Green Procurement

Green procurement policy

At the Brother Group which operates its business globally, safety and environmental impacts are prime considerations at every stage of a product's life cycle, from design, development, manufacturing, customer usage, and disposal, to reuse and recycling, as set out in its basic environmental policy of the Brother Group Environmental Policy. Since 2001, under the Brother Group Global Charter, we have been implementing green procurement activities in order to preferentially procure eco-conscious parts and materials for use in the products we sell. In 2002, to promote manufacturing of eco-conscious products together with our suppliers, we issued the Brother Group Environmental Policy and the Brother Group Green Procurement Standards, which define specific requests to our suppliers. We have been revising these documents based on the trends in laws and regulations.
The Brother Group requests its suppliers to carry out business activities in line with the Brother Group Environmental Policy. In order to ensure their full compliance with the environmental policy as well as laws and regulations, we hold individual information sessions for new prospective suppliers, as a rule. Furthermore, in the event the Brother Group Green Procurement Standards are revised, we inform our suppliers about the revisions, ensure their understanding, and obtain their written consent. In 2018, we held worker-level seminars targeting those in charge of suppliers at each manufacturing facility (more than 30 times throughout the group) to discuss revisions to the Brother Group Green Procurement Standards and modifications to the green procurement system, and also to ensure full understanding of the environmental policy.
Additionally, the Brother Group audits its suppliers at least once every three years to check their management systems and operations related to laws and regulations, and ensure that the goods we purchase satisfy these standards.

Brother Group Green Procurement Standards

Quick compliance with global environmental laws and regulations

The Brother Group has updated the Brother Group Green Procurement Standards as necessary to comply with various countries' environmental laws and regulations, which are constantly being extended in scope. The Brother Group Green Procurement Standards classify substances whose use is globally restricted by laws and regulations, etc. as "prohibited chemical substances (Level A)," and we regulate their content in the goods to be delivered to the Brother Group. Additionally, outside prohibited chemical substances (Level A), the controlled substances designated by chemSHERPA, being endorsed by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, are classified as "controlled chemical substances (Level B)." The content of these substances is controlled in the goods to be delivered to the Brother Group.
Meanwhile, controlled chemical substances specified in chemSHERPA, the system endorsed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, are designated as "controlled chemical substances (Level B)," and their content in goods is managed. To help build society for sustainable development, the Brother Group encourages the suppliers to actively work on the conservation of biological diversity and formulate plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Green Procurement Management System

Using the green procurement system to strictly control the chemical substances in products

The Brother Group introduced the Green Procurement System in 2004, and requests all suppliers to cooperate in investigations into the content of chemical substances in products.
The Brother Group also supported the concept of chemSHERPA, a scheme for sharing information about chemical substances contained in products recommended by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In March 2018, the system was updated to handle data in chemSHERPA format.

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