Respect for the Environment
Chemical Management
Basic Approach
The Ryohin Keikaku Group strives to prevent and reduce global environmental pollution, by considering the impact of chemical substances on the human body and the natural environment, in order to manufacture safe products and protect the health and safety of our customers, production partners, employees, and local communities. To this end, the Group complies with all relevant laws and regulations, prohibits the use of certain hazardous chemical substances, and ensures thorough management of chemical substances in both our final products and manufacturing processes.
Management System
The Ryohin Keikaku Group manages chemical substances in accordance with its environmental management system.
Goals
We comply with laws and regulations and work to reduce our impact in order to conserve the global environment.
- We appropriately handle chemicals in our products and in the manufacturing process.
- We comply with all applicable environmental laws, regulations and standards.
- We prohibit the use of substances suspected of being harmful.
- We inspect products regularly to ensure that the compliance pertaining to prohibited or restricted substances are met
Management of Restricted Substance List for Textile Products
Ryohin Keikaku is committed to managing and reducing the use of harmful substances in textile products as part of our environmentally and socially friendly product development policy.
Ryohin Keikaku is a member of the Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management (AFIRM)
Group, which aims to reduce the impact and use of harmful substances in the global supply chain.
We have adopted the AFIRM Restricted Substance List (RSL) as a critical component of the MUJI
Restricted Substance List and require compliance from our production partners.
Initiatives for Perfluorinated and Polyfluorinated Chemicals (PFAS)
PFAS are chemicals primarily used in textile products to provide durable water-repellent (DWR)
and other functions.
Due to their high bioaccumulation in the human body, some PFAS may adversely affect the human
body or be carcinogenic. In addition, PFAS do not decompose easily in the environment and have
been identified as environmental pollutants in soil, water, etc.
In many countries, long-chain polyfluorinated chemicals like PFOS and PFOA, classified as C8
chemicals, have been banned due to the aforementioned properties.
Furthermore, restrictions on all PFAS have recently been expanded in the European Union and the
United States.
Ryohin Keikaku has restricted and is actively working to eliminate the use of all PFAS during the production process for textile products manufactured after FY2023.
*Please refer to MUJI Restricted Substance List for more information.
Code of Conduct for Production Partners of Ryohin Keikaku
Ryohin Keikaku requires its contract manufacturing partners to safely manage chemical substances and prevent water and air pollution in accordance with our "Code of Conduct for Production Partners of Ryohin Keikaku." Restricted substances are listed in the Ryohin Standards, which specify our internal quality standards and are made available to our production partners. Our manufacturing processes do not involve the use of any prohibited chemical substances under the company standards. We abide by the laws and regulations of each country or region regarding designated chemical substances, and monitor their emissions, reporting them to the respective governments as required by the laws and regulations.
Environmental Audit on Production Partners
Ryohin Keikaku exclusively collaborates with production partners who pledge to adhere to the "Code of Conduct for Production Partners." To ensure that our partners follow the Code of Conduct and its policies, we enlist the services of a specialized third-party organization to carry out environmental audits and monitor the work environment. If any of our partners fail to meet our established standards, we work with them to take the necessary corrective actions.
The environmental audit covers a wide range of aspects, including chemical substance storage and management, establishment of handling procedures, and proper treatment and monitoring of hazardous substances, wastewater, gases, and other related matters.