July 29, 2024

From July 2024, the Kikkoman Group’s soy sauce production site in Europe, Kikkoman Foods Europe B.V. (KFE), began measuring CO2 emissions due to employee commutes and business-related travel.

This initiative stemmed from measures for compliance with the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations in the Netherlands, where KFE is located. For the 2019 Climate Agreement, the government of the Netherlands announced a scenario for carbon dioxide reduction of 49% in comparison to 1990 levels by 2030. In line with this scenario, they have set the target of a 1.5 megaton reduction of carbon dioxide resulting from work-related commuter and business traffic by 2030, making it mandatory for companies with more than 100 employees to report the amount of greenhouse gas emissions attributable to commuting and business travel to the government of the Netherlands from July 1, 2024.

The measurement method implemented for this initiative involves the recording of distance travelled, transportation means and frequency of commute by an employee management system at KFE for accurate measurement of CO2 emissions that takes into consideration the workstyle and commuting method of each individual employee. Once data on the amount of CO2 emissions generated during commuting and business travel is visualized and accumulated, it is shared with employees to promote awareness for the need to reduce CO2 emissions within the company. In addition, the accumulated data will also be used for future environmental information disclosure.

Screenshots of the system

An employee involved in carrying out this measure commented as follows, “There are several Kikkoman Group Companies with locations in Europe, where environmental regulations are strict, but we have been able to take the lead by making it possible to accurately measure greenhouse gas emissions. Without ending at KFE, we want to use this as a model case and cooperate for the purpose of lateral deployment with the Group Company head office in Japan as well as other locations in both Japan and overseas”.

Aiming to achieve the Kikkoman Group’s management principle of, “To become a company whose existence is meaningful to the global society”, we will continue to implement initiatives geared towards the realization of a sustainable society.