Bridgestone on pace to achieve CSR goals

TOKYO—Bridgestone Corp. is committing to be better.

The company is focusing its efforts on developing better products, providing better services and committing to better business practices, and doing it all of that with a focus on impacting people and the environment for the better.

In March, Bridgestone unveiled its new global corporate social responsibity (CSR) commitment, dubbed "Our Way to Serve," saying it planned to establish sustainability goals within three areas: people, environment and mobility.

"Our CSR commitment is not a slogan. Nor is it a short-term campaign. Rather, it is at the core of our enterprise, serving as a guide for the way we intend to do business," Bridgestone said in its recently released sustainability report. "It serves as our guide as we innovate and offer products and services of the highest quality and engage in business activities with sincerity and transparency, and demonstrate our ethical values in all that we do."

Bridgestone originally defined its long-term sustainability goals in 2012, saying it had established specific benchmarks that would be achieved by 2050. It also articulated medium-term goals with the aim of achieving those benchmarks by 2020.

In its 2016 sustainability report, the firm said it had was already on pace to reach those targets.

One example cited by Bridgestone was the aim of lessening the firm's environmental footprint by reducing its overall water intake by 35 percent (per unit) by 2020, when compared to the 2005 water intake levels. As of 2016, Bridgestone had reduced its water intake by 28.5 percent.

Other improvements lauded by Bridgestone in the 2016 sustainability report were:

• 31 percent improvement in resource productivity, when compared to 2005;
• 29 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per net sales from operations and products' after-use, when compared to levels in 2005; and
• 13 percent reduction in tire-rolling resistance, when compared to 2005.

Achieving these goals and continuing its pursuit of the 2050 benchmarks requires a team approach, Bridgestone said, and it has structured its business model accordingly.

"In order to ensure the sustainability, and underscore the importance of Our Way to Serve,

Bridgestone is building a global CSR management structure," the firm stated in its CSR report.

"Consisting of members of our global management team, the Global CSR Enhancement Committee (GCEC) will serve as a centralized resource to prioritize Bridgestone's approach to global issues, and will plan and propose global strategies for sustainability, as well as track the progress of our CSR activities and how well these activities are embedded in our daily operations."

Bridgestone believes that innovative products and services combined with a sustainability focus can have a positive impact on the global community. Its "Our Way to Serve" initiative defines ways in which the company plans to implement this ideals.

In the area of mobility, Bridgestone plans to increase access to innovative mobility solutions and connect people and communities to smarter mobility and safer transportation. In doing so, it said, it can have a significant impact.

"Mobility is essential to everyday life today, and making it convenient and comfortable contributes to a better society," Bridgestone said. "At the same time, the social problems arising from mobility, such as traffic accidents and congestion, and regional inequality due to a lack of means of transportation, have become increasingly serious. …The Bridgestone Group is working to address these issues, utilizing its core competencies to resolve individual problems through its solutions business and realize safer and more comfortable transportation."

In addition to providing products and services that help to meet these needs, Bridgestone is looking for ways to work with local communities to implement programs that encourage safe travel.

Bridgestone's goals also focus on ways it can best impact the lives of people around the world. To do so, the company said it is committing to promoting healthier communities, contributing to a safer society and expanding education and training opportunities that develop both job and life skills.

Through its commitment to the environment, Bridgestone is pledging to contribute to biodiversity while conserving natural resources and reducing its carbon dioxide emissions.

"As the world's leading tire and rubber company, the Bridgestone Group aims to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by balancing its operations with the earth's capacity, maintaining harmony with nature while meeting the various needs of the market," Bridgestone said in its report.

Additional information about Bridgestone's "Better Way to Serve" initiative is available online, along with its most recent CSR report.