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Kao Corporation

Committed to supporting zero deforestation

Recognizing that its businesses are largely dependent on natural capital, Kao is advancing ESG management guided by environmental considerations, such as resource conservation, climate change and biodiversity, as well as social considerations such as human rights, and declared its commitment to the conservation of biodiversity and support for zero deforestation in the procurement of palm oil and palm kernel oil, as well as paper and pulp.

It is Kao’s goal to purchase sustainably sourced palm oil that is traceable to the plantation and to confirm zero deforestation at the source. A member of RSPO, the company has been working actively to have its manufacturing plants acquire SCCS certification and procure certified palm oil.

Third-party risk mapping of traceable palm oil mills has been conducted since 2016. The possibility of deforestation is assessed by confirming conditions such as whether protected forests, past fires, and peatland exist within a mill’s 50-kilometer radius. At mills deemed to be at high risk, on-site studies are conducted with experts, requests for improvement are made, and progress is monitored.

In 2020, Kao disclosed the mills where it sources palm oil, and also launched SMILE (SMallholder Inclusion for better Livelihood & Empowerment program) to help Indonesia’s oil palm smallholders raise productivity and acquire sustainable palm oil certification.

Kao also seeks to purchase only recycled paper or sustainably sourced paper, pulp and packaging materials for its products and office paper, and only traceable pulp when virgin pulp is used. As of the end of 2019, traceability was achieved for all paper and pulp used, of which 91 percent were certified products.

Efforts taken since 2016 to shift to FSC-certified corrugated cardboard resulted in certified products making up 94 percent of globally used corrugated cardboard in 2019.