Water and Environment" as a Philosophy--Kazuo Sugimoto and Kurita Water Industries' Environmental Education Reforms (mid-1990s)

Water and Environment" as a Philosophy--Kazuo Sugimoto and Kurita Water Industries' Environmental Education Reforms (mid-1990s)

In the early 1990s, many Japanese companies were under pressure to address "global environmental issues" along with economic reconstruction after the bursting of the bubble economy, and the concept of sustainable development began to permeate Japanese companies following the Earth Summit (Rio Conference) in 1992. ISO 14001, the international standard for environmental management, was issued in 1996. In 1996, ISO 14001, the international standard for environmental management, was issued.

In response to this trend, Kazuo Sugimoto, General Manager of the Environmental Planning Department of Kurita Water Industries, took on the challenge of reforming the environmental awareness of the entire company, centering on behavioral change of each and every employee, rather than merely responding to a system. The company is an environment-related company based on water treatment technology, and it was necessary to clarify its position as a "comprehensive engineering company for water and the environment. To this end, Mr. Sugimoto made environmental education mandatory for all employees and started a course to train internal environmental auditors.

The curriculum, which used to take five days, was reduced to three days to lower the hurdle for participation, and an examination system was introduced to measure the degree of retention of the content. The course was not limited to formal training, but also provided an opportunity for employees themselves to take a deep look at the relationship between their own work and the environment. This was a very advanced corporate training program at the time, and showed that the acquisition of ISO 14001 certification was not an "objective" but a "result" of the program.

He also emphasized the importance of raising awareness that environmental improvement activities in the workplace should spread to the home and community. For example, he aimed to foster an "environmental culture" that included awareness of the local community by sharing energy-saving and sorting activities at home as well. This approach was intended to bridge the gap between "global-scale issues" symbolized by the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the practices at hand.

Under Sugimoto's policy, Kurita Water Industries rolled out ISO 14001 certification on a company-wide basis, solidifying its position as a "green company" in both name and reality. His efforts to reconfigure the connection between management and the environment, and between people and organization, around the axis of "education" had a deeper meaning than the mere introduction of technology.