jun Hasegawa
Director and Corporate Officer
General Manager, R&D Center

Environment and Safety Activity(1) Role of NPS Promotion Office

4

35
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30
25

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20
15

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10

0

0
99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

"Steadily", "honestly", "rigorously"
Achieving "innovation and improvement" by "tirelessly taking up the challengeof market opportunities".

Lost time incident
Non-lost-time incident

10
8
6
4

0
99

00

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

Site Reports

The R&D Center is responsible for development of new products andtechnologies and, in performing this work, we incorporate safety and theenvironmental considerations from the earliest stages of our research. We also
undertake environment and safety activities that relate to our research
environment and the safety of the people who work at the R&D Center. One
distinctive example of these activities is the safety inspections we carry out whenplanning a new experiment. These inspections look not only at product quality
but also consider factors such as raw materials, products, waste, regulatory
matters, and the environment for the experiment.
As a consequence of these activities, we have now gone
Takehiro Oki
for five consecutive years without any accidents or injuries.
Environment andWe intend to continue conducting our research and our
Safety Unit
environmental and safety activities in a way that makes
avoiding accidents and injuries a matter of course.

011) Monthly guidance meetings
Facilitators visit group companies and work with the departments responsible
for managing these improvement activities at each company to provide guidance based on actual local conditions and support human resource development through practical measures.
2) Autonomous cross-company study groups
ZEON Group operates a revolving process whereby each group company
selects an improvement topic in turn and selected personnel from different
companies are brought together to work on that topic for a short period of time.
The NPS Promotion Office directs live training and exercises through practical
workplace improvement activities and having the improvement team participants learn from each other.
3) First-principles diagnosis using 5S and 3Tei
These sessions are conducted twice yearly to create an environment thatfacilitates the performing of routine work.
The NPS Promotion Office provides guidance to these sessions to consider
not only safety but also the flow of materials and movement of workers so as
to make visible the way work is performed or any waste in the operation of theplant.
The Office also helps group companies learn from each other by disseminating case studies of actual improvements.

Environmental
activities

2(3) Details of activity

Respect for
the individual

Trend of workplace injury Occurrence

12

Five consecutive years without accidents or injuries

39(2) Catchphrases
Engagementwith society

The R&D Center has achieved five consecutive years
without accidents or injuries (no lost-time accidents)
by utilizing the safety PDCA cycle in a top-down way
to nip potential dangers and hazards in the bud
through actions that include disseminating analysis ofincident case studies across the organization throughthe Health and Safety Committee and proactive safetymeasures such as risk assessment and prediction ofpotential hazards or near-miss incidents.

40

5

Number of incidents

Five consecutive years without
accidents or injuries

Number of inspections
Number of incidents

5

Number of incidents

The following introduce some of the distinctive
activities undertaken to implement the 2008 Environment and Safety Activity Policy.
Safety inspections for new experiments
Before commencing new research topics or installing new research equipment, the research department submits details of the planned research sothat the safety and supervisory departments canjointly check for compliance with relevant laws
and regulations and ensure the safety of the chemical substances and that appropriate resources areallocated so that the research or technical development work can get under way safely and quickly.

45

Number of inspections(2)Environment and safety activities

Trend of safety
inspections for
new experiments

50

The NPS (New Product System) Promotion Office aims to create an improvement culture at ZEON Group companies by:
1) Establishing practices and processes for identifying improvement needs formarketable ideas.
2) Supporting improvement activities at each company by taking responsibility
for nurturing human resources capable of improvement through practicalmeasures.

CSR atZEON Corporation(1)2008 Environment and Safety Activity
Policy1. Establish safe and stable production technology
2. Encourage proactive safety measures and eliminate accidents and injuries
3. Take a rigorous approach to safety managementof chemical substances and comply with relevant
legal obligations
4. Proceed steadily with research and development
on environment improvements

Message

Improvement Activities*5S: Seiri (neatness), Seiton (order), Seisou (cleanliness), Seiketsu (hygiene), andShitsuke (discipline)*3Tei: Teii (fixed orientation), Teihin (fixed product), Teiryo (fixed quantity)

40

Group Affiliate Reports

CSR Report

Yamaguchi plant

ZEON Medical Co., Ltd.

Environment and Safety Activities

Kei ItoPresident

Company Profile
Name
ZEON Medical Co., Ltd.
EstablishedMay 1, 1989
Capital
452 million yen (as of end March 2009)
No. of Employees 108
Head office

NPS activities
Locations
Main business

2-4-1 Shiba Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo
105-0011(7th Floor, Shiba Park Building B)
Tel: 03-3578-7727 Fax: 03-3578-7751
Takaoka Plant
Catheters for the circulatory and digestivesystems

day-to-day work through adherence to these principles
in a way that also leads to personal growth.
This year, NPS activities have been extended beyond
the plant and have been initiated in development andadministration departments also.

Corporate governanceNew thermal conductive sheet improves
recycling process
Our product 'TIMF Sheet'(Thermal conductive sheet)is used for solution of heatproblem of electric devices.
Last year, we succeeded indeveloping new productthat is useful for improving
recycling process of electric
devices.
Customer put a high value
on our new product.
TIMF Sheet'(Thermal conductive
sheet)

STEC® Aluminum frame
type (Light Container)

We have developed a new
type of STEC that used aluminum frame and issignificantly lighter than the previous steel frame, forretaining similar strength.
The new product helps customers to reduce workloads and to improve work efficiency because it is
10kg lighter than our existing light type, STEC® NL.
®

Ibaraki plantCompany Profile
Name
ZEON KASEI CO.,Lｔｄ．
Established
October 1, 1981
Capital462.55 million yen
No. of Employees 92（Ibaraki ZEON Kasei Co.,Ltd.*:84)
Head office

Locations
Main business

1-6-2 Marunouchi,Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo
100-0005(Shin Marunouchi Center
Building)
TEL:03-5208-5111 FAX:03-5208-5290
Ibaraki Plant(Ibaraki ZEON Kasei Co.,Ltd.)
Yamagughi Plant, Osaka Office.
Plastic compounds, Packing materials,
Housing materials, Films, Thermal
conductive materials,Deodoraizer, andLogisitic materials(STEC®).

*Ibaraki ZEON Kasei Co.,Ltd. is wholly owned subsidiary of ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd.
and is a production operating for ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd.

Activities with the Local Community
Ibaraki Plant disaster training
The Ibaraki plant held a disaster training on October27, 2009. in cooperation with the Bando Fire Station.
Fire drill had been done by good team work.

Respect for
the individualAs part of a program amongst all companies in the
ZEON group to implement internal controls, ZEON
Medical has continued to formulate and review thestandards and rules that cover its basic business activities.

Environment and Safety Activities
and Related Topics

Yoshiro Ogura
President

Engagementwith society

In November 2007, Takaoka Plant became a full
member of the NPS (New Product System) Association derived from Toyota production methods.
Instruction meetings are held in the plant each monthto always improve production practices based on theprinciple of "improving the efficiency of operation" by"eliminating all waste".
The three basic principles of improvement through
NPS are: (1) Define standards (ways of distinguishing
between what is right and wrong), (2) Organize theflow (coordinate timings), and (3) Establish standard
procedures (standardize work practices). The aim ofthese principles is to reach the "desired outcome". The
NPS concept is to make improvements by making
problems visible and applying the PDCA (plan-docheck-act) cycle relentlessly to all processes as part of

Takaoka Plant and laboratory

In 1981,
Zeon Kasei Co.,Ltd. was established based on
Manufactured Products Division of Zeon. The company, as aleading company in the fields of manufactured products within Zeongroup,has grown with businesses that include plastic compounds,
packing materials, housing materials, films, thermal conductive
materials and deodorizer. The company acquired Zeon Logistical
Materials Co.,Ltd. which manufacture and sale STEC® returnable
and foldable container in July 2009.
Zeon Kasei intends to contribute to society with Ecology and Amenity
as its keywords.

CSR atZEON Corporation

Energy conservation trend charts are used to track
monthly electricity usage at Takaoka Plant as part ofefforts to save energy. The volume of waste from theplant is also tracked by month to reduce the amountproduced.

ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd.

Message

ZEON Medical Co., Ltd. was established to take over the medical
business of ZEON in 1989 and in the following year completed a
production plant at Takaoka City in Toyama Prefecture. Since then,the company has supported medical facilities in Japan as adomestic manufacturer, primarily of products for the circulatory anddigestive systems. The company combines development,
manufacturing and sales to ensure it can deliver safe andhigh-quality products that can be used with confidence by thedoctors, technicians and nurses who provide medical care topreserve the health of their patients.

Reducing the burden on the environment

Site Report

Environmental
activities

STEC® Aluminum frame type

Ibaraki Plant disaster training
NPS instruction meeting (1)Instruction meeting attended by part leader

Working together asa single company

We have adopted as the code of action,“Let’s transform the achievement ofquality and our workplace strength”
And, we have adopted as thequality objective, "Prevent
using, producing or
dispatching defective
parts".

Everyone at ZEON Medical
works together as a single
company to supply medical
equipment that satisfies ourcustomers.

Noriyuki Ichige

Human Resources andAdministration Group
Business Planning Department

41

NPS instruction meeting (2)Tatsuo Iwamoto
Plant manager,
Yamaguch Plant

Promote industrial safty and health act
with faith
We will promote industrial safty and health act
with faith through all stages of
the improvement of equipment
or the change of production
process, for achieving “Zero
Accident” reflecting on theworks’ accident occurred in
2008.

Kazutoshi Douke

Manager, Environment and Safety Unit
Ibaraki ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd.

42

Site Reports

Let’s transform the achievement ofquality and our workplace strengthGroup Affiliate Reports

CSR Report

ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd.

Otsu Plant

Optes Inc. was established as a strategic processor of a cycloolefin
polymer that had been developed by ZEON. The company's ZEONOR
film® and ZEONOR® diffusion panels are derived from advanced
technology and are highly regarded in the optics industry. The company
was taken over by ZEON Corporation in January 2009 with the aim ofestablishing an integrated product development organization that canhandle everything from resin development through to processing andforming. In addition to continuing its current operations, the company willtake up a role as a contract manufacturer for ZEON.

Makoto Yamamoto
President

43

Name
ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd.
Established
April 7, 1967
Capital
240 million yen
No. of Employees 95
Head office941-1 Kamiigusa, Kawajima-machi,
Hikigun, Saitama Prefecture 350-0152
Tel: 049-297-0715 Fax: 049-297-8451

Locations

Kawagoe Plant, Otsu Plant

Main business

Synthetic rubber CM (semi-finishedrubbers supplied to manufacturers of autoparts and other molded and processedrubber products), polymer heating

Otsu Plant: Living Together with the
Local Community
Because Otsu Plant is located near Lake Biwa, thelargest lake in Japan, it operates in accordance withthe environmental protection ordinances set by Shiga
Prefecture and Otsu City. This section introducessome of the activities that Otsu Plant undertakes tohelp it coexist with the local community.
In order for a company to achieve ongoing development, it must be trusted by the local community. This
year, Otsu Plant is actively expanding its activities
with “active contribution to society outside thelocation” a top priority issue.
In a new initiative for
Otsu Plant, three
students from thelocal technical highschool were invited totake up an internshipin 2008 so that they
could gain on-siteexperience of theplant.
Weeding
We received much gratitude from local residents forour involvement in volunteer activities such as
cleanup programs for Lake Biwa and thearea around the plant and the local
cemetery.
I am proud to work at a place that continues
to engage in activities involving the local
community and that gives me the feelingof being part of a company that isrecognized as
Akihiko Kitamura
being rooted
CFin the local Production Section, Otsu Plant
community.

Management creed

Shinichi
Hirakawa
President"To make an extensive contribution
to the world by producing distinctive
products that are friendly to theenvironment
using
distinctive
technology that is not copied from
elsewhere and that our rivals cannot
imitate"Environment and Safety Activities
Toyama Plant uses the 4R-KY methodology for carrying out hazard identification exercises to identify,
understand, and resolve the hazards that are latent in
our workplace and work activities. The plant achieved
a commendable second place at the "First All-ZEON
KY Conference" held on October 31 2008.
The plant intends to work toward achieving zeroaccidents, zero injuries, and 100% yield, with anemphasis on safety, environment and quality.

Living Together with the Local
Community

Company Profile
Name
Optes Incorporated
Established
January 1, 2009
Capital10 million yen
No. of Employees 438
Head office

1-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-8246 (Shin Marunouchi Center
Building)
Tel: 03-3216-2370 Fax: 03-3216-1777

Locations

Sano Plant, Toyama Plant (Takaoka and Himi)

Main business

ZEONOR film®, ZEONOR® diffusion
panels for LCD backlights, large asphericmirrors, parts for medical diagnostic
systems such as blood tester cells,
prisms, microlenses, and other opticalcomponents

Consideration for the Environment
The plant at the Himi Production Division establishedin 2007 was constructed based on consideration for
global warming and environmental protection from thedesign phase. Wind power is used to supply some ofthe plant's electricity. The wind turbine was installed
to remind all employees of the importance of energy.

Participation in volunteer cleanup program
for the local Himi waterfront (June)
110 employees participated in a volunteer cleanup
program for the local Himi waterfront.
Encouraged by words of thanks from the Himi City
Mayor, we intend to continue building good relationships with the local community.

Himi Production Division at Toyama Plant

Volunteer cleanup program

Plant visits
We organize plant visits with the aim of being an open
plant. We received visits from a wide range of groups
during 2008, ranging from high school and university
students through to people from the city and Chamberof Commerce.

The ZEONOR film® produced by my section helps
reduce power consumption in thin-panel televisions.
The production process also helps
make thin-panel televisions use lesselectric power. We also strive to
reduce resource and energy use in
the production process to makeourselves an environmentallyfriendly plant.

Tetsuya Sakaguchi

Manager, No.2 Film Group
Film Production Section, Toyama Plant

44

Site Reports

Manager,
Production Section, Kawagoe Plant"Applying our sincerity, ingenuity
and enthusiasm to make Optes aninternational company in which
every employee can take pride"

Environmental
activities

Yoshiaki Tajima

Company motto

Company Profile

Respect for
the individual

We are convinced that we can reduce claims andprocess problems by making 3S and 3Tei part of ourstandard practice. This approach also
has the benefit of reducing the timerequired to perform stocktaking at theend of each period.
We intend to continue reducing
claims and process problems throughrigorous process management.

Sano Plant

Kawagoe Plant

Engagementwith society

Kawagoe Plant undertakes 3S and 3Tei activities
aimed at reducing process problems and customer
claims, reducing the time required for stocktaking,and improving performance on inventory levels.
Based on the 2009 President's strategy of "strengthening our 3S and 3Tei activities", Kawagoe Plant is working on eliminating quality claims and process problems through 3S and 3Tei activities and by making
problems visible.
Contamination is one cause of claims and processproblems. We started by reviewing how we manage
materials storage in the belief that preventing
contaminants from entering into the production line isimportant. We established mechanisms for seeing at a
glance the location and quantity of required raw materials and ensured that we kept our storage areas clean
and tidy so that we could rely on materials being available at any time of the day.

Toyama
Plant

CSR atZEON Corporation

Kawagoe Plant: "Strengthening our
3S and 3Tei Activities"

Optes Inc.

Message

ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd. was first established as Kinki Rubber
Processing, Co., Ltd. in 1967 in order to expand into the carbon
master batch (CM) field as a part of ZEON's rubber businessdevelopment. In 1989, it merged with Higashi Rubber Processing
Co., Ltd. and changed its name to ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd.
The CM produced at ZEON Polymix is used widely, primarily in
automotive parts but also in industrial equipment, office equipment
parts, and lifestyle and leisure products.

