LIXIL makes pioneering water and housing products that solve everyday, real-life challenges, making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.
Progress in FYE2024 (as of March 31, 2024)
LIXIL has defined improving the quality of people’s daily lives and solving social issues through active engagement with stakeholders as one of our material issues. We are committed to proactively engaging in dialogue with all of our stakeholders, including customers, business partners, members of the communities where our operational sites are located, shareholders and investors, and our employees and their families. We reflect their expectations in our business activities to make a greater positive impact on society.. Our stakeholder engagement and socio-environmental initiatives f are centered around advancing the strategic pillars of our Impact Strategy., These core pillars include Global Sanitation & Hygiene, Water Conservation and Environmental Sustainability, and Diversity & Inclusion. We focus on activities where our expertise can make the most significant impact, driving forward meaningful change for the communities we serve..
Please see below for Contributions and Other Expenditures and Philanthropic Contributions.
Scope and details of our social data >
LIXIL’s Impact Strategy Committee is composed of executive officers and senior managers from corporate functions and our business divisions. The committee ensures timely and appropriate strategic actions across LIXIL, considering the impacts on and contributions to different stakeholders, as well as our community development and cooperation efforts. Outcomes and resolutions from the committee's quarterly meetings are communicated to our business divisions, which are then accountable for implementing specific initiatives. These divisions also respond to and partner with a diverse range of stakeholders to drive broader and more significant positive impacts.
Stakeholders | Type of Engagement |
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Customers | We incorporate customer opinions into our products, services, and business operations and provide timely and appropriate disclosure on our products and services. We offer customer support by phone, email, at 117 showrooms worldwide, and via online showrooms globally. |
Suppliers | We strive to build and maintain strong relationships with our suppliers by facilitating two-way communication. Based on the results of our responsible procurement surveys, we share our Procurement Principles, recognize current circumstances, and follow through on promised improvements. We also hold regular meetings with suppliers to share information on regulatory trends and new procurement strategies. |
Shareholders and Investors | In FYE2024, we held 397 discussions with investors around the world to help promote sustainable growth and enhance corporate value. Every year, we hold an online ESG briefing for investors, where we explain our strategies to sustainably enhance our corporate value, including our Value Creation Process, Impact Strategy, and governance structure, as well as answer questions from the audience. We disclose timely and transparent information in English and Japanese through our Integrated Report, our investor relations web pages, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange website. Investor Relations > LIXIL ESG Briefing (2024) > |
Employees | LIXIL boasts approximately 49,300 employees. We strive to create an inclusive and inspiring working environment that incorporates employee opinions expressed through our annual global employee opinion survey or discussions between the labor union and the company. |
Local Communities | LIXIL operates 78 factories worldwide. As a responsible corporate citizen, in addition to respecting local cultures and customs and creating responsible products and jobs, we also contribute to the development of the communities in which we operate. We hold community dialogue at factories and sales sites in Japan as well as community briefings and in-person and online factory visits to encourage communication with local residents. LIXIL employees also teach classes on social issues such as sanitation, the environment, and diversity at local schools. In addition, in response to the growing social interest in the SDGs, we are implementing the LIXIL x SDGs NEXT STAGE initiative that seeks to convey information about LIXIL’s SDGs activities to people in Japan.
LIXIL × SDGs NEXT STAGE (Japanese only, a new page will open) > |
NPOs, NGOs, and Educational and Research Institutions | We partner with non-profit organizations (NPOs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and educational and research institutions to facilitate research and solution development as well as to give seminars. |
Government Authorities and Industrial Associations | Engaging in vigorous and transparent dialogue with government authorities and municipalities is necessary to shape a sustainable society. As part of this process, we are involved in several industrial and business associations whose missions include engaging with public authorities on behalf of their respective industries, including building materials equipment and housing-related products,. Participating in these associations helps keep us up-to-date with current and pending changes in laws and international agreements that may affect our business. |
Through collaborating with international organizations, specialist groups, NGOs, and business partners that have expertise or influence in the fields of water and sanitation to develop products that are tailored to regional needs, we build local production and sales sites, develop human resource capabilities, promote sales activities, and create demand by raising awareness of pertinent issues.
We also make our financial donations through our “Cleanliness for All Project: Providing toilets and handwashing facilities worldwide” that aims to help improve sanitation and hygiene in countries and regions without basic sanitation facilities. In FYE2024, LIXIL donated a total of JPY 20 million through our MAKE A SPLASH! global partnership with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Major partners
Learn more about Impact through Global Partnerships >
In the United States, we donate our products to NGOs that provide accommodation for poverty-stricken families and veterans with disabilities. In Lowndes County, Alabama, where 80% of homes are not connected to the public sewage system, LIXIL Public Partners (LPP) is working to solve water, sanitation and hygiene-related issues by promoting and strengthening public-private partnerships, including collaboration with the Alabama state government, universities, public institutions, and wastewater treatment company FujiClean.
