Green Reporting Award 2002
The results of the examination for the contest and general comments
TOYO KEIZAI INC. all rights reserved.
Introduction
242 companies submitted entries for the fifth Green Reporting Award. The number of entrants has been increasing steadily, up by 50 companies from last year, while in terms of content too, the reports submitted made this a more sophisticated contest than ever before.
This time we narrowed the field to 33 candidates from the preliminary screening carried out by the Working Group, composed of sponsor representatives. In the final screening we selected one company for First Prize, two for Second Prize, and 14 for Third Prize. There were also special prizes. From among six of the companies which passed the preliminary screening, two companies were awarded the Site Report Prize and one the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Prize.
In addition, their results on this occasion made two more companies eligible for the Established Reporter Prize, awarded on the basis of total prize-winning performance, bringing the number of companies holding this prize up to a total of three.
General Comments
The environmental reports submitted showed a remarkable improvement overall while the information provided has become more and more substantial in terms both of quality and quantity. Those reports which provided something extra came in for high praise on this occasion. These were the ones which had been compiled with a view to further evolutions in environmental reporting and also the ones which showed particular ardor and enthusiasm.
Three companies, Seiyu Ltd., Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., and Ricoh Co., Ltd., fought for the First Prize till the end. Seiyu was highly praised for its disclosure of detailed data including information on products which take the environment into consideration and even information about the construction stage of its stores. Kirin Brewery was praised for its idea of attaching a CD including a complete set of past data as well as for the overall clarity of its environmental report. Ricoh came in for particular praise for its multi-faceted analyses relating to environmental management and the completeness of its environmental report as a whole. The opinion of the judges was almost equally divided about these three companies, but in the end a few more voices were raised in support of Seiyu's meticulous and sincere environmental disclosure, resulting in First Prize for Seiyu, and Second Prizes for Kirin Brewery and Ricoh.
In view of the increase in the number of entrants, 14 companies were chosen for Third Prize. The business category of electric appliances and electronics was best represented, with four companies. Seiko Epson Corporation was particularly praised for the details it provided about underground water purification including location and data. NEC received kudos for compiling its report from a joint initiative with an environmental non-profit organization while the Matsushita Electric Group was noted for the clarity of its reporting vision and its efforts to ensure reliability. Sony was praised for its careful explanation of the environmental impacts from the viewpoint of resource balance within the life cycle as a whole.
Two companies from the car industry were chosen. The environmental report by Toyota Motor Corp. was highly regarded this year too for comprehensively showing efforts to get to grips with the environment. In the case of Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. a first-time prizewinner, it was the originality of its environmental report, which set concepts out clearly, that was appreciated.
Two companies from the energy industry were also chosen. Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. was praised for reader-friendly expressions and comprehensible technical explanations. Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd. became another first-time prizewinner since the judges liked the way it disclosed its own position on the basis of an understanding of the environmental impacts caused by its business and also the way its report started from the oil field development stage.
In the food and beverage industry, Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd., which, with an Internet version, kept the report itself to ten pages, was praised for the originality of such a move as well as for the comprehensibility of its report. In the ceramic industry INAX won a prize for its clear explanation of material flow and its efforts at communication.
Another feature of the competition this time was the large number of first-time prizewinners. In the distribution industry AEON Co., Ltd. won a prize for the first time for providing clear, comprehensible documentation. A construction company, Ohbayashi Corp., which showed simply and clearly the important issues and its response to them and Taiheiyo Cement Corp., from the materials' industry, which provided numerical information about its contributions to the environmental problem were also two first-time prizewinners. A not particularly large company, Tabai Espec Corp., which deals in environmental testing devices, was awarded for the first time, even though it began to issue environment reports recently, for its detailed reference to the guidelines, and its material balance disclosure which included all materials.
In the special prize category, two companies were chosen for the Site Report Prize. These were Ricoh Fukui Office and Sony EMCS Corp. Kisarazu Tec. Both companies provided excellent environmental reports which disclosed detailed information of interest to local residents. Environmental Control Center Co., involved in environmental surveys and consulting, won the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Prize. The original way in which its environmental report had been prepared, indicating where improvements had been made on the basis of readers' opinions, appealed to the judges.
IBM Japan, Ltd., winner of last year's Established Reporter Prize, was deemed to have attained the same standard this year too. Kirin Brewery and Ricoh also became new winners of the Established Reporter Prize, because they received prizes this year as well.
As shown by the fact that there were eight first-time prizewinners this year including special prizewinners, the difference among candidate companies is narrowing. Indeed, the reports of many of the companies which missed out on a prize this time were in no way inferior to those of companies which were rewarded. Moreover, in the course of the screening process, there were voices which clamored for further improvements such as more complete data on energy consumption, etc in different areas and coverage of all aspects of each business. This competition made us realize that there is still much room for development in environmental reports.
(Takeshi Mizuguchi, Member of Panel of Judges)
Award
- The First Prize:
THE SEIYU,LTD.
- The Second Prizes:
KIRIN BREWERY CO.,LTD.
RICOH Group
- The Third Prizes:
AEON CO.,LTD
INAX CORPORATION
OSAKA GAS CO.,LTD.
OBAYASHI CORPORATION
COSMO OIL CO.,LTD.
SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
SONY CORP.
DAIHATSU MOTOR CO.,LTD.
TAIHEIYO CEMENT CORP.
TAKARA SHUZO CO.,LTD.
TABAI ESPEC CORP
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
NEC Corporation
Matsushita Electric Group
- Prize for Site Report:
Sony EMCS Corporation Kisarazu TEC
RICOH Fukui Plant
- Prize for SME:
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL CENTER CO.,LTD.
- Established Reporter:
IBM Japan Ltd.
KIRIN BREWERY CO.,LTD.
RICOH Group
Criteria for judgment
The corporate environmental reports were examined and judged in a comprehensive manner according to the following criteria:
- [1] The company's principles concerning environmental information disclosure and environmental preservation activities should be clearly defined.
- [2] The report should be systematically compiled and relations and priorities among various environmental factors should be clearly shown.
- [3] The report should disclose corporate environmental performance in a comprehensive, clear-cut manner.
- [4] The report should include self-evaluation and self-analysis of corporate environmental performance.
- [5] The information contained in the report should be reliable and serve as a good communication tool.
Judges
- -Mie Asaoka
President, Kikonetwork ; Attorney at law
- -Mariko Kawaguchi
Chartered Member, Security Analysts Association of Japan; Board member, Valdez Society
- -Kouichirou Kishikawa
Director, Japan Environmental Managers and Auditors Society
- -Tomoko Kurasaka
Certified Public Accountant
- -Katsuhiko Kokubu
Professor, School of Business Administration, Kobe University
- -Toshihiko Goto
Co-Chair, Environmental Auditing Research Group
- -Kimie Tsunoda
Consumer specialist; Co-cordinator, Green Reporting Forum
- -Keiichi Nagamatsu
Managing Director, Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations)
- -Takeshi Mizuguchi
Assistant Professor, Takasaki City University of Economics
- -Tateki Mizuno
Director, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and technology, AIST Tohoku
- -Fumikazu Yoshida
Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Hokkaido University
- -Junji Asano
Chairman, TOYO KEIZAI INC.
Sponsored by: TOYO KEIZAI INC.
Green Reporting Forum
