Stakeholder Engagement

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Page image: Stakeholder Engagement

Progress in FYE2023

Dialogue with investors
368 times
Donation through Cleanliness for All project
2,380 million JPY
CO₂ reduction by ECO Sharing through Windows Project
6,796 ton
Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class
Conducted 665 times, participated by 18,727 people

Our Approach

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, and engaging in business activities that have a greater positive impact on society.

Our System

LIXIL’s Impact Strategy Committee consists of the executive officers and leaders from corporate functions and our business units. The committee promotes sustainability initiatives, taking into account the impacts on different stakeholders as well as our community development for and cooperation with stakeholders. Our business units also respond to and partner with a diverse range of stakeholders.

Key stakeholders

Key Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholders Type of Engagement
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 via telephone, email, 116 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 368 discussions this year 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 (2023) >
Employees LIXIL boasts approximately 51,500 employees. We strive to create an inclusive and inspiring working environment that incorporates employee opinions expressed through regular global employee opinion surveys or discussions between the union and the company.

Diversity & Equal Opportunity >
A Rewarding Workplace >

Local Communities LIXIL operates 80 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, 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.

Community >
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 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.

Stakeholder Cooperation in Our Three Strategic Pillars

Global Sanitation & Hygiene
MAKE A SPLASH! Partnership with UNICEF

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 low- and middle-income countries. 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.

  • Cleanliness for All project:Donated a portion of the proceeds from sales of integrated shower toilets and Navish Hands-Free faucet for kitchens, etc. (FYE2023: Approx. 23.8 million JPY*)
  • MAKE A SPLASH! with LIXIL Owners Club:Donation made for every newly registered LIXIL Owners Club member (FYE2021-FYE2023: Approx. 5.4 million JPY); awareness-building activities through our e-mail magazine
  • Sanitation and Hygiene Action project with Atsuto Uchida:Donation made based on the number of interactions with video and social media contents (FYE2022: Approx. 700,000 JPY)
  • Energy for Life campaign targeting 13 countries in the EMENA region:Donated a portion of the proceeds from each GROHE brand shower product sold (FYE2022: Approx. 1.2 million EUR)
  • Donation campaign for the Netherlands and Belgium:Coordinated with the GROHE brand’s shower product sales promotion campaign (FYE2021: Approx. 140,000 EUR)
  • Team Splash employee donation program:Donated through automatic payroll deductions (FYE2019-FYE2021: Total of Approx. 17 million JPY)
  • Toilets for All project:Donated a portion of the proceeds from each integrated shower toilet unit sold (FYE2020: Approx. 26 million JPY)
MAKE A SPLASH! のロゴ

UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.

Donation through Cleanliness for All project
23.8 million JPY
 
Children with the donated SATO toilets

Children with the donated SATO toilets

* The total amount combined with donations from LIXIL.

MAKE A SPLASH! (A new page will open) >
Cleanliness for All project (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
LIXIL Owners Club >
Sanitation and Hygiene Action project with Atsuto Uchida (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
Energy for Life (A new page will open) >


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.

Toilets for All Project 2017, 2018 report (Japanese only, a new page will open) PDF: 5.18MB >

Partnership Agreement with USAID

LIXIL and the USAID launched a new five-year cooperative agreement, the Partnership for Better Living (PBL), in October 2021. PBL aims to improve sustainable access to basic sanitation and hygiene for two million people by 2026 by improving the availability and reliability of the supply chain for products including SATO toilets and SATO Tap handwashing stations in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

In FYE2023, PBL completed a study of the plastics manufacturing and distribution landscape in West Africa to facilitate the exploration of SATO expansion opportunities in the region. In addition, PBL conducted extensive interviews with NGOs that procure SATO products for their programs, leaders of USAID water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects, and SATO manufacturers to help us identify sales and partnership opportunities, address supply chain challenges, and formulate effective measures for achieving our targets.

Global Sanitation & Hygiene >

Water Conservation & Environmental Sustainability
Think Heat: Let’s THINK about Eco-and People-Friendly Temperatures

We launched our THINK HEAT (current “Think Heat”) initiatives in 2018 to promote greater awareness and interest in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Since then, we have developed a variety of activities that involve the consideration, together with stakeholders, of 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.