ZEON Polymix has established a "quality and environment strategy" that covers the requirements forenvironmental and quality management systems. This
involves specific activities aimed at achieving targets
based on each year's President's strategy. The slogan
for the President's strategy in 2009 is "let's make
ZEON Polymix a high-quality company".
To turn this slogan into reality, we have undertaken
back-to-basics activities and have set ourselves
specific targets in the form of short-term businessobjectives and medium-term business objectives
respectively that have been taken up by the entire
company.
The following sections describe our short-termbusiness objective of "strengthening our 3S and 3Tei
activities", and "living together with the local community" which is one of the underlying principles of how
we conduct our business.

Site Report

Group Affiliate Reports

Site Report
CSR Report

RIMTEC Corporation

ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd. was established in 1996 to
produce fine chemical products and commenced production ofsynthetic aromatic chemicals using leaf alcohol as the main raw
material in 1997. Since 1988 the company has also been
producing liquid compounds for reaction injection molding that use
dicyclopentadiene as their main raw material. ZEON opened a
new chemical research building in April 2006 and the company
also undertakes contract research work.

RIMTEC Corporation was formed from the merger of the
RIM Division of ZEON with Teijin Metton Co., Ltd. The
company supplies the PENTAM® and METTON®
compounded fluids for reaction injection molding using
dicyclopentadiene as the main raw material.
RIMTEC Corporation plant

Ichiro Igarashi
PresidentAward for excellent plant occupational health
The company received an award for excellent plant
occupational health from the Okitama Labor
Standards Association.

Name
ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd.
Established
April 26, 1996
Capital90 million yen
No. of Employees 26

Mental Health Training

Head office3-446-13 Hachimanpara, Yonezawa City,
Yamagata Prefecture 992-1128
Tel: 0238-29-0055 Fax: 0238-29-0053

Main businessGreen note aroma chemicals produced
from leaf alcohol, intermediate organic
chemicals for pharmaceuticals andagrichemicals, and liquid compounds forreaction injection molding

Instructors from the Okitama public health center
were invited to run the company's first comprehensive
mental health training.
Various Safety Training
Safety awareness was strengthened by holding events
such as forklift driving competitions and point andname competitions.

Providing environmentally friendly molding
liquid compounds and molded products

Resin with dicyclopentadiene as its main component
combines a strength equivalent to general-purpose
engineering plastic with the high productivity of thereaction injection molding (RIM) method of
production.
Components formed from dicyclopentadiene using
RIM consist entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Thismeans they can be used as a clean source of heat
energy because the volume of dioxins produced
when they are incinerated is very low.
Also, RIM using dicyclopentadiene helps reduceenergy consumption because it eliminates theprocesses from drying to re-melting.

Environmental Topics
By utilizing the characteristics of its resins, thecompany is actively expanding into theenvironmental business.

rld

Company Profile
Name
RIMTEC Corporation
Established
August 1, 2003
Capital
490 million yen
No. of Employees 22
Head office

1-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-0005 (Shin-Marunouchi Center Building)Tel: 03‐5220‐8581 Fax: 03‐5220‐8584

Locations

Mizushima Plant

Main business

Liquid compounds for reaction injection
molding (RIM) using dicyclopentadiene as
the main raw material, and components
formed from these compounds using RIM

Living Together with the Local
Community•Hanami (flower viewing) event with employees fromaffiliated companies and their families (April)•Clean-up of roads around Takashima harbor (June)•Participation in the summer festival run by ZEON
Mizushima Plant (August)Award for excellent plant occupational healthJudging of forklift driving competition

Sponsorship of the Yonezawa Sun Lantern
Festival

Environmental
activities

Living Together with the Local
Community

Mental health training carried ourby external instructors

Participation in local cleanup campaign
We participated in a cleanup of the industrial district
organized by the Hachimanbara Business Associationand helped pick up litter.

Company employees and their families have been
participating in Yonezawa'a traditional winter Yuki
Doro (snow lantern) festival since 1999 and each year
build two snow lanterns.

Truck air deflector
The entire body ismade fromPENTAM® (lighter
weight means better
environmental
performance)

Cleaning up around harbor-side roads

Other CSR Activities

ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa processes industrial
waste from other companies. Operating a manifest
clarifies which company is responsible for the waste
and helps prevent illegal disposal. Accordingly, it isvery important to check that thewaste is processed appropriately
within the allotted time. We intend
to continue operating thissystem.

Building a snow lantern

VOC using IMC(simultaneous forming
and painting)/Lower
power consumption

Main applications for reaction injection
molded products

Site Reports•Passed regular ISO9001 audit (August)•Passed regular ISO14001 audit (August)Contributing to society throughmanifest checks

We are expanding ourbusinessintotheenvironmental sector.

Use in household fittings

Yasushi Tanaka

Hitomi Shikano

Laboratory Manager

Administration Group
Picking up litter

45

Respect for
the individual

Electric vehicler the woEngagementwith society

Company Profileoars ove

CSR atZEON Corporation

Environment and Safety Activitiess
RIMTEC

Tatsuhiko Iwamoto
President

Message

ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd.

46

Group Affiliate Reports

Site Report
CSR Report

ZEON Environmental
Materials Co., Ltd.

Tokyo Zairyo Co., Ltd.

Environmental Activities

I am proud to be helping preserve
water resources through our
johkaso business. We intend tocontinue supplying our customers
with products that contribute tosociety and are kind to theenvironment.

Purification johkaso2)We are in the process of reducing inventory to
improve cashflow (Administration Department)3)We are applying 5S/3Tei with the motto "without 5S,
we cannot be sure of safety!". (Entire company)out repairs to faulty johkaso.
Although installation of johkaso is handled bycontractors, we conduct these audits to improve staff
behavior and compliance with the johkaso laws andsafety.
•Although the johkaso assembly plant has been shut
down, we collated a manifest of the industrial waste
left behind after the shut down in accordance withthe law and had it removed. Where possible, thewaste was reused or recycled.

Living Together with the Local
Community•We joined forces with ZEON's Mizushima Plant toparticipate in a neighborhood cleanup campaign.
•Three employees participated in the Kojima Lake
Catchment Cleanup Project held each September.
•Sponsored the organizing committee for Green Day
2008 held on April 19 2008 and demonstrated a
cut-away model of a johkaso and blowers with low
CO2 emissions at the "day for considering the naturalenvironment of the Takahashi River catchment area"
run jointly by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism, Okayama Prefecture, the Prefectural
Residents Office, andvarious towns.

Takateru Matsumura

Administration Department

47

Neighborhoodcleanup campaign

Head office

1-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
100-0005 (Shin Marunouchi Center Building)Tel: 03-5219-2171 Fax: 03-5219-2201

Branches andofficesNagoya Branch, Osaka Branch, Okayama Office
Representative Office Vietnam
Representative Office
Tokyo Zairyo (U.S.A.) Inc.
Tokyo Zairyo (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and 3other offices in China
Tokyo Zairyo (Thailand) Co., Ltd. and 4other offices in South East Asia

Subsidiaries

Main business

Various chemical products

Relationship with Employees

Automotive batteries produced using recycled plastic

Encouraging Compliance with
Regulations
As a trading company that deals in chemicals, Tokyo
Zairyo has a responsibility to comply with the laws
both domestic and external that deal with these products and has strengthened its compliance systems
primarily through the activities of the Environment
and Technical Section. Particular priority was placedon the following activities during 2008.
[1]The EU's REACH Regulation on chemical
substances that came into force in June 2006
requires registration of all chemical substances andcompounds exported to the EU. Tokyo Zairyo
conducted a survey to determine which of the products it handles require registration to ensure that it
had completed pre-registration for all of these by
the deadline of November 30 2008. This involved
coordinating with customers and suppliers andconsulting on the appropriate actions to take.
[2]Tokyo Zairyo conducts ongoing employee training.
In 2008, staged courses were organized and run on
MSDS and Export Trade Control Order. Training on
the transportation and other handling of hazardous
goods was also supplied to individual departments
at the request of their managers.

