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TOTO formulated a guiding principle to describe their journey to becoming a company completely powered by energy from renewable sources: “Water, Earth & a Better Tomorrow”. As one of the world’s leading companies in the sanitary segment, the international TOTO Group feels responsible for manufacturing its products with zero emissions and as sustainably as possible. With this step, TOTO also aims to strengthen their competitive edge. The company is relying on scientifically substantiated, data-based and globally recognised metrics like the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The years 2030 and 2040 mark two important milestones: Sustainable products will make up 78% of the global product portfolio by 2030, and TOTO will get 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2040.

Back in 2020, the Wall Street Journal already named TOTO one of the 100 most sustainably operating companies in the world among over 5,500 listed companies. “But what does this mean? How can we trust that we actually are?” TOTO anticipates this question in their company profile on the website to provide a differentiated answer. The company aims to create the greatest possible transparency and credibility in complex processes and discloses their activities based on scientifically substantiated approaches.

One main point involves assessing how environmentally sound TOTO products are, which is done using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) guidelines. These cover all phases of the product lifecycle including all necessary upstream and downstream transportation and recycling processes. According to TOTO figures, the LCA evaluations have shown that CO2 emissions and water consumption are at their greatest while the products are being used – with over 90% of CO2 emissions occurring during use.

Hygiene technologies play a key role in reducing CO2

The main focus of TOTO’s research and development (R&D) efforts stems from these findings. As a result, the amount of water and energy consumed by WASHLET, toilets and fixtures during regular use is always being minimised. Cleaning and hygiene technologies like Ewater+,the efficient Tornado Flush and extremely durable Cefiontect ceramic glaze play a major role. The energy selfsufficient and water-saving automatic faucets with self-power technology are truly ground-breaking in this regard.

Milestone 2040: TOTO to produce 100% of their electricity from renewable sources

Membership in the RE100 initiative is an important milestone. TOTO Group have committed to expanding the procurement of renewable energy at all global locations in line with regional circumstances and installed systems to generate solar power at their production sites. This move should ensure that 100% of the electricity TOTO needs for their business activities comes from renewable sources. Regular reporting and accounting about the progress of these measures is required. RE100 publishes this annually. TOTO also plans to improve energy savings by upgrading and converting production facilities in various markets in an effort to reduce CO2-emissions.

Important steps on the road to greater sustainability

• TOTO will make their products more environmentally friendly and promote the global distribution of their “Sustainable Products” to reduce CO2 emissions in using their products. Sustainable products will make up 78% of the global product mix by the year 2030.

• Reporting is aligned with standards defined by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The GRI’s guidelines provide the framework for sustainability reporting most commonly used around the world.

• In June 2021, TOTO received certification from the international environmental initiative Science Based Targets (SBT) supporting the reduction of greenhouse gases in compliance with the Paris Convention and systematically reducing CO2 emissions further on this basis.

• TOTO Group joined the RE100 Initiative in 2021 with the aim of transitioning to electricity from only renewable sources by the year 2040.

• The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are mandatory for TOTO. Since 2011, TOTO has been a member of the UN Global Compact – the world’s largest and most important initiative for sustainable and responsible company management. Over 9,500 companies and 3,000 non-governmental organisations are members.

• In 2019, TOTO supported the activities of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and published information about their management strategy

More information:

Initiative E100: https://www.there100.org/

UN Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Science Based Targets Initiative (SBT): https://sciencebasedtargets.org/about-us