LIXIL makes pioneering water and housing products that solve everyday, real-life challenges, making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.
We strive to solve social issues by collaborating with the stakeholders who support our business activities.
LIXIL has positioned 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 facilities are located, shareholders and investors, and our employees and their families, to collect and reflect their opinions in our business operations and corporate social responsibility activities.
LIXIL’s Impact Strategy Committee consists of the executive officers and leaders from corporate functions and our business units. The committee deliberates on the impacts upon different stakeholders as well as on our community development for and cooperation with stakeholders as it promotes sustainability initiatives. Our business units also respond to and partner with a diverse range of stakeholders.
Stakeholders | Type of Engagement |
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Customers | We incorporate customer opinions and provide timely and appropriate disclosure on our products and services. We offer customer support via telephone, email, 111 showrooms worldwide, and online showrooms. Customer Satisfaction > |
Suppliers | We 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. Supply Chain Management > |
Shareholders and Investors | We held 285 discussions this year with investors around the world to help promote sustainable growth and enhance corporate value. In April 2021 and May 2022, we held an online ESG briefing for investors, where we explained our strategies to sustainably enhance our corporate value, including our Value Creation Process, CR Strategy, and governance structure, as well as answered to 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 > |
Employees | LIXIL boasts approximately 52,000 employees. We strive to create an inspiring working environment that encourages diversity and incorporates employee opinions expressed through regular global employee opinion surveys or discussions between the union and the company. Our People > |
Local Communities | LIXIL operates 79 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 dialogues at factories and sales bases in Japan to encourage communication with local residents. LIXIL employees also teach classes on social issues such as sanitation and the environment 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. Community > |
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 development related to global sanitation, and support education for sustainable development (ESD) for the next generation. |
Government Authorities and Industrial Associations | Engaging in vigorous and transparent dialogue with government authorities 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 window sashes, plumbing, and metals. 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 our MAKE A SPLASH! global partnership with UNICEF, LIXIL helps to establish markets for hygiene-related goods such as toilets and handwashing products and to improve the overall sanitation environment in emerging markets. We make donations to MAKE A SPLASH! And conduct various activities to increase awareness of sanitation and hygiene issues together with end users, building contractors and other professional users, and LIXIL employees.
UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.
Children with the donated SATO toilets
*From FYE2018 to FYE2019, we implemented the Toilets for All Project in cooperation with various different partners. We donated one SATO toilet to a country in Asia or Africa for each integrated shower toilet purchased by a customer, resulting in total donations of 400,000 units.
Through our five-year Partnership for Better Living (PBL) agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed in October 2021, LIXIL will deploy SATO toilets and SATO Tap handwashing stations in up to 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The partnership aims to improve access to basic sanitation for two million people by 2026.
We are also collaborating with USAID’s Sons and Daughters of the Soil (SODAS) campaign in Uganda to promote the use of hygiene solutions. SODAS seeks to encourage urban workers to convey sanitation improvements when visiting their rural hometowns. We use outreach programs and social media campaigns to teach local residents how to upgrade their open pit toilets. USAID estimates 750,000 people will benefit from the campaign.
THINK HEAT is a collection of initiatives in which we consider with stakeholders the importance of indoor temperature, which can cause heatstroke or heat shock, and the efficient use of heaters and air conditioners, which account for approximately 28% of household energy consumption. Our aim here is to help promote climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Cool de Peace Project
We work with local authorities to build awareness of how to prevent indoor heatstroke and install sunshade protection.
In addition to helping the city hold seminars from FYE2019 on how to prevent indoor heatstroke in Kumagaya City, Saitama, we also worked on some verification testing in houses of test volunteers and uninhabited houses equipped with external Style Shade sun blinds in FYE2020. Based on the test results, the city launched in April 2020 a new subsidy for erecting external sunshades on residential buildings, which is contributing to heatstroke prevention in the city.
In FYE2021, at Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School in Fuji City, Shizuoka, we also conducted a collaborative experiment designed to improve classroom environments in summer during the COVID-19 pandemic. We installed Style Shades in the classroom, and the students measured, discussed, and presented their findings on the effects of the shades and examined with LIXIL how to both prevent heatstroke and ensure good ventilation.