In addition to promoting employee development
through internal education and external training, thecompany also encourages employees to undertake
study at their own initiative with a self-study support
policy that provides assistance for 50 to 70% of study
costs. The company also puts a lot of effort into
employee welfare
and in 2008 held abowling
tournament for the head
office region which
was organized bytheemployees
themselves.
Scene from the bowling tournament held
on November 19 2008

Although I am normally very busy ...
As well as being coordinator of the bowling
tournament, I also took part myself and enjoyed anight out eating, drinking,and bowling. I ended up
winningthewomen'ssection and even received
a wonderful prize. It was avery refreshing experience!

Reiko Fujisawa

Rubber Sales Department 3

48

Site Reports

We help preserve
natural water systems!

Main business

Name
Tokyo Zairyo Co., Ltd.
Established
December 1947
Capital227.6 million yen
No. of Employees 140

Environmental
activities

each other's vehicles

office2767-22 Aza Niihama, Shionasu, Kojima,
Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture
711-0934 (Inside ZEON’s No. 2 Mizushima Plant)
Tel: 086-470-3711 Fax: 086-470-3722
Fukushima, Yonezawa, Osaka, Wakayama, Kurashiki, Okayama, Shikoku,
Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Kagoshima

Tokyo Zairyo received ISO14001 certification on
December 1 2006 and the company has set its key
environmental goal as being the sale of environmentally friendly products.
One example of these environmentally friendly products is the reuse of plastic recycled from used automotive battery cases in the production of new battery
cases. Tokyo Zairyo helps promote automotive
recycling by acting as an intermediary between
battery manufacturers and plastics recyclers andhandles the sale of several hundred tons of recycledplastic each year.

Company Profile

Respect for
the individual•We formulate and follow annual activity plans.
•Sales staff have road safety as their top priority. We
would be very concerned if one of our staff caused or
was the victim of an accident.
We have a comprehensive manpower allocation planand carry out our sales activities in a systematic way
without being rushed.
•5S is carried out on sales staff vehicles three times ayear with employees
following a checksheet to inspect eachother's vehicles.
•Emphasis on safety,
quality and goodmanners.
We conduct internal
Performing 5S checks on
audits when we carry

Name
ZEON Environmental Materials Co., Ltd.
Established
September 1, 2004
Capital142.5 million yen (as of March 2007)
No. of Employees 25

Sales of Environmentally Friendly
Products

Engagementwith society

5S Activities for Safety and theEnvironment

Company Profile

Head office

Shuichi
Kakinuma
President

Muneki Sawa
President

CSR atZEON Corporation•To help care for the world's limited water resources,
we are contributing to protecting and improving
regional waterways by marketing and installing our
PENTAM® purification johkaso to households.
•At ZEON Environmental Materials, reading throughand discussing ZEON’s 7 Articles is a compulsory
item on the agenda at the start of each "Zenjo(general) meeting" and at the sales meetings held at
each office.
We are also proactive in checking that we are following compliance rules.
•KPS activities (we use the term "KPS activities"
instead of NPS (new product system). The topics are
as follows:
1) Application for johkaso subsidies ... We are working
on speeding up this process and eliminating rework.
(No. 1 Sales Department)

Tokyo Zairyo Co., Ltd. is a ZEON Group company with a corporate philosophy of"contributing to society as a specialist trading business founded on chemicals by supplying
unique functions and services".

Message

ZEON Environmental Materials commenced operation in September 2004 and since thenhas operated as a sales company dealing with purification johkaso and sales andinstallation of related products.
In 2008, the company worked on encouraging wider use of household johkaso that caneliminate phosphorus as part of "eutrophication improvement" for enclosed environments
such as lakes and other waterways.

Group Affiliate Reports

CSR Report

ZEON North Co., Ltd.

ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd.
Renovated head office building

Kiyoshi Hashimoto
President

Environmental Activities

Wholeheartedly! Contributing tosociety through team play!!

Hagi City, Yamaguchi City

Main business

Construction, analysis, logistics

Department

49

Administration Department

351 Ejiri, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture933- 0062
Tel: 0766-25-1111 Fax: 0766-25-1114

Main business

Plant and equipment, construction equipment, design of industrial and environmental machinery, industrial materials,
materials (synthetic resins, etc.), sales ofcivil engineering materials and petroleum,environmental measurement certification,
work environment measurement, andvarious types of measurement, analysis
and survey work

Promoting safety awarenessresidents, the logistics division is working on improving the sound of its warning alarms and ensuring
compliance with driving rules that cover things like thesudden movement, acceleration, or stopping of its
trucks and lifter cars. It is also investigating changing
the lifter cars used on the site to battery power as away of reducing CO2 emissions.

Living Together with
the Local Community
Activities to support the
local environment
Together with the ZEON
Testing the healthiness of
the indoor environment
Tokuyama Plant, employees
volunteered to be part of the clean-up campaign for
the Higashi-gawa river that runs near the plant.
Another activity that supports the local environment
was to subsidize the cost of testing school swimming
pools, bathing pools at hot springs, and household
drinking water taken from wells in eastern Yamaguchi
Prefecture. The analytical division also helped preventthe symptoms of sick house syndrome by taking
measurements of formaldehyde, toluene, and othertoxic indoor air pollutants. During 2008, 380 of thesesick house checks were performed in schools, public
housing, and other buildings. This contributes tocreating living spaces that are safe and comfortable.

Participation in the Third Neighborhood
Social Softball Tournament

Yoshie Harada Tomoe Yukari
Chiemi SachikoBusiness
Aoki
Development Sumi Tsukinoki Kataoka

Head office

Each year, ZEON Yamaguchi participates in a social
softball tournament together with nearby public agencies. The event helps deepen
relationships with the local
community and in 2009 it washeld at the Shunan softball
field on Saturday May 16 as around-robin between two
teams from the public agencies and one from ZEON.

Twice yearly, ZEON Northholds an occupational healthand safety conference withassociated companies toimprove the safety awareness of all staff who workon site. We work together
with these other companies to build a safety
culture so as to achieve ourgoal of zero accidents and Health and safety conference withassociated companies
injuries.

Environmental Topics(1)ZEON North designs, manufactures, and markets
aluminum heat retention furnaces that use environmentallyfriendlyenergy-efficientburners(regeneration burners).
The system achieves a significant reduction in CO2emissions by using a low-NOx regeneration burnerthat recovers nearly 90% of waste heat and maintaining a uniform furnace temperature by turning
combustion on and off for short periods.
(2)As a registered environmental measurement
agency under Japanese measurement law, ZEON
North is involved in survey and analysis work on
regional environmental problems (effect of toxic
substances and other pollutants).

Encouraging Compliance with
Regulations•We participated in a local beatification program
along with ZEON's Takaoka Plant.
•We participate every year in a fire fighting drillorganized by the Takaoka fire department.
•We participated as part of the ZEON Group in the"Oishi Hiki" Takaoka Castle-building Festival
celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of
Takaoka city.

Cleanup program around plant

Oishi Hiki festival

Aiming to achieve a user-friendly
workplace through full adoption of 3S
We are working actively to improve our workplaceenvironments through the promotion of the 3Ss in
keeping with the priority issue identified in the
President's policy of "working closely withaffiliated companies on 3S andtaking a rigorous approach toenvironmental and safety
activities".

Akihiro Fujita

Aluminum heat retention
furnace (front)

Aluminum heat retention
furnace (rear)

Regeneration
burner

CSR, Safety, andAdministration Department

50

Site Reports

We are working to make a contribution to society byhelping all company employees in a cheerful way with
our motto that "wholeheartedly is the way to go".

Locations

Name
ZEON North Co., Ltd.
Established
April 12, 1972
Capital
100 million yen
No. of Employees 154

Environmental
activities

To help prevent noise pollution affecting nearby

2-1 Nachi, Shunan City, Yamaguchi
Prefecture 745-0023(Inside the ZEON Tokuyama Plant site)
Tel: 0834-21-8482 Fax: 0834-21-8663

ZEON North obtained accreditation for both ISO9001
and ISO14001 in January 2007. Every year, eachdepartment formulates environmental and quality
policies along with targets based on these policies andcarries out improvement activities.
We intend to continue to maintain and strengthen ourenvironmental and quality management systems tohelp protect the environment while carrying out
engineering work and supplying products andservices that meet our customers' needs.

