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SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability
Environment
Chemical Substances

Chemical Substances

Efforts in Product Use
Efforts in Business Activities

Efforts in Product Use

Design and development efforts

Promotion of green procurement

We have established the Suzuki Green Procurement Guideline that indicates our policy to purchase eco-friendly parts and materials from suppliers who are making ambitious efforts in environmental conservation and agree to our guideline by submitting the Suzuki Green Procurement Promotion Agreement to us.
We partially revised this guideline in October 2013 to clarify the matter related to the establishment of a substance of concern management system at partner companies, and also created and added a self-check sheet for the control system. (We have been requesting new and existing suppliers to submit checklists thereafter. More than 91% of suppliers of production parts have attained outside certifications including ISO 14001.) Also, we work alongside our suppliers to conform not only to existing regulations, such as the European ELV Directive and European Regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), but also various future environmental laws and regulations.
Also, we ask business partners to work on reducing environmental loads such as (1) CO₂ emissions, (2) VOC emissions, (3) amount of waste generated, and (4) water usage, and (5) to promote energy saving in their business activities.
We will revise the Suzuki Green Procurement Guideline in FY2025 in an effort to further enhance our green procurement initiatives.

*Green Procurement Guideline: https://www.suzuki.co.jp/about/csr/green/guideline/index.html
The linked page is available in Japanese only.

Management of substances of concern

In recent years, new regulations on substances of concern have been successively increased on a global basis. Suzuki provides products to customers worldwide and therefore must respond quickly to rapid changes. In light of this reality, Suzuki introduced the IMDS (International Material Data System), a material data collection system for the automobile industry, in 2003, and further used it to build its own in-house environmentally hazardous substances management system (system name: SIDIS = Suzuki IMDS Data Inhouse System) to efficiently collect information on the materials and chemical substances used in each part. We use this information to calculate the recyclability rate, which is a requirement to receive type approval of motor vehicles in Europe, and manage various regulated substances as part of green procurement. In FY2024, Suzuki provided customers with 35 models including automobiles, motorcycles, and outboard motors after confirming that these products complied with regulations for substances of concern. In the future, new regulations such as the European ELV regulations will require new calculations of the percentage of recycled materials used, so we are currently considering calculation methods and SIDIS specifications as we move forward with these measures. We expect regulations to tighten even more, so we will comply closely with these regulations and strive to provide customers with products with low environmental impacts.

■ Internal management system of substances of concern

*ASR: Automobile Shredder Residue

Promotion of establishment of the substance of concern management system in overseas bases

Green Procurement Guideline operational audit

As a basis for managing substances of concern, we formulated the Suzuki Green Procurement Guideline and started its operation sequentially at major overseas production bases beginning in 2011, and conduct audits aimed at confirming its operation.

Audit for implementation of Asbestos Control Procedures

The use of asbestos is completely prohibited in Suzuki’s technical standards. We established new Asbestos Control Procedures to enforce prohibition of its use, particularly in parts delivered to overseas plants. The procedures require complete prohibition of the use of asbestos by our business partners, and implementing periodic training to relevant parties within the Company. The implementation of these requirements is audited by Suzuki.

(FY2024 Results)

On-site audits (seven sites)

Tai Ling Motor Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)
Vietnam Suzuki Corp. (Vietnam)
Changzhou Haojue Suzuki Motorcycle Co., Ltd. (China)
Jinan Qingqi Suzuki Motorcycle Co., Ltd. (China)
Suzuki Philippines Inc. (Philippines)
Suzuki Manufacturing of America Corporation (USA)
Suzuki Motor USA, LLC (USA)

Promotion of establishing the substance of concern management system at business partners

We collect information about substances of concern in the automobile industry as IMDS data in cooperation with business partners. However, as there have been IMDS data defects in the past, we conduct online briefing sessions about developments in the regulation of substances of concern, including requests for business partners to input accurate IMDS data, as well as audits and guidance concerning strict adherence to Green Procurement Guidelines, and promote the establishment of a substance of concern management system throughout the entire supply chain.

(FY2024 Results)

Companies that were audited and received guidance: 15

Conformance to regulations concerning chemical substances

We have been working with our suppliers to switch to products that do not contain PFHxS (perfluorohexane sulfonic acid), which has been designated as a substance to be eliminated under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, and have confirmed that all products were free of PFHxS by February 2024. Currently, we are working on switching to products that do not contain Dechlorane Plus (DP), as well as UV-328, MCCP (medium-chain chlorinated paraffin), and LC-PFCA (long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids), which have also been designated as substances to be eliminated under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). As initiatives to confirm non-inclusion of regulated substances, we established internal regulations in April 2023 on procedures for complying with regulations to ensure the switchover of regulated substances, and we have been promoting efforts to strengthen post-mass production management, including sampling analysis and confirming that parts do not contain these substances.
We have also begun registering SCIP data^* as a result of the Waste Framework Directive (EU). Suzuki is utilizing IMDS data to gradually register data on its products sold within the EU.

*SCIP (Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products))
A framework intended to make information on chemical substances included in recycled materials more accessible in an aim to transition to a circular economy. This helps to improve the safe use of recycled materials by, for example, removing hazardous substances contained in recycled material rather than using the material in its current state.

(FY2024 Results)

Confirmation of non-inclusion of PFHxS (perfluorohexane sulfonic acid) completed
Promoting switching to non-containing DP (Dechlorane Plus), UV-328, MCCP (medium-chain chlorinated paraffin), and LC-PFCA (long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids)
Implementation of sampling analysis of priority control substances, including four heavy metals

Efforts in Business Activities

Efforts in production

Efforts to reduce chemical substances

Purchasing new substances

Before our domestic offices and plants adopt new materials such as paint, oil, and detergents, the environmental management department examines the toxicity of chemical substances contained in the materials and the planned amount to be used, as well as how to use and store them, and determines whether or not their use is allowed. The data collected through the research is managed as Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR) data, which will be used to reduce the volume of those materials. Also, for raw materials, our SDS^* is kept up-to-date to provide the latest chemical data.

*SDS (Safety Data Sheet): A sheet listing the names, physical chemistry behavior, hazards, and cautions for handling, etc., of chemical substances.

PRTR (Pollutant Release and Transfer Register) target substances

To reduce environmental loads, we are working to reduce PRTR target substances. The amount released and transferred was 1,384 tons in FY2024.

■ Amount of PRTR target substances handled, emitted, and transferred

[Scope of aggregation]
Head office, Iwata Plant, Kosai Plant, Osuka Plant, Sagara Plant (including the Sagara Proving Grounds), Hamamatsu Plant, Motorcycle Technical Center (Ryuyo Proving Grounds), Marine Technical Center, and Shimokawa Proving Grounds (from FY2020)

Plan for disposal of PCB (Polychlorinated Biphenyl)

The Act on Special Measures concerning Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Waste requires appropriate disposal of PCB waste contained in old capacitors, etc., by March 31, 2027. Suzuki is currently working to complete the disposal of this PCB waste. At Suzuki’s domestic offices and plants, PCB waste has been disposed total of 2,849 units as of March 31, 2025.

Efforts to prevent soil and groundwater contamination

Based on historical investigations, we conduct soil surveys when making changes to the character of land that is at risk of soil contamination and are making efforts in remediating and removing contamination appropriately when soil contamination is found.
In FY2024, we conducted 15 soil surveys at our domestic offices and plants, and found soil contamination in four cases. For land where soil contamination has been confirmed, we are managing or remediating such soil appropriately in accordance with the Soil Contamination Countermeasures Act.