Kao Corporation's ("Kao") approach to social responsibility is based on the goal of achieving the wholehearted satisfaction and enrichment of the lives of people globally. To do so, Kao evaluates the economic, environmental and social elements of each stage of business operations from the viewpoint of the sustainable development of society and always seeks to make further improvements.

What measures does Kao take to attain and improve corporate social responsibility?

Fairness and transparency are paramount at Kao, which is why we disclose accurate and relevant information promptly and fairly and promote dialogue with stakeholders to gain a societal viewpoint of the company's operations.

Kao Brands Company (KBC) has launched a Corporate Sustainability Program to challenge our team members to reduce and minimize our impact on natural resources throughout the globe. This program will be used to communicate, educate and measure our progress.

KBC supports local organizations to improve the lives of community members such as:

• 1) Park and Playground development projects with City of Cincinnati
• 2) Refurbishment of local women's shelter
• 3) Work with local school districts on reading tutoring programs
• 4) Training and skill development assessments for KBC manufacturing employees

How does Kao minimize its impact on the environment? Does the company use renewable resources? What is Kao doing to promote sustainability?

While Kao strives to provide people with useful and efficacious products, the company has long recognized that there are many environmental opportunities within its supply chain. As a result, Kao identifies and works to reduce its environmental impact at every stage of operations in order to minimize environmental burden and reduce the associated impacts. Kao continuously reviews these findings and implements many initiatives every year to reduce the overall environmental impact.

Among these efforts are conserving natural resources, reducing the amount of packaging used with our products, reducing all air and waste stream emissions, minimizing the impact of effluents on ecosystems and appropriately handling waste disposal.

KBC has:

• 1) reduced CO2 emissions by 1,570 metric tons with efficiency and reduction programs
• 2) continuously reduced packaging used in our products with an average 4% reduction/year
• 3) utilization of recycled materials where safety and product efficacy are not reduced
• 4) continuously evaluate additions to our facility recycling programs
• 5) reduced energy usage in manufacturing by 11% over last 2 years
• 6) major warehouse consolidation project reducing transportation and fuel usage
• 7) continuous experimentation and research to utilize PCR (Post Consumer Regrind) material in our packaging

To view Kao Corporation's Environmental reports, click here.