The Bridgestone Group is advancing the Mid-Long Term Business Strategy with sustainability at its core to realize its vision of “Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company.” The Group believes that it is necessary to anticipate changes in society, turn them into opportunities, and continue to create both social and customer value to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society while also achieving sustainable growth. To this end, the Group identifies priority issues to be addressed.
Sustainability Priority Items
Priority items (sustainability aspects) to continue to create both social and customer value
- Sustainability Framework
- Process of prioritizing priority items (Sustainability aspects)
- Integrating sustainability across the Bridgestone Group
- Sustainability policies and guidelines
Sustainability Framework
The Group believes that it is essential to build a deeper relationship of trust with our stakeholders while continuing to promote initiatives that form an indispensable foundation for a responsible company to create new value for society and our customers, and to achieve sustainable growth together with our customers and partners. The Group has categorized and systematized its approach to sustainability into a Sustainability Framework. Based on this framework, the Group will clarify its priority items and create value for society and our customers through its business, social contribution and co-creation activities with all our partners.
The first layer: Sustainability Business
The Group believes that it can gain a competitive advantage by linking sustainability and business and creating both social and customer value. The Group seeks to create social and customer value by contributing to the realization of a circular economy and carbon neutrality through its Sustainability Business that includes the tire and rubber, solutions and recycle businesses. The area in the red arrow extending to the left indicates the Group’s intention to further expand its business opportunities to develop the competitive advantage based on its Mid-Long Term Business Strategy.
The second layer: Build trust to propagate value co-creation
The Group believes that co-creation of value with customers and partners is essential to realize its Sustainability Business, and a deeper relationship of trust is important for value co-creation. By fostering trust as a preferred partner for society, partners and customers, the Group will co-create innovations and values, and create opportunities for the Sustainability Business that provides social and customer value. The Group believes the depth of its sustainability efforts contributes greatly to fostering trust in the Group and is actively involved in social contributions and other activities that help foster that trust with local communities.
The third layer: Management Fundamentals for value creation
As a responsible company, the Group is fulfilling its social responsibility by proactively responding to society’s expectations to accelerate its sustainability journey. These efforts go beyond risk avoidance to finding innovative ways to transform risk into growth opportunity to establish Management Fundamentals for value creation. The Group will strive to create value by enhancing community and stakeholder engagements, respecting business and human rights and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), enhancing talent creativity and strengthening corporate resilience.
Process of prioritizing priority items (Sustainability aspects)
To identify priority items, the Group conducted a materiality assessment. Through an extensive desktop research and interviews with internal and external stakeholders, including investors, customers, NGOs, industry associations and experts, the Group analyzed social expectations and requirements, the level of importance of each issue and the impact of our corporate activities on environment and society. Based on the assessment, the Group identified the following 26 material issues.
| Environmental | Social | Workforce | Product and solutions | Governance |
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Based on the Sustainability Framework, these issues were reorganized from the business perspective, including the Group’s business strategy and the creation of social and customer value. After review by the global management team, which includes the Global CEO, the Group has identified priority items to be addressed to continue to create both social and customer value. The Group will continue to review priority items on a dynamic basis, while reflecting internal and external situations, such as the progress of strategies and initiatives, as well as feedback from stakeholders.
Priority items (sustainability aspect) to continue to create both social and customer value
| Priority items to be addresses | Sub-categories | Targets | Contribution to the SDGs | Creation of value stated in the Bridgestone E8 Commitment |
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| Realize the Sustainability Business Framework | Develop readiness toward carbon neutrality | Reduce CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2): Reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 (compared to 2011) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 | Energy: Committed to the realization of a carbon neutral mobility society Ecology: Committed to advancing sustainable tire technologies and solutions that preserve the environment for future generations |
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| Contribute to CO2 reduction (Scope 3): Contribute to reducing more than five times our CO2 emissions by 2030 | ||||
| Expand circular economy business activities | Improve resource productivity and develop long life/resource-saving design Contribute to a circular economy: Increase the ratio of recycled and renewable material to 40% by 2030 Use 100% sustainable materials by 2050 |
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| In harmony with nature | Study of response to nature positive | Improve value chain environmental footprint, reduce impact on ecosystem by expanding and diversifying renewable resources such as guayule Conduct “The Bridgestone In Harmony with Nature – Promoting Biodiversity Program” Create and implement water stewardship plans |
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| Enhance community engagements/partnerships | Social contribution | Contribute to solving issues in local communities | Ease: Committed to bringing comfort and peace of mind to mobility life Empowerment: Committed to contributing to a society that ensures accessibility and dignity for all |
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| Road safety | Promote road safety education around the world | |||
| Natural rubber value chain | Sustainable procurement of natural rubber | Energy: Committed to the realization of a carbon neutral mobility society Ecology: Committed to advancing sustainable tire technologies and solutions that preserve the environment for future generations Empowerment: Committed to contributing to a society that ensures accessibility and dignity for all |
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| Strengthen support for smallholder farmers of natural rubber | ||||
| Human rights | Promote initiatives in line with the Global Human Rights Policy (develop and rollout an Implementation Guideline, etc.) | Empowerment: Committed to contributing to a society that ensures accessibility and dignity for all | ||
| Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) | Lead industry initiatives (develop impact assessment studies and evaluation tests, promote initiatives to reduce impacts, etc.) | Ecology: Committed to advancing sustainable tire technologies and solutions that preserve the environment for future generations | ||
Integrating sustainability across the Bridgestone Group
The Group continues to integrate sustainability culturally, strategically and operationally across the organization as part of its Mid-Long Term Business Strategy.
Cultural integration
The Group incorporates the Group’s mission, the Corporate Commitment and the Sustainability Framework into its business, values and brand every day to ensure that it becomes an integral part of teammates’ lives, in all that they do.
Strategic integration
With sustainability as its core, the Group is working toward its Mid-Long Term Business Strategy and Mid Term Business Plan, aligned with its Sustainability Framework.
For the details of the Mid-Long Term Business Strategy and the Mid Term Business Plan, see “IR Library.”
Operational integration
The Global Sustainability Committee (GSC) that reports to the Global Executive Committee (Global EXCO), the highest-level committee overseeing the Group’s business strategy and execution, is responsible for holistically leading the Group’s Sustainability Framework.
For the detail of the management structure, see “Management Structure.”
