Sustainable Use of Water Resources

Policies and Strategies

The areas surrounding the sites where our major production plants are located are blessed with abundant water resources (groundwater), a recycling cycle in which such water is used for air conditioning and other purposes and is then returned to nature has been established. In addition, we do not use hazardous substances that could lead to water pollution in our mushroom cultivation, so we consider our risk related to water resources is low. However, as a company that makes use of and nurtures the blessings of nature, Yukiguni Maitake considers that water is an important resource and a shortage of water resources or delays in responding to the conservation of water resources will pose a significant risk. Meanwhile, there is growing social interest in water resource issues. Therefore, we have identified “procurement of raw materials and use of water resources in a sustainable way” as our materiality, and we will promote our initiatives, such as the conservation of forest resources that also contribute to water source recharge and the continuation of appropriate water management (water intake and drainage).

Structure, Governance and Risk Management

For details, please see Sustainability Management Structure

Indicators and Objectives

At the Yukiguni Maitake Group, we have set the following indicators to realize the sustainable use of water resources.

  Scope Unit FY2020 FY2021 FY2022 FY2023 Target
Total water intake non-
consolidated		 thousand m3 - - 34,459 29,085 -
 Water supply non-
consolidated		 thousand m3 - - 30 68 -
 Groundwater* non-
consolidated		 thousand m3 - - 34,429 29,018 -
Total drainage non-
consolidated		 thousand m3 - - 34,458 29,051 -
 Sewerage non-
consolidated		 thousand m3 - - 29 33 -
 Rivers, oceans,
 sprinkling*		 non-
consolidated		 thousand m3 - - 34,429 29,018 -
Percentage of sites located in water-stressed areas non-
consolidated		 % 0 0 0 0 -
Number of water-related regulatory violations non-
consolidated		 - 0 0 0 0 0
  • * We use well water mainly from groundwater for (1) cooling inside our plants and (2) sprinkling water on the raw material, sawdust.
    In the case of (1), the taken water is discharged directly through pipes inside the plants, causing no water pollution.
    In the case of (2), the water is purified after sprinkling and discharged into the river.
    Note that the values of water volume are theoretical values converted based on the pump capacity.

Initiatives

Assessment of water stress

We use large amounts of water in our mushroom cultivation. We consider that water is an important resource and a shortage of water resources or delays in responding to the conservation of water resources will pose a significant risk. Therefore, we conduct water stress assessments of our sites by using the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, in order to identify sites at high risk of water shortages.

As the areas surrounding the sites where our major production plants are located are blessed with abundant water resources (groundwater), we consider our risk related to water resources is low.

Business location Location Water Stress
Bio Center 1
Bio Center 3
Bio Center 4
Bio Center 5
Spawn Development Center
Material Center 		Minamiuonuma-shi, Niigata Low to medium
Gosen Bio Center Gosen-shi,Niigata Low to medium
Shiga Package Center Ryuo-cho gamo-gun, Shiga Low to medium
Okayama Bio Center Ushimadochoshimado, Setochi-shi, Okayama Low to medium
Nagawa Plant Nambu-cho sannohe-gun, Aomori Low to medium

Recycling of water resources

Our domestic production plants are blessed with abundant water resources (groundwater) due to their location in snow country. A recycling cycle in which such water is used for air conditioning and other purposes and is then returned to nature has been established.

Forest Maintenance Activities: “Yukiguni Maitake Forest Creation Activities”

For details, please see Coexistence with local communities