Kanepackage CSR activities:
Making the planet a greener place
By Kenneth M. del Rosario
TheKanepackage
Group’s
promise to deliver the best packaging and cushioning materials
is grounded in its sustainability
thrust as a company. Going beyond
what is expected from a firm in
the business of wrapping items,
its corporate social responsibility(CSR) activities are geared towards
saving resources and helping ensure the planet becomes a muchgreener place.
It has set a lofty goal for itself,
aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. As a company, Kanepackage aims to promote carbon
offsets through the reduction ofglobal greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions.
And the company is well on
its way to reaching this objective,
thanks in large part to its flagshipproject—mangrove
reforestation called KPGreen Earth. Since it
started the project in the Visayas
region in November 2009 on Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu,
Kanepackage has planted andmaintained more than 13.4 million
mangroves.
In partnership with the Department of Environment and NaturalResources (DENR), local government units, and the local community, Kanepackage holds mangrove
planting and tour activities twice ayear.
“It was never about the imageof the company. It’s about doing
what’s right. We have to live sustainably as much as we can. There’s
no other option,” said Yoshikazu
Kanesaka, the CEO and presidentof Kanepackage Group.
Kanesaka recalled the first time
he brought up the idea of planting
mangroves to executives of themother company in Japan, whowere skeptical about the idea.
“I told them that we had to do it
because no one else was doing it,”he said. “It’s a good reminder, too,that while the business of packaging is all about the products, theones who are behind the production of those are actual people.
They are the ones that benefit froma greener environment.”
Spirit of giving back to the planet
The Kanepackage Group’s CSR
programs are aligned with theSustainable Development Goals(SDGs) enumerated by the United
Nations to highlight the company’sbusiness DNA in valuing the welfare of the people.
In the spirit of giving back tothe planet, the company’s CSR
programs encompass three main
themes—the environment, support for the people, and safety andsecurity among the stakeholders.
The KPGreen Earth, for one,helps build a resilient coastal community against climate change,
sea-level rise, typhoons, and othernatural calamities.
The project came about after ahike at Mt. Takao in Japan, whereKanesaka learned about a Japanese artist who donated 100,000
cedar trees every year. He thought
he could do a similar thing in thePhilippines, only this time planting
mangroves, which are endemic to
the area.
After all, planting mangroves in
the Philippines makes sense, as it
brings lots of economic and environmental benefits. For one, mangroves sustain fisheries and coastal
resources, as well as provide opportunities for ecotourism. Mangroves can even be used as house
construction material and woodfor cooking. The mangroves, too,
become a shelter for many fishes,
crabs and other marine animals.
People used to cut mangroves forcooking/ housing before becauseof poverty. After KP Mangrove

The company
has planted morethan 13.4 million
mangroves sofar, and expects
that number
to surpass 15
million by 2025

Superflex LTI

project they stopped cutting mangroves and provide the communities with livelihood projects.
The mangrove planting also has
profound benefits to employees as
the activity serves as an avenue for
employees from other branches
to connect with one another, andshare their experiences workingwith the company.

KP Japan Head Office
KP Lima
KP Indonesia

Partner community involvement
To ensure the protection andproper management of the mangrove plantation, Kanepackage involved communities that regularly
plant mangroves and monitor theirprogress to ensure a high survival
and success rate.
“Planting is just the beginning.
The mangroves need maintenanceand regular clean-ups so they cangrow faster and better. This iswhere the help of the community
is essential,” Kanesaka said.
Partner communities are also
tasked with replacing the deadplants and removing any plastics,
seaweed, or other materials that
may harm the mangroves. It can’t
be stressed enough how equallyimportant and essential postplanting management is in a project like this.
In return, they receive corresponding monetary compensation
for their efforts. Needless to say,the people in the community appreciate the additional income,which many of them use to send
their respective children to schoolor to put food on the table.
The project continuously motivates members of the community
to do their part in managing theKP Thailand
KPPI Calamba

KP Group

Kanepackage Group leads the industry
shift to more sustainable packaging
Kanepackage aims to contribute more to society by continuing
to evolve the ‘wrapping’ technology, as well as its CSR activities
that positively impact many communities around the country
By Kenneth M. del Rosario

The photo above shows a drone shot of one of the mangrove plantations
that the company maintains.

mangrove project.
Drone shots of plantation areas
show that the mangrove-planting
project is an undeniable success.
Areas that used to have little to nomangrove presence now teem withthick mangroves, many of which
can be considered young forests.
Most trees have started to bear
fruit, with the number of fish andcrabs growing exponentially.

