Environmental initiatives
Let’s make our cities habitable for dragonflies
Dragonflies flying freely in the sky are a symbol of nature’s beauty.
Tombow wishes for an environment with a clear blue sky and clean water where dragonflies enjoy flying and it is committed to developing people- and earth-friendly stationery.
Tombow Pencil’s Environmental History
Environmental policy
Tombow promotes harmony between the global environment and its business activities to contribute to society through the development, production, and sale of stationery and it continues to be a people- and earth-friendly company.
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We develop and produce environmentally friendly and safe products, and promote environmental awareness through sales.
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We eliminate waste of products and operations and use resources and energy carefully.
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We strive to improve the environment and prevent pollution through internal and external collaboration.
Materiality of Tombow Pencil’s Environmental
With the aim of harmonizing our corporate activities with the global environment, we have identified the following four important environmental issues for the sustainable development of society and companies.
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Resource circulation
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Climate change
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Biodiversity
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Environmental pollution
Resource circulation
The social challenge is to move away from the mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste society of the high economic growth period and create a “circular economy” that reduces the consumption of natural resources and reduces the burden on the environment as much as possible. In particular regarding plastics, the importance of resource circulation has increased due to the depletion of petroleum resources and the problem of marine plastic waste.
On the other hand, plastic is an essential material for supporting the performance and quality of modern stationery products. From a long-term perspective, we are exploring the possibility of finding alternative materials to plastic, while striving to conserve resources, promote recycling, and reduce waste, all of which contribute to resource circulation.
- Reducing the use of virgin plastic in products
- Reducing the use of plastic packaging
- Displaying information for packaging recycling
- Reducing waste in business activities
Products using recycled plastic
40%** of our plastic-using products* are products in which the proportion of recycled plastic in the plastic mass, excluding consumable parts, is 40% or more (compliant with the Green Purchasing Law).
*Products using plastic: Products in which 50% or more of the product mass, excluding consumable parts, is plastic
**Proportion of the number of products subject to the Green Purchasing Law listed in our “2024/2025 General Catalog”
Refillable products
52%* of our correction tape and glue tape products are refillable products with replaceable cartridges.
*The ratio of the number of products listed in our “2024/2025 General Catalog”
Learn more about refillable and refillable products
Products made from scrap wood
Pencils are products that use almost no plastic, however with consideration for recycle resources and reduce waste, we sell “Kimonogatari,” a recycled pencil that uses scrap wood for the body. In 1992, we obtained the Eco Mark for the first time for a pencil, becoming a pioneer in environmentally friendly products. We hope that these consumer familiar products will also lead to increased environmental awareness.
Learn more about products using wood scraps
Implementation of “Green Tombow”
In 2023 we established our own environmental label “Green Tombow”. “Green Tombow” is a Type II environmental label that complies with ISO14021 and is displayed on products that meet our “Green Tomb ow Standards”, including the use of recycled plastic, along with an explanation of the main environmental considerations.
Learn more about Green Tombow
Simplification of packaging, non-plasticization
Plastic blister packaging has traditionally been the standard for individual packaging of our correction tape and glue tape, but we have begun adopting paper boxes for some products.
Information display for packaging recycling
Identification marks (paper mark, plastic mark) in accordance with the Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources are displayed on the packaging of products for the Japanese domestic market.
For product packaging sold in overseas markets, we are promoting appropriate labeling in accordance with the laws and regulations of each country.
Participation in the Green Purchasing Network
Our company has been a member of the Green Purchasing Network (GPN), a network organization of companies, governments, and consumer groups established to promote green purchasing efforts, since 1996.
Climate change
Climate change caused by global warming is causing various effects such as abnormal weather and rising sea levels. In response to this, in order to achieve a decarbonized society, international efforts are being made to continuously reduce greenhouse gas emissions including CO₂.
Our company also aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by understanding the amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with our business activities and working to use energy more efficiently.