Pioneering Solutions to a Sewage Crisis in Rural Alabama >
Learn more about LIXIL Public Partners (LPP) >
Installing wastewater treatment facilities in Lowndes County, Alabama
The sanitation industry is suffering from a chronic shortage of specialist technicians. In order to help solve this problem, LIXIL cooperates with relevant organizations in the United States as well as Europe, Asia and Africa on the provision of training programs for plumbers, and also makes policy recommendations to the United States government.
Programs for training plumbers
Female students participating in a collaborative event with the Tools & Tiaras non-profit organization as part of the Trade UP program
GIVE program participants
We are working to help ensure access to basic sanitation and hygiene to people living in areas affected by natural disasters or conflicts so that they can live safely.
Inadequate or damaged facilities and insufficient human resources in disaster areas exacerbate already poor sanitary conditions and the spread of disease. LIXIL is committed to helping ensure safely managed sanitation and hygiene for communities in urgent need through teaching plumbing skills and providing SATO toilet solutions, a series of innovative, life-saving, and affordable toilet solutions.
Learn more about Global Sanitation & Hygiene >
In Japan, LIXIL provides a variety of natural disaster support including product and monetary donations. In the immediate aftermath of the 2024, Noto Peninsula earthquake LIXIL donated JPY 10 million to the specified non-profit organization, Japan Platform, for emergency humanitarian assistance in the affected areas, and the LIXIL labor union donated JPY 1 million to the Japan Red Cross Society. In addition, our employees raised funds for the disaster-stricken areas, and we conducted free inspections of LIXIL products, such as bathrooms, toilets, and kitchens, in damaged homes as part of our efforts to support restoration activities.
We also work to provide disaster relief through products based on years of research on disaster-related issues. Our Resilience Toilet that is designed with disasters in mind can be switched to use only one liter of water per flush in times of disaster compared to five liters for regular usage. This helps evacuation centers to adapt to water supply disruptions and other issues related to toilet facilities. We promote the installation of these toilets in schools, gyms, and government buildings that serve as evacuation centers as well as use them for local community disaster response training.
Resilience Toilet (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
When individuals make efforts to review the way they live for the global environment, it can help ensure a comfortable life for future generations. We remain committed to thinking and acting together with stakeholders surrounding the two key themes of mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
LIXIL has developed three Think Heat initiatives designed to support children around the world, and to protect and nurture children in local communities.
LIXIL implemented its “Liveable Home, Liveable Planet Project - A project to aid children affected by climate change -” to support children around the world who were impacted by climate change, and donated a total of JPY 20 million to Japan Committee for UNICEF in FYE2024. The donations are being used for two activities: emergency reconstruction support for children in disaster-stricken areas and adaptation measures to help better prepare for the impact of climate change. A portion of the donated total was sent to Pakistan, which suffered enormous damage from unprecedented heavy flooding, the likes of which the world has never seen before.
Our ECO Sharing through Windows Project aims to protect children in local communities from heat stroke by simultaneously promoting mitigation measures to reduce CO2 emissions from houses using high insulated windows and doors as well as adaptation measures to prevent indoor heat stroke by installing exterior sunshades onto residential dwellings. In partnership with local customers, governments, and business partners, we donate external sunshades to public childcare centers funded by a portion of the revenue earned from sales of thermal windows and other products that help reduce CO2 emissions. To date, we have donated external sunshades to 54 facilities in the Kita-Kanto, Koshinetsu, Kanto, Kansai, Chugoku, and Kyushu regions, while contributing to reduction of CO2 emissions by 5,874 tons in FYE2024.
Learn more about the ECO Sharing through Windows project (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
We have conducted outreach classes 188 times that were attended by roughly 5,396 people primarily at elementary schools to help raise awareness among children in local communities about health and the environmental issues. The initiative offers experiment- and experience-based classes and conveys general daily living habits that are both good for their health and the environment such as tips on thermal insulation and ventilation.
Learn more about the outreach classes (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
LIXIL is working with the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE), which promotes water efficiency policy at the state and federal level in the United States, to help teach communities how to conserve water. As part of the initiative, LIXIL donated water efficient products to retrofit into 200 homes as part of a pilot program to demonstrate the benefits of water efficiency in Houston, Texas. Meanwhile, the LIXIL team in charge of the Hydrific brand, which provides simple and smart water-saving solutions, is partnering with AWE in researching consumer water use and planning a pilot program using Hydrific products. LIXIL also sponsors an annual meeting of national experts and water utilities operators from across the United States to advance policy in this area.
