What is Social Responsibility of DOWA?
Challenging Unexplored Area
Aiming at being a Truly Excellent CompanyYoshikawa
Last year was the year of launching the “newly born DOWA”. It was also the second year of our three-year business plan of “Challenging Unexplored Area, by raising the restructuring level of Business Restructuring Plan III～Jump up to the New Stage”. It was indeed a very important year for us.
Although we renewed the past record of the highest profit due to the favorable economic condition of metal price increase in the first half of the year, in the last half our business environment worsened due to the soaring energy and material prices, leaving us in a very difficult condition.
We foresee that difficult business condition will continue for a while this year, but we must remain vigilant and go on to gain the fruit of our large scale investment made last year and to develop new products for our future growth.
Kohno
This year is not only the finishing up year of our business restructuring plan III, but also the year of preparing the next medium-term business plan. We must consider various actions and measures aimed at next five years and ten years ahead. We are strengthening the forefront our business, which is the source of the DOWA group’s revenue, by further promoting the reform of the forefront that we started last year. We will also promote fostering human resources in each tier of our operations from the management to the forefront. And we aim at a “Lithe DOWA” that is not easily affected by economic conditions.
Yoshikawa
It is important to strengthen the business quality, but CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility, which is a must in order to aim at being a Truly Excellent Company. The DOWA group renewed Environment Report, renaming it to CSR Report last year, and implemented various measures and actions on CSR. Now it time for us to stop and think about “CSR of DOWA”.
What is Social Responsibility of DOWA?
In "the First CSR Year"Yoshikawa
The DOWA group has its roots in reclamation of the Kojima Bay of Okayama and development of the Kosaka mine of Akita. We have worked together with local communities for more than 100 years. We have continued to assume an important social responsibility of steadily supplying raw materials since then, as a member of the non-ferrous industry that supports all other industries from behind the scene.
Kohno
Recently serious global issues of large scale destruction of nature and environmental contamination, resulting from depletion of metal resources and mine developments have been closed up. In addition to our mission of steadily supplying raw materials, I believe DOWA’s role will attract more attention and expectations as importance of our metal recycling business using metals extracted from used products both in Japan and overseas increases.
Yoshikawa
DOWA must continue to play this important role of contributing to the society through our five recycling businesses of “Smelting and Refining”, “Environment & Recycle”,“Electronics Materials”,“Metal Working” and “Heat Treatment” as a leader of the industry. Also, I think it is necessary for every employee of DOWA, who is the backbone of DOWA’s CSR activities, to be aware of and practice his/her CSR in everyday life.
Kohno
Yes, I think so, too. This year I want to focus not only on business but also on the individual employee’s practice of CSR. We aim at building a system to implement four keywords of our CSR Action Guideline: Specialty, Speed, Open and Responsibility in every workplace and every employee’s action. We also review our existing basic environmental policy and strive to establish fairness and honesty in each employee’s action and awareness through contribution to earth’s environment and our local communities. We also will establish a system to evaluate and award employees activities that contribute to environments and societies, including “President Environment Awards”,and promote CSR activities across the entire DOWA group.
Yoshikawa
I hope such corporate culture will be implemented across the DOWA group in order to respond more robustly to growing expectations to DOWA from external communities. Now that the system is in place to kick off “the first CSR year”,including guidelines and policies, we must put the system going.
Towards Prevention of Global Warming
DOWA aims at being “Carbon Neutral”.Yoshikawa
Needless to say, now it is time for every country over the world to tackle together towards reducing global warming. The DOWA group puts up the corporate philosophy of contributing to earth’s environment. We must commit ourselves to fight global warming more actively than before.
Kohno
Quantity of CO2 generated in connection with our smelting, refining and waste management businesses is naturally increasing along with our expansion of business scale. We aim at being “Carbon Neutral” through our efforts to offset this increase with energy saving, various recycling businesses and contributing to reduction of CO2 emission through chlorofluorocarbon destruction and CDM businesses.