The company’s CSR is founded on its core business DNA, which
values people and the spirit of giving back.

Kanesaka: “Ouremployees arevery important
to us. Filipinos
are very smart
and hardworkingpeople.”

Research and development
Aside from planting mangroves,
the Kanepackage Group also established the Mangrove Research andDevelopment Center, an environmental research center in Cebu, tohelp in the advancement of scientific knowledge on mangrove rehabilitation and management.
The company also put up a
mangrove nursery, where it cultures mangroves for about six
months until they are ready forplanting.
“It’s important to know which
species is suited in a particulararea. We also have to be careful
because planting too many mangroves in one area could potentially do more harm than good. This is
why we partnered with the DENR
and the local people for this project,” Kanesaka said.

The Kanepackage Group has
been part of Filipinos’ lives formore than 27 years.
Involved with designing, testing, and manufacturing various
types of cushioning products, suchas corrugated boards, chances are
you’ve bought a product wrappedand shipped in packaging that
Kanepackage Group of Companies
produced.
“More than just packaging,we specialize in shock-absorbing
products that protect even themost delicate items,” said Yoshikazu Kanesaka, the company’s CEO
and president.
Many people pay little attention to a product’s packaging, often discarding it without a second
thought, but Kanesaka said they
spend a lot of time developing
technology that would allow clients to wrap their goods in packaging that is safe, efficient, sustainable, and cost-competitive.
After all, there is no one-sizefits-all when it comes to packaging. In designing packaging, there
are many things to consider. Foremost is the product. Kanepackage
packs a variety of items, including
electronics such as printers andhard disk drives, as well as micro
weighing scales.
This is why it’s important forThe company recently enteredinto a collaboration project withthe Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center Japan to research
the possibility of carbon credit
through its mangrove project. This
project aims to develop a methodfor quantifying the amount of carbon sequestered by our mangrove
project.
Kanesaka said: “Environmental
conservation is a shared responsibility among the private sector andgovernment. For our part, we commit to strengthening our efforts toour many CSR activities.”

using plastic to more eco-friendly
materials such as paper,” he said.
This aligns with Kanepackage’s
sustainability thrust, with thecompany subscribing to the Sustainable Development Goals put
forth by the United Nations.
The company even has a very
active mangrove-planting projectas part of its corporate social responsibility. In fact, Kanepackage
has planted more than 13 million
mangrove seedlings in the Visayas.

them to know which part of theitem is the weakest and needs themost protection from damage.
They also have to know, for example, if the items will be shippedfrom a place with hot weather to
one with cold weather, so they canprotect them from humidity.
“The key in packaging is efficiency. If we can create the lightest, smallest, or simplest packaging that would never compromise
the safety of the products, that’s a
win for our clients. Smaller packaging means they would be able
to fit more items in a warehouseor in a transportation vehicle.
This could also reduce the amountof manpower required to moveitems,” he said.
Nowadays, an increasing number of companies are even looking at packaging that customers
can reuse instead of just throwing
away.
Sustainable packaging
Since Kanepackage started
making packaging many years ago,
there has been a huge shift in themindset of clients.
“There was a time when companies just wanted the cheapest
possible packaging. Nowadays,
they are more conscious of the impact of packaging on the environment. Most of them have shifted or
are in the process of shifting fromA humble start
When Kanesaka was setting up
the company back in the ‘90s, theindustry for good packaging design and manufacture was virtually non-existent in the country. Professionally, Kanesaka also did nothave any experience with packaging, as he had previously worked
for an automobile company.
But what Kanesaka did have
was a forward-thinking mindset.
From the start, he knew he had todo something different in orderto succeed in this line of work. It
helped too that there are many
Japanese companies in the Philippines, even now, that have put
their trust in Kanepackage.
“If you satisfy one customer
with on-time delivery and excellent quality, that would resonate
with other potential clients. We
respected the trust they put in us
and did everything in our power tomake sure we delivered what wepromised. As a team, we remain
as passionate as we were when wewere just starting out,” he said.
This goes for the 900-strong
individuals that make up the Kanepackage workforce in the Philippines. Over the years, Kanepackage
has set up office locations in Alabang, LISP Calamba, Lima Malvar
Batangas, Laguna Technopark inBinan, Cavite, FPIP Sto Tomas, andCebu.
Kanepackage also has locationsin other parts of the world, includ-ing Japan (where the headquarterof the mother company is located),Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
“Our employees are very important to us,” he said. “Filipinos
are very smart and hardworking
people,” he said.
Looking ahead
Even with an established name,
Kanesaka wants to keep innovating, never losing the desire to be
the best at what they do.
This is in part why Kanepack-age’s mother company decided toacquire a medical company that
operates in Japan and manufactures equipment like suction machines and oxygen regulators.
Looking ahead, Kanesaka wants
to double production and further
expand the business, not so muchto earn more profit but because heknows that whenever he scales up,
he gets to employ more people andhelp with their CSR activities.
Kanesaka said: “Through thesebusinesses, I want to contributeto society and to the progress of
this country. Moving forward, wewill continue to evolve the ‘wrapping’ technology, as well as become a bigger player in our customers’ welfare. We will carefully
wrap ‘magokoro (great cordiality)’and deliver a dream package thatcleans the air and mind to as manycustomers as possible.”
For more information on Kanepackage Group, please visit http://
www.kanepa.co.jp, http://www.
kp-grp.com, and http://www.
kane-package.net.