In FYE2022, we installed Style Shades in the classrooms at Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School, conveyed information on effective ventilation methods across the school, and conducted research and surveys relating to the prevention of heatstroke in the community. We also held meetings to enable students to present the results of their comprehensive learning studies and the research and to talk about heatstroke prevention in their own community. At the Iwamatsu Junior High School, also in Fuji City, we examined how effective installing sunshades was at improving classroom temperature conditions and reducing air-conditioner power consumption. In addition to producing and distributing posters on preventing heatstroke, we are also encouraging initiatives for producing shades through upcycling activities and verifying their efficacy. These activities demonstrate how environmental and SDGs education can be expanded by encouraging independent learning among students.
Alongside the demonstration testing and the offering of advice and information to the children, LIXIL also discloses information on our activities and verification results nationwide in Japan through our website and other channels. Going forward, we will consider expanding these activities across more schools together with local authorities.
Our initiatives have been highly praised, with the Cool de Peace Project being awarded the Grand Prize of the 2021 Japan’s Minister of the Environment Awards for Climate Action (Dissemination/Promotion Division, Adaptation Field). Following its achievement in the previous year, Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School won First Prize in the Team Category and Iwamatsu Junior High School won First Prize in the Team Category and a Top Runner award in the Public Section at the 2021 Hitosuzumi Awards run by the secretariat of the Heat Illness Prevention – Communication Project.
Children discussing heatstroke prevention in the school and community (Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School)
ECO Sharing through Windows Project
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 eco-friendly products that help reduce CO2 emissions. We donated Style Shades to five facilities in the Kyushu region in FYE2020, six facilitates in the Kita-Kanto and Koshinetsu regions in FYE2021, and 15 facilities in the Kita-Kanto, Koshinetsu, Kanto, and Kansai regions in FYE2022, reducing CO2 emissions by a total of 6,533 tons. Going forward, we plan to further promote these efforts by expanding our target areas.
Outreach Classes: Healthy Living and Good for the Environment
We have conducted outreach classes 107 times for about 3,200 people primarily at elementary schools. We offer experiment- and experience-based classes and convey tips on thermal insulation and ventilation and general daily living habits that are both good for your health and the environment. We have also managed to strengthen relationships with business partners by conducting joint activities in some regions.
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 manufacturing and packaging. We have also been supporting the NGO everwave, a team of natural scientists, architects, engineers, and marine biologists who come together to devise ways of improving marine plastic collection. Since roughly 80% of marine plastic flows into the ocean from rivers, everwave is developing a floating platform designed to collect plastic particles in the rivers. Apart from this, they already use the so-called CollectiX garbage collection boats which locate and collect garbage in lakes or rivers. After successful tests, the CollectiX boat was used in rivers in Slovakia in FYE2021 and in Bosnia and Herzegovina in FYE2022.
LIXIL has started to investigate the environmental effects of processing used paper diapers in cooperation with the Sewage and Wastewater Management Department of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Toyota City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau, and the Sankyuen nursing home. Used diapers that contain a large amount of liquid are considered to have a heavy environmental toll when incinerated. Using a paper diaper processing machine with a crushing mechanism developed by LIXIL, we investigate the effects on water quality and the volume of CO2 emissions generated when incinerating the reduced volume of diapers. Our aim is to realize a society in which diverse people can live with peace of mind while also conserving the environment.
In October 2021, we accepted the mymizu (my water) Challenge. Over 2,600 employees worldwide formed teams and competed to see how many single-use plastic bottles they could reduce by using their own reusable bottles and cups. The result was a resounding reduction of approximately 67,000 plastic bottles in one month, more than double the previous year’s achievement.
LIXIL participates in a project that aims to create a network of ecosystems in corporate green spaces across the coastal area of the Chita Peninsula in Aichi. The aim of this initiative is to conserve biodiversity, and is joined by various industry-government-academia partners, including local authorities, companies, and student organizations.
The theme of this initiative is to develop future advocates as well as to conserve biodiversity. The project has been recognized as a certified collaborative project by the Japan Committee for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNDB-J).
LIXIL has been participating in activities since the project was launched in 2011, creating pathways for animals on borderlines with other companies in the green areas of the Chita Plant and facilitating the smooth movement of living things on green belt land. We are also working with students to monitor living things and cooperating on events to open green corporate spaces to local residents.
