Reduction of waste

Mizuno's manufacturing bases have long been committed to reducing industrial waste. For the fiscal year 2024, the target for industrial waste emissions was set at 127.7 tons, while the actual emissions amounted to 172.1 tons. This represents a 34.8% increase compared to the target and a 28.6% increase from the previous fiscal year.
The significant increase was due to a rise in overall waste associated with increased production volume, as well as the disposal of waste acid and alkali resulting from equipment maintenance. These factors contributed to a substantial increase in emissions compared to the previous year.

Mizuno is committed to reducing the total amount of waste at its domestic manufacturing bases by promoting thorough reuse and separation, and by sharing information across business sites to convert waste into valuable resources for recycling. At Mizuno Technics, 98.8% of the industrial waste generated is recycled. Since fiscal year 2020, leftover leather from glove production has been recycled and sold as a valuable material. At sales destinations, it is processed into DIY leather sheets for effective use.

Note: General waste is not included in Mizunoʼs zero-emission target.

Mizuno will start using mixed paper that contains offcuts generated during the cutting of the apparel fabric, for the product tags of new apparel introduced in the 2023 spring/summer season for the Japanese market. Through this initiative, we aim to reduce wastage of apparel material and minimize the use of paper resources. We are also working on reducing the use of product tags itself by simplifying, consolidating and digitalizing tags, with a view to reducing the number of product tags by approximately 4 million pieces per year.
Through these efforts, it is expected that we will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 11.8 tons annually.

For more information, please refer to https://corp.mizuno.com/en/articles/0045

Mizuno is actively working to reduce plastic waste throughout its entire value chain. In manufacturing, the company promotes the use of recycled plastics. At the in-house restaurant located in Mizunoʼs Osaka headquarters, plastic straws have been replaced with environmentally friendly paper straws.

Mizunoʼs factories and offices are committed to thorough waste separation and recycle plastic waste into solid fuel and various types of equipment. In its retail stores, Mizuno encourages simplified packaging to help reduce waste.
All Mizuno Group directly managed stores worldwide have switched from disposable plastic shopping bags to environmentally friendly paper bags. For items requiring more durable packaging, such as caddie bags and golf clubs, Mizuno is gradually transitioning to more sustainable alternatives. As part of this initiative, some golf club bags now use fabric-based materials.
Additionally, as a member of the local community, Mizunoʼs Osaka headquarters contributes to waste reduction through activities such as cleaning the Cosmo Square district and collaborating with Kansai University to clean the Yamato River riverbed.

Mizuno aims to not only reduce emissions generated during its manufacturing process but also reduce its use of packing material and packages, and it aims to do so by planning ahead how it could reduce waste, beginning at the designing stage of its manufacturing process. Up until now, efforts to reduce waste have primarily been made by manufacturing bases.
However, to reduce as much waste as possible, Mizuno will apply what it has learned through such efforts to reducing waste at its non-manufacturing bases that currently generate relatively large amounts of waste.
Mizuno will also encourage Sharp Sangyo Co., Ltd., a group company, to adopt digital manifesting, a technology it has not yet implemented.