Kumon's Environmental Activities that
Spread throughout the World

FY2016 year-on-year environmental data for Group companies within Japan shows positive results as follows: electricity usage: 99.4%, paper usage: 97.1%, paper put out for recycling: 236.9%.

In FY2016 the common areas of Kumon Pia Jiyu-ga-Oka and Kumon Pia Kichijoji were outfitted with LED lighting. Further, LED lighting was installed in the Osaka headquarters building when the dining room area was refurbished. This enabled us to provide convenience in an environmentally friendly manner in this common space. In addition, we installed new air conditioners and LED lighting in the Dai Ni Building in Osaka. In FY2017, too, we will continue to pro-actively work to implement energy saving policies in relation to air conditioning units, LED lighting etc.

Moreover, the reason that for the large increase in paper put out for recycling in FY2016 was that the logistics departments put their used paper our for recycling. Previously they had been disposing this paper.

Continuous effort will be made to reduce the environmental burden.

Environmental Data in Japan

KNA has a paper problem. Consumption of paper increased by 22% over the past year, with much of the use occurring at the Field Support Center (FSC) in New Jersey. A whopping 520,000 sheets of paper were consumed at FSC in 2015, about half of the company’s total.

On Earth Day, April 22nd, of last year the Green Team of KNA and the FSC discussed to topic of “Challenges and opportunities concerning how Kumon can reduce its burden on the environment.” As a result, we began activities to reduce paper usage.

There are four training courses at FSC. In the past we had been using binders to contain the roughly 50 pages of materials distributed to each new Instructor. A great deal of paper was used each year to supply the approximately 200 participants. In order to reduce our paper usage and increase our efficiency we introduced the Learning Management System (LMS). This allowed us to stop using paper and start using electronic files instead. Participants are now able to download the training materials from the LMS to their notebook computers and tablets. This allows paperless training.

As a result we were able to drastically reduce our paper usage. More than 90% of training participants reported that they were happy with using electronic files for training. Up until now we had spent a lot of time printing out material and putting the material into binders. Now we are freed from that work and this has made us more efficient. This new LMS will be further improved in 2017. In the future we will continue to meet the needs of training participants while looking to reduce our burden on the environment.

The Green Label certification system is part of the Singapore Green Labelling Scheme (SGLS). It certifies that the materials and technology used in these new multi-function copiers are environmentally friendly. The SGLS was begun in 1992 and is now used in 28 countries for more than 3,000 products and foods. The scheme is administered by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) which is an NGO.

In addition, the two new multi-function copy machines have an individual user verification system. This function requires users to first enter and ID number and password before using the machine. This provides additional security and also gives staff a chance to confirm if they want to print out the job or not. In the case they decide that they do not need to print any particular job, they can cancel that job from the memory of the multi-function copy machine. This will also reduce paper usage.

We are also working to recycle our used paper. We have placed posters throughout the office calling for staff to recycle paper and to use recycled paper for printing whenever possible.

In order to reduce paper waste, all offices are carefully focusing of recycling. Kumon Beijing and Kumon Guangdong are not only using recycled paper to the maximum extent possible, they have also begun to recycle cardboard boxes and magazines that they had previously been throwing out. Kumon Hong Kong has been further improving their recycling rate. They separate paper that can be recycled from paper that cannot (water-proof paper, was paper, envelopes with cellophane attached etc.). Confidential documents are also recycled in a safe manner. As a result of these efforts, Kumon Hong Kong alone recycled more than 1,500 kilograms of paper in February and March of 2016.

Furthermore, Kumon Guangdong has put up stickers in its offices to promote the saving of electricity. They call on staff to pay attention to the temperature setting of the air conditioner in summer and to turn out lights when they are not needed.

The UK logistics center is reusing the cardboard boxes from imported learning materials to send out items to local Centers rather than putting them out for recycling. This caused a fall in the amount of paper put out for recycling but, on the other hand, it has resulted in a reduction in packaging costs and has lessened the burden on the environment. They have also been working to reduce other types of paper consumption. As a result, they have reduced paper consumption within the region by 18% year-on-year.

Furthermore, the logistics center in the UK has managed to achieve large reductions in electricity usage as a result of replacing the lighting with motion sensor activated lighting and lighting that adjusts for daylight use in 2012. Motion sensor activated lighting has also been installed in locations in London, Scotland and Bristol leading to savings in electricity.