Company Profile

Respect for
the individual

Noise and CO2 reduction activities

Head office

ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation

Yoshio Umezawa
President

Engagementwith society

ZEON Yamaguchi's building division sorts reusable
materials such as asphalt, timber and aluminum sothat they can be recovered by designated operators.
Similarly, the analytic division returns empty reagent
bottles that were previously treated as waste to their
manufacturers for recycling.

Name
ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd.
Established
April 1, 1992
Capital50 million yen
No. of Employees 80

Environmental and Safety Activities

Machinery andcan production site

CSR atZEON Corporation

Activities aimed at recycling

Company Profile

ZEON North was established as a subsidiary of ZEON in April 1972.
In July 2003, it merged with Daisan Kosan, an affiliated company,
and the ZEON Takaoka Analysis Center, a ZEON subsidiary, toextend its operations to cover product sales, engineering, machinerysales to the aluminum industry, and environmental analysis
businesses. The company runs a distinctive business that utilizes
the technologies and personal connections built up over time, alongwith the advantages of its Hokuriku(northern) location.

Message

ZEON Yamaguchi was established in October 1992 as aregional enterprise with two divisions that handled construction
and analytical work respectively. The company contributes tosociety as part of the ZEON Group by operating three divisions,having merged our logistics department with ZEON's logistics
and shipping business based at the Tokuyama Plant site in
March 2008.

Wide range of environmental support activities forcustomers
ZEON Yamaguchi's analytic business supports theenvironmental activities of ZEON's Tokuyama Plant
by analyzing boiler waste gas and plant waste water,and by performing soil analysis for on-site building
work.
Externally, the company supports the environmental
activities of government and local businesses andhelps them reduce environmental impacts. This
includes being commissioned by national or local
government to undertake environmental monitoringof building work, including noise and vibration testing
and testing the water
qualityoflakes,
wetlands and the ocean.
The
company
also
performs analysis andmeasurement of air,odors, water, soil, noise,
vibration and otherenvironmental factors
for the business activiSea water environmental survey
ties of local companies.

Site Report

Group Affiliate Reports

Site Report

CSR Report

Zeon Chemicals L.P.

Environmental and Safety Activities

President

Name
ZEON Chemicals L.P.
Established
October 12, 1989
Capital
US$ 36,000,000
Investment Ratio 100% ZEON Corporation
No. of Employees 306

Locations

4100 Bells Lane, Louisville, Kentucky 40211,
U.S.A.
Tel: +1-502-775-7700
Fax: +1-502-775-7714
Kentucky Plant, Texas Plant, Mississippi Plant

Main business

Synthetic rubber, petrochemical products, etc.

Zeon Chemicals Europe Ltd. has held ISO 14001
since 1999 and continues to work towards reducing
its emissions to the atmosphere, the land and the sea
in line with the UK government’s IPPC Regulations.
Recent focus has been on reducing waste volume by
dewatering the waste before sending it to land fill.
The target is to reduce waste volume by more than70%.

Safety and Training

Zeon Chemicals Europe Ltd.
February 6, 1989
STG£ 23,300,000

Investment Ratio 100% ZEON Corporation
Head office

Sully, Vale of Glamorgan,
CF64 5ZE, United Kingdom
TEL:+44-1446-725400
FAX:+44-1446-747988
www.zeon.eu

Main business

Synthetic rubber

Resource and Energy Saving
Since 2008 there has been a concerted effort to reduceenergy and water usage on the plant. By recycling
water a saving of up to 25% in unit water consumption
has been realised. Steam and air leaks around theplant have been repaired during 2009. A yearly savingof over £20,000 in electricity costs has been seen by
identifying and repairing air leaks. This all goes toreduce CO2 emissions.

Training at
ZCEL

Employees of Zeon Chemicals have been working
with a local school through the Engineering Education
Scheme Wales. The students ran a project for a dust
extraction scheme for the plant. The project waspresented to judges from local Engineering Sectors
who placed the students second out of 79 teams in the‘Best appreciation of Safety’ category.

We are committed to providing our customers withquality products and solutions, while being a
responsible member of ourcommunity. While plant productivity
has increased, we have also
demonstrated a consistent recordof significant reductions in plantemissions each year throughcontinual improvement efforts andthe use of new technologies.
Kentucky Plant Polymerization
Production Manager;

Tim Kiper

51

5S – Making ZCEL Profitable
5S is being used to improve safety, the environment,
quality and productivity in order to improve theprofitability of thecompany and thewelfare of theemployees.

An employee appearing on television with grandchildren

Production Manager

James Hooper

52

Site Reports

Focus on the customer and theenvironment

Environmental
activities

Living Together with the Local
Community

Kentucky Plant

We have also been providing ongoing support for
more than 50 years to local charity organizations
and to schools and other educational institutions,
donating a total of $100,000 this year. Also, $2,900
raised by the staff and from recycling of aluminumcans and scrap metal from the plant was donated tochildren's facilities, and this year an item about thiswork was featured on a local TV program.

Name
Established
CapitalRespect for
the individual

An electronic system for authorising engineering workon the plant is being introduced. This gives a more
systematic approach to removing risks and making
sure work is done in a safe manner.
Many new training programmes have beensuccessfully established over the last few years
including training packages on the company
Intranet to help employees use their computer
more effectively. Employees are encouraged to use
computer based systems to report plant issues andunsafe practices so that they can be quickly andefficiently resolved.

Company Profile

Engagementwith society

The Kentucky Plant participates in cleanup programsfor picking up trash from surrounding streets incooperation with other neighboring chemical plants.
The plant is also actively involved with membersof the local community who live nearby in running
community cleanup programs for parks, adjacentstreets, and other locations around the factory.

Martin Davies

Environmental and Safety Activities

Thermal Oxidizer

Living Together with the Local
Community

Operations Director

Tom
Gettelfinger

Company Profile

Head office2009 is the 20th anniversary of the establishment ofZeon Chemicals Europe Ltd. The synthetic rubber
manufacturing plant was purchased from BP Chemicals
in 1989 and is Zeon’s only manufacturing site inEurope. Nitrile rubber and ZeoforteTM are produced at
the plant in South Wales.

CSR atZEON Corporation* STAR Program:
Abbreviation of Strategic
Toxic Air Reduction,a plan for reducing
pollution(United Kingdom)

MessageZeon Chemicals L.P. was established in 1989 from the purchase of the BF Goodrich
Elastomers Division combined with the new Zeon HNBR facility in Pasadena Texas. ZCLP
manufactures Nipol® NBR, HyTemp® AR(Acrylic Rubber), Zetpol®(HNBR), Hydrin®, andZeotherm® polymers in North America. ZCLP also provides sales and market development
support in North America for the Cyclo-olefin polymers, Styrene Isoprene Block Polymer,
Reaction Injection Molding, and Electronic materials. ZCLP also includes Zeon Brazil, awholly owned subsidiary serving South America. ZCLP has grown steadily since 1989 andhas renewed the growth effort through the implementation of our Zeon Innovation Process(ZIP) to drive new product development and new applications for Zeon polymers.

The Louisville district in Kentucky has adopted theSTAR Program* which has some of the most stringent
standards of any regime in America for preventing
atmospheric pollution. Zeon's Kentucky Plant has
spent the last few years striving in a systematic way to
reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere,
and in doing so has achieved considerable reductions.
In the final stages ofthis work, the plant has
installed a new typeof thermal oxidizer
that is able to reuse its
waste heat efficiently inthe emissions control
system of the powderedresin dryer. This will
reduce emissions ofacrylonitrile, butadiene
and styrene.

Zeon Chemicals Europe Ltd.

(USA)

Group Affiliate Reports

Site Report
CSR Report

Zeon Chemicals Thailand Co., Ltd.

Zeon Advanced Polymix Co., Ltd.

Zeon Chemicals (Thailand) produces Quintone® petroleum
resin for use in adhesives and is the ZEON Group's only
petrochemical production site in Southeast Asia. The
company's products are used not only in Thailand but are also
exported around the world to Asia, the Near and Middle East,
Europe, America, and elsewhere.