We conduct surveys on toilet use together with universities, NPOs, and companies in order to help realize a society which offers toilets that all people can feel comfortable and safe when using.
Through our Study Group on All-Gender Use of Office Toilets, launched in partnership with Kanazawa University and Comany Inc., we investigated toilet use by transgender people and general awareness of transgender issues in the office and identified a need for more diverse toilets.
We also conducted a Fact-Finding Survey on Public Toilet Use by Children with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities in conjunction with the Foundation for Yokohama Rehabilitation Services to better understand the needs of children with developmental disabilities and their caregivers. We are now investigating the potential creation of unisex “spacious toilets” that consider odor, sound, and light.
Based on these surveys, we are pursuing the following efforts to create an inclusive public toilet environment that everyone can use with ease.
• Develop barrier-free accessible Mobile Toilet
• Establish gender-neutral toilets where people can choose the cubicle that best suits them
• Provide public toilet space that everyone can use with ease
We hold Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class at elementary schools across Japan in cooperation with athletes who use prosthetic limbs for sports. We seek to promote children’s understanding of diversity by giving them the opportunity to talk with athletes and experience what it feels like to walk with a prosthetic limb. The classes are conducted in cooperation with local schools, governments, and our local employees. So far, 17,065 children have taken part in 617 events.
Fueled by our goal to improve awareness and understanding of people with disabilities and expand opportunities for people with disabilities to participate in society, we reviewed our strategy and management structure in FYE2022. Going forward, we will enlist the support of the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan to extend the number of target schools and expand our awareness programs.
Mikio Ikeda, sprint runner, D.A.Consortium
Briefing online for investors, media, and relevant organizations, with our CEO, Chairperson of the CR Committee, and two independent outside directors taking the stage.
“At LIXIL, we don’t see ESG initiatives as a necessary cost, but rather as a solution to address the issues we are facing. Our impact is not only about meeting our ESG obligations, but truly living our purpose of making better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere,” said CEO Kinya Seto.
We also engaged in dialogue with stakeholders by responding to questions during the Q&A session on how to measure the impact on society and stakeholders and what initiatives we were taking to improve the performance of existing homes.
UNICEF | Promoting the distribution of toilets and handwashing facilities and raising sanitation awareness in Asia and Africa. MAKE A SPLASH! global partnership with UNICEF > |
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) | Conveying the importance of handwashing habits and holding hands-on SATO Tap experience sessions in India; Provided a webinar to government officials involved in public health from five African countries. Partnership with JICA > |
WaterAid | Improving the lives of people in areas without hygienic toilets. Prepared a white paper analyzing socioeconomic losses associated with poor sanitation. The white paper (A new page will open) PDF: 10.2MB > |
Toilet Board Coalition | Developing sustainable, scalable sanitation solutions. Toilet Board Coalition(A new page will open) > |
everwave | As part of EMENA’s less plastic engagement, collaboration with social business everwave which develops active and passive clean-up technologies for rivers to collect waste before it pollutes the oceans. Reducing Marine Plastic Pollution > |
Alabama Department of Public Health(ADPH) | Collaborating on piloting innovative wastewater treatment solutions that are both viable and scalable to tackle local sanitation challenges. Details of the project (A new page will open) > |
Tools & Tiaras | Promoting diversity and inclusion in the construction industry in US, and supporting female students in their career explorations through mentoring and training. Details of the project (A new page will open) > |
Japanese Red Cross Kumamoto Hospital and GK Sekkei Inc. | Jointly studying the potential impact of our mobile bathroom product withCUBE on healthcare and disaster response facilities. Details of the joint study (Japanese Only / A new page will open) PDF: 842KB > |
Comany Inc./Kanazawa University | Launched a Study Group on All-Gender Use of Office Toilets and investigated toilet use and awareness of relevant issues in the office. Details of the study (Japanese Only / A new page will open) PDF: 873KB > |
profine | Promoted high-performance housing construction and resource recycling as part of our efforts to realize a sustainable society; Jointly developed and commercialized resin window EW that leveraged the German company’s advanced resin extrusion and recycling technologies. Details of the product and joint development activities (Japanese Only / A new page will open) PDF 1.06MB > |