KP Hanoi, Vietnam

Kanepackage Group’s key to success is its talented Filipino employees
If a business does not have aheart for the welfare of the people, it will never prosper.
That’s one thing Kanepackage Group CEO and president
Yoshikazu Kanesaka has learned
over the years. After all, it’s not
the CEO who brings success toa company, but the people whowork hard day in and day out.
“The key to our success is thetalented employees that we have.
Filipinos work hard and are very
loyal. They do not easily give up
when problems arise,” the executive said.
Kanesaka could not express
enough his belief and trust in theFilipinos. In fact, the company’s
Filipino employees were instrumental in setting up other holding
companies in other parts of theworld. When the company wassetting up locations in Thailand,
Vietnam, and Indonesia, for example, they sent a group of Filipinos
to train the locals there.

Act of appreciation
This is why, aside from themangrove-planting project that
Kanepackage does, the company
has other CSR activities that further benefit the community. The
company’s CSR is founded on its
core business DNA, which values
people and the spirit of givingback.
Kanepackage knows the importance of education in society. This
is why they regularly put up schoolbuildings close to the mangrove
plantation so that the community
can benefit from the project.
The company also provides
school supplies and learning materials so students can advancetheir education and have a chance
at improving their standard of living later in life. Every school year,
Kanepackage donates books todaycare centers, where hundredsof young ones receive complete
sets of books based on the recommendation of the Department ofSocial Welfare and Development.

During Christmas, the company
returns to partner communities inthe Visayas region and conducts its
annual gift-giving. The students in
adopted schools receive Christmas
gifts and food packs, which neverfail to bring smiles to children andparents alike.
In 2019, Kanepackage integrated into its CSR a scholarship program that helps qualified childrenof people actively involved in theplanting and maintenance of themangrove plantation.
Helping hand during disasters
When disaster strikes, Kanepackage is one of the first companies to lend a helping hand. When
the Taal Volcano erupted in 2020,
the company sent assistance to affected families in the area.
In 2022, it sent monetary help
for house repairs to its partner
community devastated by Typhoon Odette. They also put up ahealth clinic and helped employ ahealth professional to manage thefacility. The company did the same
when Typhoon Haiyan struck thecountry in 2013.
At the height of the COVID-19
pandemic, when lockdown restrictions were strictly in place, ittaught soap-making to the peopleof Olango, who had lost their main
livelihood, which is mainly fishingand boat operations. This helped
many families put food on thetable when their source of income
was limited.
Kanesaka said: “We do all thesebecause we are human. Our CSR
activities extend not just to communities where we do businessbut also to secluded places andsmall islands that aren’t always
reached with help from the private or public sector. We know
the positive impact this has on thecommunity. More importantly,
this gives a sense of fulfillment
among our employees, who are always ready to extend help to thebest of their abilities.”– Kenneth M. del Rosario

Every Christmas, thecompany returns topartner communities inthe Visayas region andconducts its annual giftgiving.