When individuals make efforts to review the way they live for the global environment, it can help ensure a comfortable life for future generations.

Think Heat key visual

Based on this belief, we will continue to evolve our joint deliberations and action with customers for our children’s future by homing in on the key concepts of mitigation and adaptation to climate change. We already operate our ECO Sharing through Windows Project and conduct outreach classes aimed at protecting and educating children in local communities. We will support children affected by climate change worldwide by making financial donations to UNICEF. For every selected product sold in Japan, including highly insulated windows and front doors, we will contribute 50 JPY from the proceeds.

Think Heat Reducing and addressing global climate change into the future (Japanese only, a new page will open) >

Initiatives to Date

Cool de Peace Project

We have been working 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. Based on the test results, the city launched a new subsidy for erecting external sunshades on residential buildings, which is contributing to heatstroke prevention in the city.

Children discussing heatstroke prevention in the school and community (Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School)

Children discussing heatstroke prevention in the school and community (Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School)

From FYE2021 to FYE2022, we examined ways to both prevent heatstroke and ensure good ventilation at Iwamatsu Kita Elementary School in Fuji City, Shizuoka. We installed Style Shades in the classroom and encouraged students to discuss the effects of the shades. We also conducted surveys relating to the prevention of heatstroke in the community. In addition, at the Iwamatsu Junior High School, also in Fuji City, we examined how effective improving classroom temperature conditions was at reducing air-conditioner power consumption.

LIXIL discloses information on our expertise and verification results gained through activities so far nationwide in Japan through our website and other channels.

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 (Adaptation Field, Dissemination and Promotion Division). 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.

Minister of the Environment Award for Climate Change Action (Japanese only, a new page will open) >

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.

CO₂reduction from ECO Sharing through Windows Project
6,796 tons

From FYE2020 to FYE2023, we donated Style Shades to 42 facilities in the Kita-Kanto, Koshinetsu, Kanto, Kansai, Chugoku, and Kyushu regions, reducing CO2 emissions by a total of 6,796 tons. By newly adding Chugoku region in FYE2023, the number of cooperating companies increased to 179 nationwide. As a result of the project, we received requests from local authorities to conduct our “Healthy Living and Good for the Environment” outreach classes. This has helped encourage stronger relationships among parties determined to counter climate change.

These initiatives earned high praise, with the ECO Sharing through Windows Project being presented with a 2022 Japan’s Minister of the Environment Award for Climate Action (Mitigation and Adaptation Field, Dissemination and Promotion Division).

Outreach Classes: Healthy Living and Good for the Environment

We have conducted outreach classes 152 times for about 4,300 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. The outreach classes provided plenty of opportunity to expand the reach of our activities in FYE2023 as we participated in environmental events hosted by local authorities and cooperated in different ways with several local governments.

LIXIL’s Outreach Classes >

An environmental event in Ube City, Yamaguchi

An environmental event in Ube City, Yamaguchi

Healthy Living and Good for the Environment outreach classes
Conducted152 times, participated by approx. 4,300 people

Gen Z Students and LIXIL Employees Share Their Views on Corporate Environmental Activities

In September 2022, LIXIL invited university students to take part in an online event entitled “Exploring Corporate Environmental Activities with Gen Z Representatives.” Roughly 200 employees participated in the event and discussed the idea of how to make environmental issues your own. We heard actual views on companies’ products and services, such as the fact that members of Gen Z or younger do not consider thoughts on SDGs to be particularly special and prefer to select products with a story in product development, such as the use of recycled materials. These opinions reminded the participants of the importance attached to the tandem pursuit of business activities and environmental initiatives.

A LIXIL executive officer and young employees take part in the event

A LIXIL executive officer and young employees take part in the event

An online event encouraging employees to think about corporate environmental activities (Japanese only, a new page will open) >

Reducing Marine Plastic Pollution

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.

everwave (A new page will open) >

Investigating the Processing of Used Paper Diapers

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.

Investigating the Environmental Effects of Processing Post-Consumer Diapers (Japanese only) >

Industry-Government-Academia Partnership for Biodiversity Conservation

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.

