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Improved Energy Efficiency

Last Updated: 2024.12.27
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Fast Retailing promotes greater efficiency in the use of energy in our stores and throughout the supply chain. We also promote the development and production of functional apparel that reduces energy used when worn by our customers.

Policies for Greater Energy Efficiency

Fast Retailing uses a variety of energy sources for store lighting and climate control, product manufacturing and transport, and other purposes. We work with our partners to encourage energy savings and increase efficiency in our business activities, while respecting the energy reduction targets in every region and country where we conduct business.

Targets

Fast Retailing

We promote energy saving in our stores and offices in every country and region where we conduct business. By changing the way we operate our stores, Fast Retailing introduces energy saving measures in lighting, heating, and temperature control. We have adopted new technologies, including LED lighting and automatic temperature control systems. We are also changing the way we design our stores to make effective use of natural light. We also save energy in our Yamaguchi office through LED lighting and improving air-conditioning efficiency and in Ariake and Roppongi offices through systems that shut down lighting and temperature control systems automatically at the end of the normal workday. At our Ariake Office, we save energy through the use of natural light.

In addition, aiming at 100% sourcing of renewable electricity by the fiscal year ending August 2030, we have introduced renewable energy at stores and offices through initiatives such as an on-site installation* of solar power generation equipment, purchasing green electricity products provided by energy suppliers, and renewable energy certificates.
*Sourcing through PPA (Power Purchase Agreement)

Supply Chain

We identify every business associated with the Fast Retailing Group to improve energy efficiency throughout our supply chain including our production partners and logistics partners. We collaborate with our partners to improve productivity and promote the installation of energy-saving equipment.

To reduce environmental impact throughout the supply chain, Fast Retailing uses the Higg Index and other apparel industry indices at our core garment factories and fabric mills to measure and reduce their environmental impact. Based on strong relationships with partner factories, we are working to achieve our GHG emissions reduction target by the fiscal year ending August 2030 in our supply chain through reducing energy usage and improving energy efficiency.
Our aim is to reduce energy usage with logistics partners by consolidating shipments and improving loading efficiency.

Fast Retailing Initiatives

Stores and offices

・Reductions in energy consumption through energy saving at stores
We strive to reduce GHG emissions by promoting energy savings and reducing electricity usage at stores. Since spring/summer 2014, we have been installing LED lighting in all UNIQLO and GU stores in Japan. We are also working to install LED lighting systems at UNIQLO stores globally.

  • Currently, we are striving to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by installing an air conditioning operation control system that controls overtime use and automatically adjusts to a preset temperature. In addition to implementing measures such as adjusting lighting and air conditioning and switching to low-voltage power supply, we are developing new, highly energy-efficient roadside store format,starting from store-design stage. The UNIQLO Maebashi Minami IC Store, which opened in April 2023, has obtained ZEB Ready* certification for its store design, which combines energy conservation and energy generation through the adoption of energy-saving technology to reduce power consumption and the installation of solar panels. We will continue to increase the number of stores designed in line with this new format both in Japan and overseas.

    *A highly insulated building with efficient energy-saving equipment enabling reduced energy consumption, which makes efforts to achieve ZEB (net-zero energy building), which is a building with net-zero or negative annual primary energy consumption.


  • UNIQLO Maebashi Minami IC Store

・Introducing renewable energy
We have introduced renewable energy at stores and offices through initiatives such as an on-site installation* of solar power generation equipment, purchasing green electricity products provided by energy suppliers and renewable energy certificates. We have achieved 67.6% sourcing of renewable electricity as of the fiscal year ending August 2023.
*Sourcing through PPA (Power Purchase Agreement)

・Respecting the environment by acquiring LEED certification
UNIQLO has been working towards reducing its environmental burden through its store designs and operations. UNIQLO has standardized the specifications for roadside stores, utilizing high-quality materials, heat insulation, LED lighting and simple store designs to create durable, energy-efficient retail spaces. The Gold Level LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in the Building Operations & Maintenance (O+M) category was awarded in recognition of this store design and its operating procedures. As of end of August 2024, UNIQLO has acquired LEED O+M Gold certification at eight main roadside stores in Japan including the Kawagoe store. We continue to apply the knowledge gained through these efforts to further lower the environmental impact of its stores.