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Target value: Reduce CO₂ emissions* by 20% by 2030*CO₂ equivalent value of GHG emissions, sales unit/Scope: All domestic and overseas bases of our company. Scope 1, 2/Base year: 2018
Energy efficient use
We strive to use energy more efficiently at all business locations to reduce CO₂ emissions.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is considered to support not only the basis of human survival but also cultural diversity, and preserving rich biodiversity is an important issue for the international community.
One of our main products, pencils, we use wood for pencil bodies. Wood is considered a renewable resource compared to plastics which is derived from fossil resources, and we strive to consider and raise awareness of the conservation of forests, which make this “regeneration” possible.
- Use of wood with confirmed legality
Development and sale of forest-certified products
The forest certification system is a mechanism by which a third-party organization certifies that wood has been harvested from sustainably managed forests. Having consumers select and purchase products that have been certified in this way will lead to the support and increase in sustainable forests.
We obtained forest certification (CoC certification regarding the management of the processing and distribution process of certified timber) in 2008 and have been selling forest-certified products since 2012.
For example, the packaging of our Hello Nature series of pencils for school children is certified by PEFC, an international forest certification system, and we display a certification label.
Environmental Pollution
Environmental pollution is said to be a “fundamental initiative to protect human life and the environment” because it is a risk to natural capital such as biodiversity, as well as a risk to human health and well-being. In addition, there is a growing international movement to identify, manage, and communicate the chemical substances contained in products in order to reduce the adverse effects of chemical substances contained in products on people and the environment.
We will respond appropriately to and comply with environmental laws and regulations, chemical substance regulations, etc. that apply to each of our business locations and our products.
- Compliance with environmental laws and regulations at business sites
- Compliance with chemical substance laws and regulations for products
Efforts regarding chemical substances contained in products
＜No use of phthalate plasticizers＞
When selling MONO erasers in the global market, we began researching non-phthalate alternative plasticizers in accordance with the trend of strengthening regulations, which saw phthalate ester plasticizers being added to the list of restricted substances in the European RoHS Directive (restrictions on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment). Since the spring of 2018, we have been shipping products that do not use phthalate plasticizers.
Environmental Label for Tombow’s environmentally friendly products
Tombow Pencil’s Unique Environmental Label
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This product meets Green Tombow standards.
Learn more about Green Tombow
“Green Tombow” is a Type II environmental label that complies with ISO14021 standards.
Environmental Labeling Based on Third-Party Standards
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This Eco Mark product is certified by the Japan Environmental Association. The Eco Mark is a Type I environmental label based on the ISO14024 standards and is given to products that have been recognized to have a low environmental impact throughout their lifecycle, from production to disposal, and to be useful for environmental conservation.
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Products complying with the Act on Promoting Green Procurement (Act on Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services by the State and Other Entities).
(According to the Basic Policy on Promotion of Procurement of Eco-Friendly Goods and Services approved at the Cabinet meeting in February 2019) -
We have posted this product on the GPN Eco-products Database. The Database is operated by the Green Purchasing Network (GPN) for disclosing environmental information on products and services along the GPN’s Green Purchasing Guidelines and evaluation criteria of the Act on Promoting Green Procurement to make consumers able to compare the information. Being posted on the Database does not mean that GPN recommends the products or services.
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This product is certified by the PEFC international forest certification system.
The PEFC label on Tombow’s stationery indicates we use timber produced from sustainably managed forest. -
This product has been certified by the Japan Organic Resources Association with the “Biomass Mark”. The Biomass Mark is attached to products that utilize biological resources (biomass). A number indicating the “biomass degree” (the ratio of the dry weight of the biomass used to the dry weight of the product) is attached to the mark displayed on the product.
Supplementary information and requirements
Scope:
Unless otherwise specified, all domestic and overseas bases of our group are covered.
Target period:
Unless otherwise specified, information is as of the end of November 2024.
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