Sustainability
Environmental Management
To support the longevity of our world, which is the foundation of our corporate activities, the Company specifically considers climate change as important among various environmental issues, and commits to reducing greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions by setting a group-wide target. The progress of the target will be monitored by the Board of Directors, based on discussions in the Sustainability Committee.
Environmental Policy
At Recruit Group, the senior vice president in charge of Sustainability of Recruit Holdings is responsible for the group’s environmental initiatives. As part of its responsibility, the establishment of this policy is approved by the senior vice president in charge of Sustainability.
Recruit Group’s Environmental Policy lays out the basics for the group to conduct its environmental activities in the following four areas that contribute toward conservation of the planet, in strict compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
Basic Philosophy
Recruit Group recognizes that it is a member of the irreplaceable earth, and each and every one of our employees will conduct business activities in consideration of the environment, while at the same time, fostering the mind to preserve the environment and contribute to a brighter world where all individuals can live life to the fullest.
Principles for action
1. Conservation of the Planet through Our Business Activities
We actively strive to provide our customers and other stakeholders with information to enhance their environmental awareness via all of our business activities, products, and services. We also carry out quantitative measurements of our environmental conservation activities, and publicly report the progress we make.
2. Initiatives to Prevent Climate Change
Striving toward realizing a decarbonized society in line with the Paris Agreement, we monitor our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - not just from electricity, gas, heat, water use, and others driven by our own offices, but through our entire value chain*1 - and work together with our partners to reduce these emissions.
As part of these activities, we strive to use 100% renewable energy*2 and avoid funding any climate-denial or lobbying activities against climate regulations.
In addition, we will engage with the group’s internal and external stakeholders, and contribute to the capacity building to reduce GHG emissions.
3. Recycling, Reducing Energy Use, Pollution Prevention, and Biodiversity Preservation
We work to gauge every stage of the environmental impact through our entire value chain. Building on this knowledge, we actively work with our business partners to promote recycling and reduce energy use, as well as improve energy efficiency, prevent environmental contamination, save water, and preserve the world's biodiversity.
4. Fostering Employee Eco-Awareness and Supporting Their Actions
We provide support so that all Recruit Group employees can enhance their awareness of the need to address the climate crisis and give full consideration to the environment in all actions and proposals in their work and daily lives.
*1 “Value chain” refers to staff business travel and commuting, the purchasing and procurement of goods and services, distribution and logistics, and others.
*2 Share of renewable energy used in our electricity consumption
We have adopted an Environmental Management System based on ISO 14001 to make steady progress on our initiatives throughout the entire value chain*² as stated in the policy. We continually discuss and consult with internal and external stakeholders about environmental issues, in an effort to improve our environmental policy and initiatives.
Progress in our four promises
We report the progress of each project centered on the four promises in our environmental policy. The introduction of an environmental management system was an occasion for a more detailed breakdown of the specific actions in these efforts.
(1) Environmental activities through our business activities
Environmental activities through our business activities
Sharing of environmental information through feature articles and other means
Development of environmentally friendly products and services
Environmental preservation and other activities with client and customer participation
(2) Efforts to combat climate change
Companywide Efforts
Calculation and monitoring of carbon dioxide emissions and measures to reduce them
Activities in our print publications
Distribution efficiency and thorough management of the recycling rate for unsold/remaining publications
Activities in our net services
Data center integration
(3) Recycling, Pollution Prevention, and Biodiversity Preservation Efforts
Recycling & pollution prevention
Biodiversity
Environmental efficiency indicators
Cooperation with suppliers in the papermaking and printing stages
Monitoring of environmental efficiency indicators
Participation in afforestation projects
(4) Fostering Employee Eco-awareness and Support for Their Actions
Promoting Ecological Awareness
Energy and resource savings in office activities
Energy and resource savings in setting up offices
Checks with compliance tests
Certification Test for Environmental Specialists
Oversight for Environmental Issues
The Board of Directors has oversight on climate change and other environmental issues. As an advisory body to the Board of Directors, the Sustainability Committee meets twice a year, attended by the CEO, the Chairperson, Director of the Board in charge of sustainability, Senior Vice Presidents who are in charge of each SBU, and internal and outside experts.
The Committee members discuss climate related strategies, action plans, business plans, risk assessments, performance targets, and target progress reports. The Committee's advice is passed on to the Board of Directors for final resolutions. The Board of Directors is responsible for the monitoring and oversight of progress toward the climate targets. The Director of the Board in charge of sustainability is responsible for the disclosure of information and delegates policy implementation to the Senior Vice President in charge of sustainability.
