Conserving Water Resources

The OECD's 2012 report entitled Environmental Outlook to 2050 states that during the period between 2000 and 2050, global demand for water will increase by approximately 55% owing to economic development and population increase, while more than 40% of the world's population will be living in river basins that suffer from severe water shortages.
The Kubota Group sees conserving water resources as one of its materiality issues, and has been advancing initiatives to promote the effective utilization of water resources and to address water risks, such as the reduction of water consumption by promoting water saving and wastewater recycling, and the proper management of wastewater treatment and wastewater quality. Production sites promote measures not to cause adverse effects on local ecosystems and the lives of local residents, taking into consideration the status of water stress in the respective regions.

Activities towards achieving SDGs

Related SDGs and targets
Major Activity Content	Promotion of measures to reduce water resource waste and losses, focusing on JIT and automation Water conservation measures, water leak inspections, introduction of wastewater regeneration equipment which applies our company's technology Thorough execution of appropriate wastewater management, risk management, etc.
2025 Activity Targets (KPIs)	Medium-Term Environmental Conservation Targets 2025： Water consumption per unit of production at global production sites: 35% improvement compared to the base year 2014 Manage wastewater appropriately in accordance with the standards of the water discharge by operating wastewater treatment facilities and water recycling facilities, etc.

Measures to Reduce Water Withdrawal

The Kubota Group has established the Medium-Term Environmental Conservation Targets and is working to reduce water withdrawal at production sites. Our production sites, such as those in China, Thailand, Indonesia and the United States, have introduced wastewater treatment facilities or wastewater recycling systems utilizing technologies of the Kubota Group.

Kubota Engine (Thailand) Co., Ltd. has added additional capacity to its wastewater treatment system with the use of a membrane bioreactor (MBR). Recycled water is being used to water the gardens around the plant and as domestic water.

Water Management

The Kubota Group is committed to understanding, managing, and conserving water use at all of its 195 companies. Every year, our production sites draw up and revise a management plan for reducing the amount of water withdrawal, based on the Group’s Medium-Term Environmental Conservation Targets. Measures are also being taken at all 72 production sites to thoroughly manage water quality and prevent environmental accidents.

[Summary of water management in environment-related rules and regulations]

An environmental management system shall be established at all sites to systematically promote environmental conservation activities.
A monitoring system for environmental conservation shall be developed at all sites so as to periodically carry out examinations and inspections.
The amount of water (service water, industrial water, groundwater, and recycled water) used and discharged at all sites in the course of business activities shall be assessed.
Efforts shall be made to reduce the amount of water resources used at all sites. Also, a plan to reduce water withdrawal at all production sites shall be formulated, tracked, and revised every year.
Water quality-related equipment shall be thoroughly managed (ensuring water treatment capacity, complying with design/ management standards, maintenance/operation) at all production sites, while environmental pollution risks associated with such equipment shall be mitigated and environmental accidents prevented from occurring.

		Envisaged scenario	Impact on the Group	Time horizon^*
		Envisaged scenario	Impact on the Group	Short term	Medium term	Long term
Conserving Water Resources	Risks	Non-compliance with wastewater standards, etc. Stricter water-related regulations, etc.	Fines and shutdowns Lower social credibility Increase in regulatory compliance cost	→	→	→
		High water prices due to aging water infrastructure and shortage of available water for industrial use	Increase in manufacturing costs	→	→	→
		Increasing frequency and severity of weather disasters such as flooding and drought driven by climate change Water use restrictions in areas of high water risk	Negative impact on the Group and its suppliers	→	→	→
		Lower crop yields due to shortage of water resources Changes in agricultural styles due to relocation of suitable farming land, etc.	Loss of selling opportunities		→	→
		Changes in needs for products and services in regions with high water risk	Increase in product development and manufacturing costs		→	→
	Opportunities	Expansion in need for solutions for Water & the Environment-related products that ensure access to safe and secure water and wastewater treatment and recycling treatment facilities that comply with stricter regulations	Expansion of selling opportunities	→	→	→
		Expansion in water conservation and wastewater reuse at business sites	Increase in productivity	→	→	→
		Expansion in need for water infrastructure that is highly resistant to flooding, droughts, and other disasters	Expansion in business related to adapting to climate change	→	→	→

Timing of manifestation is presented as short term (within three years), medium term (between three and five years), and long term (more than five years).

Environmental Conservation Costs

(Unit: million yen)

Classifications		Main costs	FY2023		FY2024
Classifications		Main costs	Investment	Costs	Investment	Costs
Within the business area cost			1,038	3,146	2,067	3,577
	Local environmental conservation cost	Cost of preventing air and water pollution, soil contamination, noise, and vibration.	313	645	643	648
	Global environmental conservation cost	Prevention of climate change, etc.	720	1,224	1,424	1,195
	Resource recycling cost	Cost of treating, disposing, reducing, minimizing, and recycling waste, as well as efficiently utilizing resources.	5	1,277	0.2	1,734
Upstream and downstream costs		Collection of used products and commercialization of recycled products.	0	25	0	40
Management activities cost		Environmental management personnel, ISO maintenance and implementation, environmental information dissemination.	8	2,032	5	2,262
R&D cost		R&D for reduction of product environmental load and develoing environment conservation equipment.	2,136	15,233	1,609	19,007
	Farm & Industrial Machine		641	8,990	784	11,546
	Water & Environment		641	3,432	531	4,472
	Common		854	2,811	294	2,989
Social activities cost		Local cleanup activities, and membership fees and contributions to environmental.	0	1	0	1
Environmental remediation cost		Local cleanup activities, and membership fees and contributions to environmental	0	88	0	92
Total			3,182	20,524	3,681	24,978

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Controlling Water Discharge and Mitigating Water Risks

The Kubota Group has set its own control values that are stricter than the emission standards of relevant laws and regulations. To ensure that the standard values are not exceeded, the Kubota Group carries out regular measurement of designated monitoring items. Under the Medium-Term Environmental Conservation Targets 2025, the Group has established a new target of managing water discharge appropriately in line with standards for the areas where wastewater is released by operating wastewater treatment and water recycling facilities.

Kubota Sakai Rinkai Plant (Japan)
Submerged-type FRP johkasou