| How Green is Our Tea? | ||
| ITO EN's Dedication to the Environment | ||
The urgent need to protect and maintain the environment has become a headline issue more than ever. As a leading producer of beverages and purveyor of green tea, ITO EN is well aware of its corporate responsibility to protect the world’s resources. In the process of fulfilling its business goals, ITO EN has led the way in incorporating protective environmental measures. Because our customers are and have always been our main priority, we are consequently dedicated to protecting our environment to ensure a healthy world for generations to come. To make the best choices, ITO EN follows five Environmental Action Guidelines: Making Green Tea Even Greener One of ITO EN’s main priorities was to review its main systems of production. In 2000, ITO EN’s Shizuoka Sagara Plant and Central Research Institute received ISO 14001 certification—an international standard for environmental management systems. Our other production facilities gained the same certification in 2003. These measures not only help protect our environment but also ensure a more efficient and consistent production. It was equally necessary to evaluate any waste left over from our manufacturing processes. One step was to promote the recycling of product bottles. We also apply this recycling ethic to the tea leaves that we use. During our fiscal year ending in April 2006 alone, we used 39,000 tons of tea leaves to produce our beverages. In the long term, we do not consider used leaves as a waste product at all but as a beneficial resource and are continually in the process of finding environmentally friendly ways to reuse and recycle them. A majority of the leaves are returned to the earth as a natural fertilizer. Several tons are likewise used in natural animal feed. | ||
| In conjunction with other companies, ITO EN has developed:
have added antibacterial and deodorizing properties. |
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| In recognition of such efforts, the Japanese Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries awarded ITO EN with the Grand Prize at the 2005 Eco Products Awards (Energy Services Section). ITO EN has extended this green ethic to how it brings its products to its customers. To ensure effective distribution, ITO EN operates a fleet of over 2,800 commercial vehicles. To help reduce the pollution caused by this fleet, ITO EN has set and met successive goals to lower greenhouse gas emissions by converting its vehicles to more environmentally-friendly alternatives. Currently, ITO EN has added both natural gas and hybrid vehicles to its fleet, making ITO EN the first in Japan’s beverage industry to use hybrids Through continual research and strategic actions like these, it is ITO EN’s goal to help the purveying of green tea an even greener activity. | ||
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