Zeon Advanced Polymix is part of ZEON's global rubber
business and its primary business is the supply of carbon
master batch for use in automotive parts from its base in
Thailand.

(Thailand)

999 Days without lost working day

Yutaka IsozakiCompany Profile
Name
Established
CapitalInvestment Ratio

Zeon Chemicals Thailand Co., Ltd.
May 9, 1996
BHT 350,000,000
73.9% ZEON Corporation

Head office

3 Tambol Huaypong, Soi G-14
Pakorn-Songkhororat Road,
Amphur Muang, Rayong 21150,Thailand
Tel: +66-3-868-5973 ~ 5
Fax: +66-3-868-5972

Main businessPetroleum resin

community, we joined the project with neighborcompanies to donate supplies to students in many
schools.
Besides that, we’ve been doing various CSR activities
such as blood donation every 3 months, and a memberof Safety & Environmental Club in the industrial estatefor promoting safety and environmental program toprotect any pollutant effect from industries that may
occur to public or environment.

Living together with
the Local Community

Company Profile•With the aim of taking an active role in thecommunity, we made donations of 47,900 baht
during 2008 including donations and supply of oldcomputers to local government, and presentation of
stationery to neighboring elementary schools.

Name
Established
CapitalInvestment Ratio

Zeon Advanced Polymix Co., Ltd.
April 26, 1995
BHT 100,000,000
40% ZEON Corporation

Head office111/2 SOI NIKOM 13, MOO 2
T.Makhamkhoo, Nikompattana
Sub-District, Rayong 21180, Thailand
Tel: +66-3-889-3565
Fax: +66-3-889-3569

Main business

Carbon master batch rubber

Stationery
donations•We planted ten trees at a neighboring elementary
school to mark National Children's Day held on thefirst Saturday of January.
No. 2 Plant constructed in 2007

Health Management

Emergency drill•To help keep our employees healthy, we holdaerobics training twice a week before work starts
under the direction of a company instructor.

Environmental
activities

Tree planting

Safety board contest incelebration’s day

CSR Activities
For participation and living together with local
Growth tree project

Safety &Environment are
our Life & Home
Industrial development shouldgrow together with safe
working, environment, andcommunity. Cause of safety
and environment are our lifeand home.

Warisa Siripratoom

Health & Safety Manager•A Safety Week was held during November.
To improve awareness of safety, we invited local
government, police, and neighboring companies to apresentation on safety and the environment at which
employees from each section ran booths.

Aerobics training

We have formed a new CSD(Customer Service Department).
The new department
provides users with apoint of contact for productquality issues.

Naruemon (right)
Jintana (left)

Blood donation

53

54

Site Reports

Living together with
the Local Community

SafetyAdopt-A-School

Respect for
the individual

On May 2009, we reached one of our important target“999 days without lost working day” that means we’dnever had serious patient absence from accidental inprocess for about 3 years. (“9” is a lucky number inThailand.)Managing Director

Yutaka Isozaki

Engagementwith society

As the result of best cooperation and effort of management and employees since November 2007, we established two quality management systems, which are“The Occupational Health & Safety Management
System (TIS / OHSAS 18001:2007, date of registration
was July 1st)” and “The Environmental Management
System (ISO 14001:2004, date of registration was
September 11th)”, in 3rd quarter of Y2008.
We continuously maintain and improve our safety &environmental management system, such as training,hazard identification, risk assessment in the company,
environmental
evaluation,
creating
standard
working-procedures, etc.

Managing Director

CSR atZEON Corporation

Safety and Environmental Management System

No. 1 Plant

Message

Environmental and Safety Activities(Thailand)Site Report
CSR Report

Environmental Data
ZEON Corporation
2006
777
1
1,405
5
3,536
895
17,638
51
50
6,587
33
1
16
31,417
75

2007
759
1
1,277
4
3,751
1,016
16,609
52
49
6,919
42
1
6
28,967
83

0
0
116
0
3,199
312
8,100
14
17
4,284
12
1
23
15,329108

Kawasaki Plant
Butadiene consumption(tons)
Butadiene emissions(tons)
Toxic
substances Acrylonitrile consumption(tons)
Acrylonitrile emissions(tons)
Substances Consumption(Tons)
covered by
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste
Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C*)
Atmospheric SOx emissions(tons)
emissionsNOx emissions(tons)
Total effluent waste water discharge(thousand m3)
Waste water COD emissions(tons)
Total phosphorus discharge(tons)
Total nitrogen discharge(tons)
Total amount(crude oil equivalent, kl)
EnergyUnit consumption index(1990 = 100)

2001
29,05839
11,25738
57,42984
48,60650
13,356
2
29
1,942
56
0
70
21,966108

2002
27,33534
10,93729
55,62969
70,261
230
13,226
1
29
1,726
49
1
68
20,911110

2003
29,87632
12,33632
59,00170
63,75924
13,077
1
27
1,825
57
1
107
20,955101

2004
30,72629
12,95338
59,53073
44,758238
13,077
3
28
2,006
53
1
107
20,83699

2005
29,694
9
12,34524
58,96054
37,158520
13,894
1
18
1,906
52
1
118
20,490103

2006
28,278912,44624
56,75156
47,826
189
11,918
2
28
1,988
55
1
125
20,092101

2007
28,886
5
13,03020
55,27869
45,395392
12,955
1
17
1,970
58
1
93
19,982102

2008
21,902
3
9,576
1441,38938
50,456118
10,991
1
17
1,598
37
1
60
15,829109

Tokuyama Plant
Butadiene consumption(tons)
Toxic
substances Acrylonitrile consumption(tons)
Substances Consumption(Tons)
covered by
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste
Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C*)
Atmospheric SOx emissions(tons)
emissionsNOx emissions(tons)
Total effluent waste water discharge(thousand m3)
COD emissions(tons)
Waste water
Total phosphorus discharge(tons)
Total nitrogen discharge(tons)
Total amount(crude oil equivalent, kl)
EnergyUnit consumption index(1990 = 100)

2001
35
4
361,690
577
2,676
401
75,632
733
388
8,619
110
1
54
94,449
108

2002
46
5
432,694
495
2,709
295
78,253
822
424
8,361
157
0
62
106,249
103

2003
24
1
398,557
126
2,916
260
73,577
726
326
8,904
149
1
54
100,057
105

2004
20
0
398,387
67
4,042
216
72,834
756
310
9,822
138
1
53
99,088
104

2005
17
1
395,821
23
3,650
134
71,615
870
385
8,080
95
1
50
96,729
103

2006
17
1
380,31223
5,151
81
70,352
674
315
8,293
91
1
47
95,281
104

2007
17
1
407,934
20
10,211
77
70,790
647
280
6,331
81
1
27
96,933
104

2008
15
1
17,519184,512
1567,798
547
311
7,704
79
1
32
93,671
109

Mizushima Plant
2001
143,583
Butadiene consumption(tons)
Toxic
substances Butadiene emissions(tons)
2
Substances Consumption(Tons)
266,725
covered by
7
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
55,821
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste
Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
1,859
CO2 emissions(tons-C*)
90,016
Atmospheric SOx emissions(tons)
3
emissionsNOx emissions(tons)
70
Total effluent waste water discharge(thousand m3)
2,108
13
Waste water COD emissions(tons)
Total phosphorus discharge(tons)
1
Total nitrogen discharge(tons)
22
Total amount(crude oil equivalent, kl)
128,654
EnergyUnit consumption index(1990 = 100)
101

2002
153,9190
303,967
6
62,575
1,091
102,320
2
58
1,946
13
0
23
145,725
97

2003
163,5210342,9312
56,3981,185
109,147
4
76
2,113
13
1
21
154,962
94

2004
149,4350335,458
1
60,975
1,032
111,326
3
81
2,290
14
1
22
159,92793

2005
154,5100336,308
1
57,425
29
111,194
1
68
2,242
14
1
13
160,179
93

2006
154,899
0343,930
1
57,773
9
109,725
3
87
2,559
15
1
20
175,037922007
150,2810317,673
1
58,983
19
103,091
2
70
2,550
13
1
21
164,994
93