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Supply Chain Initiatives

Production partners

・Initiatives to reduce GHG emissions
Based on strong relationships with production partners, Fast Retailing is working to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the supply chain leading up to fiscal year ending August 31, 2030. We use the Higg Index and other apparel industry indices to measure environmental impact, including greenhouse gas emissions, at our core garment factories and fabric mills, then work with each partner to reduce this impact. By November 2021, we defined specific conditions and issues across countries and regions, and at each of the core partner factories jointly accounting for 90% of UNIQLO and GU manufacturing. We then formulated plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to implement decarbonization, energy-efficiency, and renewable-energy initiatives. To ensure these plans are implemented, we work closely with our partner factories to check progress, and conduct a review every three months. To help our partners meet challenges, we provide tailored advice for each factory on suitable options for their circumstances, and introduce funding sources to help them implement plans.

For example, such consultive support has led to some fabric mills suppliers installing highly-efficient small boilers and other key equipment. In Bangladesh - a region where it remains difficult to procure renewable energy - we worked directly with renewable energy providers to ensure our partner factories could procure renewable energy certificates on a priority basis.

Logistics

・Reducing energy usage
We are taking steps to reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts related to logistics through improved transportation efficiencies.

InitiativesBrandDescription

Visualization of greenhouse
gas emissions

All Group

  • We are a member of the Smart Freight Centre (SFC), an international non-profit organization dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from freight transportation, and we promote efforts to visualize and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across logistics, in collaboration with the SFC and its member companies, as well as other organizations, and experts.

Buyer Consolidation

UNIQLO and GU

  • When shipping from factories to countries and regions, we reduce the number of containers by consolidating shipments with similar shipping dates and desired delivery dates into a single container. This initiative has reduced the number of containers by about 15% per year.

Improving Delivery and Loading Efficiency

UNIQLO and GU

  • We set minimum orders per item for each store to prevent inefficient small shipments from warehouses to stores.
  • Mainly in Japan, we improve the efficiency of deliveries per truck by extending the hours for receiving deliveries at stores, and using the same truck to deliver goods to stores located in close proximity (including some PLST stores).
  • In some countries, UNIQLO and GU deliver orders placed online directly from nearby stores to customers, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of deliveries by improving delivery efficiency.
  • We improve shipping efficiency at the warehouse for e-commerce sales using systems that adjust the height of the carton automatically according to the quantity of products the carton contains to minimize the carton size.
  • We reduced the number of cardboard box sizes to improve loading efficiency. This overcomes inefficiencies of shipping boxes in a wide range of sizes. And we improve loading efficiency by further consolidating deliveries during slower periods.

Energy Usage

Fast Retailing

Items Units Fiscal 2019 Fiscal 2020 Fiscal 2021 Fiscal 2022 Fiscal 2023
Energy usage Gas m3 7,669,159 3,142,323 1,923,305 2,072,231 1,883,867
Electricity kWh 561,629,357 560,308,048 524,276,267 565,145,093 594,464,587
Renewable energy sourced kWh - - 13,391,707 239,842,665 401,930,614
Proportion of electricity sourced for own operations from renewable energy % - - 2.6 42.4 67.6
Scope Fast Retailing Fast Retailing Fast Retailing Fast Retailing Fast Retailing

Third-party verification of energy usage data

The data on energy usage has been verified by SGS Japan Co., Ltd.*

* The verification scope up to the fiscal year ending August 2020 is for main offices and UNIQLO and GU stores in Japan. From the fiscal year ending August 2021, the scope covers global operations of Fast Retailing.

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