ISO-14001 Certification
To make steady progress on environmental policy, the Board of Directors committed to implementing ISO 14001 (Registration No. JMAQA-E831), which is an international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS), in March 2011. Alongside making continual improvements to our EMS and conducting annual internal audits, we also undergo an annual review by external examiners to renew our certification. Matters related to climate change are reported to the Board of Directors every year as part of the process of updating the ISO14001 certification.
We strive to assess the environmental impact of our products and services throughout their life cycles as well as the impact of our business activities that produce these products and services. Based on a thorough understanding of this impact, we take the necessary steps to comply with environmental laws and regulations. We have also crafted a framework to promote these actions, drafted environmental management guidelines, set concrete goals in our environmental policy with plans to achieve them, and created a system to carry out regular checks of our progress in these areas. We will continue pursuing these actions based on our environmental policy.
Japan-based companies within Recruit Group that have ISO14001 certification as of January 2023 are stated below*;
Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. / Recruit Co., Ltd. Headquarters / Recruit Staffing Co., Ltd. Headquarters / Staff Service Holdings Co., Ltd. Headquarters / Staff Service Co., Ltd. Headquarters / Techno Service Co., Ltd. Headquarters / Recruit Management Solutions Co., Ltd. Headquarters
Please refer to the ISO14001 Certificate of Registration here
.
* Company name as of January 2023, at the issuance of the latest registration certificate.
Certification as an eco-first company
On April 21, 2011, Recruit received certification as an Eco-First company for its leadership in environmental preservation in the information services industry. This certification comes under the Eco-First system established by Japan's Ministry of the Environment. As a company that provides a wide range of new value propositions and opportunities to society, we will continue to energetically make efforts to reduce the impact of our activities on the environment. At the same time, we will work through our business activities, products, and services to extend the reach of our "eco smile" initiatives to preserve the global environment.
More on Eco-First
Our Commitment to Eco-First (available in Japanese only)
About the Eco-First system (available in Japanese only)
The Eco-First System is a program to encourage companies to take efforts to be at the forefront of corporate environmental conservation in their industries. Companies express their commitment to environmental conservation efforts, such as measures against global warming or for reducing/recycling waste, to the Minister of the Environment, and certified companies are granted the use of the "Eco-First Mark."
Raising employee awareness
Resource conservation initiatives at workplaces
Recruit Group began vigorously implementing environmentally conscious activities in company offices in FY2009, with a focus on offices in Japan. Today we continue educational activities for the entire Recruit Group with the Group General Affairs Department taking a leading role. Examples include educational posters on elevator hall displays and restroom walls to show specific efforts being made in the Group. These posters use many illustrations for easy understanding. We also put notices asking employees to save energy and avoid wasteful use of paper in our in-house magazine, Suka 2. This magazine is used for employee education, such as on professional behavior, and to introduce company events.
At our main offices in Gran Tokyo South Tower, lights automatically go off 4 times a day to save energy. During the daytime, floors that receive good sunlight use this natural light for office lighting during hours when it is bright outside. We also conduct energy- and resource-saving activities across our locations nationwide, focusing on everything from conference rooms to copy machines.
Resource conservation initiatives at workplaces
The Recruit Group makes frequent organizational changes and personnel moves in response to changes in the external environment. These department and personnel transfers, movements, and layout changes require considerable electricity and other energy in addition to labor and money. To save in all these areas, we arrange sets of common furniture and fixtures in fixed arrangements, using these layouts so that it is only the people who need to move during organizational and personnel moves. This kind of office setup is in place at locations nationwide to reduce environmental impacts and increase office responsiveness to external change. At the same time, we actively promote green purchasing when purchasing office supplies, giving priority to products with the smallest environmental impact.
We also actively conduct activities to save resources in our regular office activities, including paperless meetings and reductions in office paper use within the company.
A scene from a paperless meeting
Signs encouraging resource-saving practices.
A poster urging reduction in office paper use (Kansai office).
Raising awareness with compliance tests
An annual compliance test given to employees includes items related to the environment to check the knowledge and awareness of each person.
Corporate Ethics and Compliance
Certification test for environmental specialists
To promote knowledge acquisition regarding the environment and raise awareness among employees, we encourage them to take the Certification Test for Environmental Specialists sponsored by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We have also established a system to give congratulatory money gifts to employees who pass the test.
