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.