Learn more about the Hydrific brand (A new page will open) >
In addition, we are working with Wastewater Alternatives Innovation (WAI) in the state of Hawaii to protect its aquatic ecosystems by improving sanitation and hygiene. The introduction of innovative solutions to replace existing sewage treatment systems is an essential part of this drive and LIXIL is conducting pilot programs for the practical application of water-efficient facilities as a WAI technology partner. LIXIL is also advocating policy recommendations for solving these sanitation issues across the state together with WAI.
LIXIL is committed to helping conserve water resources not only in the United States but also in the Middle East and Africa that face serious water scarcity.
We introduced water- and energy-saving touchless faucets in hospitals in Egypt in partnership with General Authority for Healthcare in Egypt (GAHC). In addition to saving water and energy in medical services, this project is also helping prevent the spread of infection and encourage cost savings.
A healthcare worker using a water-saving faucet
To help reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans, LIXIL has been developing water purification products and working to reduce plastic use in product packaging. We have also been supporting the social business start-up everwave, a team of natural scientists, engineers, and marine biologists who are dedicated to developing innovative technologies for cleaning up water systems, particularly rivers. . The social start-up employs solutions like the CollectiX boat to collect waste before it ends up in the ocean. LIXIL has also conducted initiatives together with its customers, including two campaigns to collect 1 kg of garbage on a CollectiX boat for every purchase of a GROHE Blue water system designed to reduce the use of water resources and plastic waste. Since launching these campaigns in 2022, garbage has been collected from rivers and other waterways in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bangkok, Thailand.
everwave (A new page will open) >
Learn more about GROHE Blue >
LIXIL has incorporated art brut artworks, drawn by neurodivergent artists contracted to Heralbony Co., Ltd., into our Ecocarat tile product line. By paying license royalties out of the product sales revenue to the artists, we aim to create new revenue streams for them and create an inclusive society in which everyone can play an active role, in collaboration with Heralbony Co., Ltd.
LIXIL aims to change the negative image against “disabilities” by presenting the artists’ products to the world at large in the form of a social business rather than support or welfare.
Learn more about ECOCARAT x ART BRUT (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
We conduct surveys and research and development on toilet use together with universities, NPOs, and other companies in order to help realize a society where all people can feel comfortable and safe when using toilets.
Major partners
Learn more about LIXIL’s public toilet initiatives (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
We are working with local authorities in Shanghai, China to set up aging experience centers where people can go to try out facilities and equipment designed for elderly citizens as part of the effort to address China’s aging society. LIXIL is providing various solutions for the local community, such as the renovation of barrier-free washrooms and bathrooms, to help foster a safe, hygienic, and comfortable environment for elderly people.
Aging Experience Centers
We hold Universal Run programs at elementary schools across Japan in cooperation with Para-athletes to foster children’s understanding of diversity.
Learn more about Promoting Broader Understanding of Diversity >
Our LIXIL Community Day, held in October every year, is a day when executives and employees from all workplaces and regions around the world take part in corporate citizenship activities relating to our three strategic pillars during working hours. Employees take on the entire responsibility of planning and executing each team’s activities, which helps improve employee engagement and promote understanding of our Impact Strategy. In FYE2024, over 9,400 people participated in more than 140 Community Day activities, including community cleaning, outreach classes, and initiatives to reduce adverse impacts on the environment.
We celebrate the efforts and achievements of participating members and invigorate activities by introducing outstanding initiatives that are making a difference in local communities to all employees via internal social media.
We are committed to advancing education for sustainable development (ESD) with an aim to address social issues such as global sanitation and hygiene, environmental problems, and diversity and inclusion by working with children who will be stewards of our future planet.
We conduct outreach classes using original teaching materials centered around our three strategic pillars: Global Sanitation & Hygiene, Water Conservation & Environmental Sustainability, and Diversity & Inclusion. Since 2010, 57,931 children have taken part in 1,756 outreach classes held at schools and events across Japan. The program is strengthening bonds regional LIXIL offices and employees who serve as lecturers have built with local communities.
For Future Generations (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
The INAX MUSEUMS in Tokoname, Aichi, which is best known for its pottery, serves the local community by holding exhibitions on themes of clay, pottery, manufacturing, and living. They also offer “see, touch, feel, learn” participatory experiences such as shiny clay ball making classes and workshops where local people can get their hands dirty in the soil.