2008
133,483
0285,584
1
35,48819
90,136
2
63
2,200
11
1
15
142,59296

2008

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

824
1,960

ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd. Yamaguchi Plant 2004
1
Substances Number of substances2
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
1
16
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
12
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

63
95

ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd. Otsu Plant 2004
6
Substances Number of substances214
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
0139
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
111
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)

2004
ZEON North Co., Ltd.
0
Substances Number of substances0
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
067
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
63
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)

2005
1
1
1
6
0
72
109

2006
1
1
0
77
0
67
102

2007
1
1
1
76
0
73
110

2008
1
1
0
71
0
64
97

ZEON Yamaguchi Co., Ltd. 2004
40
Substances Number of substances0
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
0364
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
33
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)

2006
6
164
0
186
120
682
1,579

2007
6
171
0
216
121
752
1,634

2008
5
90
0
167
101
614
1,329

Overseas Affiliated Group Companies

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

756
1,618

2005
6
161
0
144
118
739
1,604

ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd. Kawagoe Plant
Substances Number of substances
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)

2004
5
74
0
102
62
242
536

2005
6
50
0
121
70
236
534

2006
6
53
0
129
84
247
567

2007
6
62
0
150
93
271
571

2008
3
81
0
90
51
233
352

The Optronics Co., Ltd. Sano Plant 2004
1
Substances Number of substances0
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
0112
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
28
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)

2005
1
0
0
52
25
567
1,314

2006
1
0
0
39
16
524
1,315

2007
0
0
0
25
10
480
992

2008
0
0
0
16
16
431
888

2005
0
0
0
1,981
0
1,961
4,095

2006
0
0
0
824
0
3,300
6,118

2007
0
0
0
830
0
5,018
7,708

2008
0
0
0
200
0
5,672
8,608

2005
4
24
0
259
7
349
530

2006
4
22
0
271
5
415
674

2007
4
18
0
194
9
395
623

2008
4
17
0
223
10
319
509

2006
1
1
1
7
7
211
386

2007
1
1
1
2
2
245
423

2008
1
1
1
5
5
273
412

2006
0
0
0
108
0
319
486

2007
0
0
0
263
150
239
366

2008
0
0
0
149
66
184
281

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

584
1,352

The Optronics Co., Ltd. Toyama Plant 2004
0
Substances Number of substances0
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
0997
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)0waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

1,366
2,856

ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd. 2004
4
Substances Number of substances
25
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
0258
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
8
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

316
479

ZEON Medical Co., Ltd. 2004
1
Substances Number of substances1
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
1
7
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
7
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

249
471

2005
1
1
1
8
7
218
407

RIMTEC Corporation
Substances Number of substances
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*

2004
0
0
0
132
1
252
407

2005
0
0
0
282
62
398
598

Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

41
81

3
5

2005
0
0
0
28
27
43
85

2006
0
0
0
40
39
45
81

2007
0
0
0
45
45
53
80

2008
0
0
0
43
31
53
81

2005
40
0
0
97
8
3
5

2006
40
0
0
141
7
3
5

2007
40
0
0
62
5
3
5

2008
40
0
0
77
1
3
6

2008
Zeon Chemicals L.P. (USA): Kentucky 2004 2005 2006 2007
8
8
9
8
8
Substances Number of substances
18,170 19,846 20,751 30,768 18,835
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
70
67
78
56
62
1,159
547
423
721
394
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
483
366
679
350
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons) 1,110
9,408 9,872 9,517 9,599 9,817
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl) 11,505 12,213 11,601 11,389 11,870

Zeon Chemicals L.P. (USA): Texas 2004
0
Substances Number of substances0
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
028
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
2waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

2,184
2,398

Zeon Chemicals L.P. (USA): Mississippi 2004
3
Substances Number of substances
6,008
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
86
39
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
39
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

4,854
7,451

2005
0
0
0
29
2
2,113
2,367

2006
0
0
0
32
2
2,312
2,480

2007
0
0
0
33
1
2,356
2,526

2008
0
0
0
34
1
2,214
2,332

2005
3
3,488
43
36
36
3,436
5,173

2006
3
4,825
61
66
66
4,690
7,293

2007
3
4,538
56
100
100
4,500
6,987

2008
3
3,923
53
50
50
4,118
6,323

Zeon Chemicals Europe Ltd. (UK) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
2
2
2
2
2
Substances Number of substances
13,081 12,493 12,790 13,546 12,554
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
3
4
3
3
3
1,254 1,292 1,430 1,937 1,302
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons) 1,234 1,273 1,421 1,911 1,280
3,538
6,843

3,569
6,905

3,726
7,201

3,479
6,760

3,437
6,661

Zeon Advanced Polymix Co., Ltd. (Thailand) 2004 2005 2006
1,142 1,238
966
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
539
518
277
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons)

2008
1,088
277
1,650
2,714
2008
1,022
659
1,426
2,050

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

–
–

1,257
2,165

1,312
2,261

2007
1,147
262
1,530
2,517

Zeon Chemicals (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (Thailand) 2004
3,019
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons) 1,168

2005
2,956
1,188
1,306
1,878

2006
2,406
1,427
1,412
2,031

2007
2,146
1,700
1,541
2,215

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

CO2 emissions(tons-C)**
Energy consumption(crude oil equivalent, kl)

1,390
1,999

56

Site Reports

2005
656
1
1,312
4
4,358
1,114
17,567
33
31
5,901
31
1
15
28,692
80

2008
4
90
6
550
205
1,211
1,833

Environmental
activities

2004
785
1
1,439
4
5,143
1,437
17,760
41
69
6,441
29
1
15
27,494
83

2007
3
100
6
611
198
1,009
1,866

Respect for
the individual

2003
40,30040
42,575
85
5,255
1,497
16,856
53
70
6,649
46
3
25
26,341
90

2006
2
88
7
783
190
949
2,278

Engagementwith society

2002
41,60040
42,338
83
6,068
1,692
17,494
30
56
6,464
35
4
7
26,462
98

2005
3
114
13
583
219
963
2,193

CSR atZEON Corporation

2001
45,20053
47,145
96
7,569
1,909
16,772
22
47
6,158
36
2
5
24,897106

ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd. Ibaraki Plant 2004
3
Substances Number of substances179
covered by Consumption(Tons)
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
16
463
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste Amount sent to landfill(Tons) 189

Message

Takaoka Plant
Vinyl chloride monomer consumption(tons)
Toxic
substances Vinyl chloride monomer emissions(tons)
Substances Consumption(Tons)
covered by
PRTR law Amount emitted(Tons)*
Industrial Amount produced(Tons)
waste
Amount sent to landfill(Tons)
CO2 emissions(tons-C*)
Atmospheric SOx emissions(tons)
emissionsNOx emissions(tons)
Total effluent waste water discharge(thousand m3)
Waste water COD emissions(tons)
Total phosphorus discharge(tons)
Total nitrogen discharge(tons)
Total amount(crude oil equivalent, kl)
EnergyUnit consumption index(1990 = 100)

55

* Total discharges to air, water, and soil
* * Amount of carbon equivalentAffiliated Group Companies in Japan

Third Party Opinion
CSR Activity Time Line (ZEON Corporation only)"Reading of the ZEON Corporation CSR Report"
Hitoshi Okada (Dr. of Engineering/Professional Engineer)
Senior Researcher
Institute for Environmental Management Accounting
Graduated in 1979 from the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University. Graduated in September 2006
from the Graduate School of Business Administration at Kobe University specializing in business administration (aprofessional graduate school for mid-career education). Part-time lecturer at Osaka City University. Appointed by the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2009 to a committee investigating how to "encourage more efficient useof resources in supply chains".
While undertaking research into corporate misconduct, CSR, compliance, business theory, restructuring management and other fields as part of his doctoral course at the Graduate School of Business Administration at Kobe
University, he also supports areas such as CSR management and the introduction of material flow cost accounting.

