Working with Local Communities

On July 1, 2010, employees from Mitsui Chemicals Agro's Agrochemicals Research Institute (Yasu, Shiga prefecture) took part in environmental improvement activities as part of Lake Biwa Day, an event sponsored by Shiga Prefecture. Employees began by carrying out cleanup activities in the area around the company's premises, before taking part in cleanup activities around Biwako Ohashi Golf Course and the road around Lake Biwa, helping to collect approximately 300 kilograms of garbage in total.

Saxin Corporation (Otsu, Shiga prefecture), one of our affiliates, has been providing student work experience placements at the request of local junior and senior high schools every year since 2002. Such activities are designed to help students understand and get a feel for the operations carried out by local companies through actual experiences in the workplace. In 2010, two senior high school students took up placements in January and two junior high school students in June. One student commented, “Seeing such amazing skills and technologies used by a local company was great and made me want to learn more about manufacturing.”

2010 marked the fifth year that we have organized “Cleanup in Kujukuri” activities along Kujukuri beach (Chiba prefecture). This year's activities took place on July 31 in conjunction with a fishing event on the Hitotsumatsu coast and attracted a record number of participants, with more than 200 employees and local residents collecting approximately 110 kilograms of garbage.
Thanks to onsite assistance from the Japan Professional Rescue Organization, an NPO whose aim is to promote safety in the sea and protect the natural environment, we were also able to organize safety awareness activities on the beach and show people how garbage is created. Other fun activities for children included handicrafts using shells.
We are committed to raising awareness regarding nature and the environment and will continue with activities such as these in the future.