The Most Important Outcome of a Recycling-Oriented Society (Izumi Co., Ltd.)Hiroshima for Global Peace

The Most Important Outcome of a Recycling-Oriented Society (Izumi Co., Ltd.)

The SDG Promotion Division’s challenge: Accelerating the SDGs

For some time, Izumi Co., Ltd. has been taking various environmentally friendly measures, such as using rooftop solar power generation to supplement the electricity used in its stores and collecting plastic containers. In order to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags, the company has been calling for people to bring their own shopping bags since 1997, and the percentage of people who bring their own bags is now over 80%. Then, in April of this year, the SDGs Promotion Division was established, marking a new start for the company. Its activities include food drives, in which people bring in surplus food from their homes and donate it to organizations that need it, and the “Mogumogu Challenge,” in which stickers are placed on products that are about to expire to encourage people to buy them. As such, the company is aiming to create activities that are easy for customers to understand and engage in and to promote the SDGs both inside and outside the company.

A briefing session from when the Mogumogu Challenge was introduced

Acting as an intermediary for individuals’ thoughtfulness

The food drive is a very easy activity to get involved in as all participants have to do is bring food to the store and put it in a special box. As of late August, about 7,000 items of food were collected. Receipts from the organizations receiving the donations motivate the employees to take part. Also, by donating food to organizations located near the stores, they feel that they are contributing more to the community. Even employees who are not directly involved in these activities engage naturally with the SDGs in their daily work, such as making the ordering system more efficient, working out the timing of discounts, and reducing food loss through the use of special tables for products with close sell-by dates.
Above all, it is the words of gratitude from customers and the local community that give the employees a boost.

The most important outcome of a recycling-oriented society

SDGs activities do not generate direct profits. So how does Izumi, as a company, strike a balance between them and the financial side of things? I believe that Izumi’s initiatives represent a society based on cycles of thoughtfulness. By making customers aware of the SDGs activities that Izumi engages in, the company is able to increase its corporate value and win more customers. This in turn enables it to offer new services and contribute to the community. The activities of Izumi’s Youme Town stores, which are familiar to and well-loved by the city’s residents, have a great impact on us, and I believe that this thoughtfulness will continue to circulate. I feel that activities carried out jointly with the community, not for immediate profit but for the future, will surely reach the hearts of many people and change individual mindsets.