CSR Objectives at ZEON Corporation
ZEON Corporation's corporate mission is to "be a company thatmakes a positive contribution to the preservation of the earth andthe prosperity of the human race" and the basis of its business is adistinctive and steadfast technology organization that cannot be
duplicated by its competitors, and the range of products supportedby this technological base. This range of products includes many
that contribute to protecting the global environment and somehave been described as environmentally friendly products. As
noted in the President's Message, ZEON Corporation aims to"operate our business in a way that is kind to the global environment" and the company views contributing to society through its
business activities as a key part of its CSR activities.
Although contributing to society through a company's corebusiness should be given due respect as an important part of CSR,
it is also important that a differentiation is made in the company's
CSR framework between the "core business in itself" and the"contribution to society made through that core business". If thesignificance of CSR is made clear in this "contribution to society
made through the core business", then an even stronger message
can be conveyed both inside and outside the company. I lookforward to seeing more information in future reports about thesetting of targets and the results of activities aimed at achieving
those targets associated with this "contribution to society madethrough the core business".

Environment, Safety, and Relationshipwith Employees
As a company that deals with chemical substances, ZEON Corporation has excellent and effective management for its environmental and safety activities, including formulating a safety philosophy
and a Responsible Care policy. ZEON Corporation's Responsible
Care activities can also be rated highly with the company having
signed up to participate in the Responsible Care Global Charter.
Looking at the results of the company's environmental activities
during 2008 shows that, overall, their planned targets have been

Response to Third Party Opinion

met. However, there are a number of items for which no numerictargets have been published and this makes it difficult to judge thelevel of achievement. It is to be hoped that future plans will include
explicit numeric targets wherever possible.
ZEON Corporation has established a manufacturing training centeras part of its efforts aimed at establishing mechanisms for humanresource development to support production innovation. The
center provides a venue for training operators from all parts of thecompany. The report also shows the company as having a humanresources system that allows workers a sense of challenge andachievement. The company has a distinctive approach that avoids
the pitfalls of a results-oriented regime by being process-focused
and placing an emphasis on things like contribution to the team.
The company also conducts a questionnaire about their employee
performance appraisal system which indicates more than 80% ofstaff are satisfied with their appraisals. This indicates that thecompany has a good relationship with its employees.

Activity Details

1994

Takaoka Plant received ISO9002 certification (changed to ISO9001:2000 in 2002)
Tokuyama Plant received ISO9002 certification (changed to ISO9001:2000 in 2002)

1995

Joined the Japan Responsible Care Council
ZEON declared that it would perform Responsible Care activities
The "ZEON Responsible Care Basic Policy" was established
Kawasaki Plant received ISO9002 certification (changed to ISO9001:2000 in 2003)
Mizushima Plant received ISO9002 certification (changed to ISO9001:2000 in 2003)

1996

The company-wide safety management system was reviewed and strengthened
The "ZEON Safety Philosophy" was established
The "Plant Technology Audit System" was established and activities started

1997

The "Company-wide Environment Improvement Project" was establishedThe first "ZEON Safety Month" and "All-ZEON Safety Conference" were held (subsequently held every April)
A code of conduct ("ZEON's 7 Articles") was established

1998

Takaoka Plant received ISO14001 certification
Kawasaki Plant acquired certification for high-pressure gas safety inspection

1999

Tokuyama Plant received ISO14001 certification
Mizushima Plant received ISO14001 certification
Kawasaki Plant received ISO14001 certification
The main business departments received ISO9001 certification
The "Risk Management Rules" were established

2000

Takaoka Plant acquired certification for high-pressure gas safety inspection
Publication of the "Responsible Care Activity Report" commenced (from the 1999 edition)

2001

The "ZEON Environment Philosophy" was established
The "Handling Restricted Materials Rules" were established

2002

The "Affiliate Joint Environment and Safety Meeting" was established
The "Project for Reducing the Emissions of Substances Subject to the PRTR Law" was established
The "Project for Promoting the Development of Energy Conserving Technology" was established

2003

The "Energy Management Rules" were established
Revision to the "Risk Management and Compliance Rules"
Action Plan for "ZEON's 7 Articles" was established
The "Rules for Observing Antitrust Laws" were established

2004

The Specialty Plastics Division received ISO9001 certification
The "Internal Report System" was established"Compliance Textbook (Special)" was published2005

The English version of the "Responsible Care Activity Report" was published
Third-party verification was performed for the "Responsible Care Activity Report""Compliance Textbook (Inspection) (QA edition)" was published

2006

The "Responsible Care Activity Report" was renamed the "CSR Report"
The "Basic Policy Concerning the Establishment of an Internal Controls System" was established2007

The basic policy for financial reporting was establishedA part time work system to promote child care was introduced

2008

The "Internal Controls Committee" was established
Signed up to "Responsible Care Global Charter"

Dialogue with Stakeholders
ZEON Corporation runs plant visits that are attended by a large
number of analysts. These are centered primarily on the Integrated
Production Center which acts as a base for "monozukuri"(manufacturing ethos) within the company. The site reports
featured in this CSR report indicate that the company has an active
involvement with the local communities in the areas where it
operates. In terms of communication with employees, management
maintains an active dialogue with plant staff with the number of site
visits by the President increasing each year. This indicates a goodlevel of dialogue with stakeholders. Improving its relationship withstakeholders is very important for ZEON Corporation. It is byconducting an active dialogue with these stakeholders that thecompany can identify the issues that are important to society andapply itself to resolving these issues. I look forward to seeing thecompany taking the initiative in establishing bi-directional communication with stakeholders in the future.

Seiichi Okada
Executive Officer and Director with Responsibility for CSR

The Responsible Care Activity Report published by ZEON Corporation was renamed the CSR Report to coincide withthe decision to operate the business with an emphasis on CSR that was one of the core policies in the company's 2005
PZ-3 3-year mid-term management plan. This is the fourth year that a CSR Report has been published. Althoughbusiness conditions have been very difficult since fall of last year, it is even more important in times like these to keep
CSR in the forefront of our minds as we go about our business. Enhancements to the 2009 CSR Report include [1]expanding the section of the report that deals with activities that relate to society to give the document more of the feelof a CSR report, [2] expanding the employee message items that were introduced in the 2008 CSR Report, [3] including
data from overseas affiliates in the environmental data section, and [4] making reference to production innovation,
NPS, and similar activities.
Regarding the comments of Dr. Hitoshi Okada, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Environmental Management
Accounting, he has generally understood the form that CSR takes at ZEON Group and we accept with sincerity his guidance from the perspective of achieving a higher level of CSR performance. We aim to continue contributing to the sustainable development of society by meetingthe expectations and desires of all of our stakeholders, particularly local communities, customers and shareholders, by considering thefollowing as topics for investigation in CSR activities from this year onwards and taking action accordingly:[1]Devise ways of presenting a more tangible image of how we contribute to society through our core business.
[2]Provide numeric targets for environmental and safety activities wherever possible, pursue these targets in a systematic way, and aim
to conduct even more extensive activities that relate to society.
[3]In addition to existing activities associated with dialogue with stakeholders, also conduct bi-directional stakeholder dialogues.

57

Year

ISO Certification Status for ZEON Corporation and Affiliates
Certification Status for ZEON Corporation Certification Status for Affiliated Group Companies
Site
Takaoka Plant
Tokuyama Plant
Kawasaki Plant
Mizushima Plant
Core operating departments
Specialist departments

Site
ZEON Kasei Co., Ltd.
ZEON Polymix Co., Ltd.*The Optronics Co., Ltd.
ZEON Chemicals Yonezawa Co., Ltd.*RIMTEC Corporation
Tokyo Zairyo Co., Ltd.
ZEON Medical Co., Ltd.
ZEON North Co., Ltd.
Zeon Chemicals L.P. (ZCLP)
ZEON Chemicals Europe Ltd. (ZCEL)
Zeon Chemicals (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (ZCT)ZEON Advanced Polymix Co., Ltd. (ZAP)*1: Certification for logistical materials department is for STEC section only.
*2: Excluding logistical materials department.

58