Water Conservation & Environmental Sustainability >

Diversity & Inclusion
Collaborative Project with Heralbony Co., Ltd: Tiles Featuring Artworks by Neurodivergent Artists

LIXIL has launched a new product line that incorporates art brut artworks, drawn by neurodivergent artists contracted to Heralbony Co., Ltd., into our Ecocarat tile. 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.

Promoting Universal Design >

Inclusive Public Toilet Initiatives

We conduct surveys and research and development 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.

In FYE2023, we launched a demonstration experiment relating to toilet use in facilities for seniors in cooperation with Obu City, Aichi and the Flower Search Obu, a fee-charging retirement home with nursing care. Facilities that care for seniors currently face various issues relating to the ways residents use toilets. LIXIL is working to solve these issues by researching and developing IoT and AI-driven toilet solutions called Information from the Toilet.

Furthermore, in order to encourage the wider adoption of toilet spaces that anyone can feel comfortable using, we added a new plan to the Public Toilet Space BIM Model,* which we initially developed with Comany, Inc., in response to revisions made by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to the Architectural Design Standards Taking into Consideration Smooth Use by Elderly People and People with Disabilities in 2021. We aim to create an inclusive public toilet space that better fulfills the needs and desires of designers by expanding the combination of barrier-free toilet functions and offering 20 versions of 10 toilet types.

* Building Information Modeling (BIM) combines data on the toilet bowls and peripheral accessories that make up a toilet space and toilet booths. BIM is a mechanism that helps promote efficient construction by creating three-dimensional models of buildings on a computer.

Demonstration experiment on toilet use in care facilities for seniors (Japanese only) >
Added a new plan to the Public Toilet Space BIM Model (Japanese only) >

Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class

We hold Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class programs 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, 18,727 children have taken part in 665 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 enlisted the support of the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan and became an official sponsor of the Japan Para Athletics in FYE2023, with the aim of creating an inclusive society.

We also held special-edition Universal Run: Chasing Classes and Dance Classes on five occasions together with the professional basketball team Sun Rockers Shibuya, for which LIXIL serves as an official partner, and SHiDAX DAISHINTO HUMAN SERVICE Inc., which operates after-school clubs at elementary schools in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class (Left: Keita Sato, sprit runner, Toyota Motor Corporation)

Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class (Left: Keita Sato, sprit runner, Toyota Motor Corporation)

Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class programs
Conducted 665 times, participated by 18,727 people

Universal Run: Sports Prosthetic Limb Experience Class (Japanese only, a new page will open) >
Diversity & Inclusion >

Major Partnerships

UNICEF Promoting the distribution of toilets and handwashing facilities and raising sanitation awareness in Asia and Africa.

MAKE A SPLASH! global partnership with UNICEF >

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Encouraging the wider use of toilet and handwashing products and promoting awareness in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Partnership with USAID >

FINISH Mondial Cooperating with the financial service provider for improvement of the sanitation environment in people’s homes and expand the hygiene business.

Partnership with FINISH Mondial >

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Conveying the importance of handwashing habits and holding hands-on SATO Tap experience sessions in India;
Providing webinars conducted by the SATO business division for government officials involved in public health from five French-speaking African countries.

Partnership with JICA >

Toilet Board Coalition Developing sustainable, scalable sanitation solutions.

Toilet Board Coalition (A new page will open) >

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 >

Jamban.id, Tukang.com, Ethis, Gringgo, FRDAY Aiming to improve sanitation in public areas in Indonesia, including tourist attractions, and have a positive impact on economic and social benefits for local people.
Promoting initiatives so that all visitors, both Indonesians and foreign tourists, can experience easy access to clean, healthy, safe, and comfortable toilets.

Details of the project (A new page will open) >

everwave As part of EMENA region’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 >

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 >

Heralbony Selling tiles featuring artworks by neurodivergent artists for an inclusive society;
Offering a social business model paying license royalties out of the product sales revenue to the artists.
Collaboration with Heralbony >
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 >

Comany, Inc. Jointly developed the Public Toilet Space BIM Model to encourage the wider adoption of toilet spaces that anyone can feel comfortable using.

Details of the project >

Flower Search Obu (a fee-charging retirement home with nursing care) A demonstration experiment using IoT and AI-driven solutions to address issues related to toilet use by residents.

Details of the project >

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