Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Industrial  -  January 10, 2025

YKK’s Targets Approved by SBTi

YKK Corporation’s emissions reduction targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

With the goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, YKK Corporation’s target submission for Scope 1 and 2 emissions is a reduction of absolute emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2018 base year. This exceeds the minimum ambition for the 1.5° C pathway defined by the absolute contraction approach and is considered ambitious by SBTi. 

In addition, YKK’s target submission for Scope 3 emissions is a reduction of absolute emissions 30% by 2030 from a 2018 base year, which also exceeds the minimum ambition defined by the absolute contraction approach and is ambitious.

YKK is currently the only zipper manufacturer to have its emissions reduction targets approved by SBTi.

The certification by SBTi is just one more way that YKK, a Japanese company, is demonstrating its long-term commitment to protecting the environment. YKK released its Environmental Charter in 1994 which proclaimed “harmony with the environment” as being the highest priority of its business activities. That same year YKK launched the NATULON® zipper, its first zipper to be made with recycled material.

In March 2020, YKK signed the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, which sets the goal for the fashion industry of 30% aggregate reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. YKK confirmed that commitment in October 2020 with the release of its Sustainability Vision 2050, the company’s roadmap for addressing climate change, material resources, water resources, chemical management and human rights, and aligned its efforts with 10 UN SDGs. 

On the product front, YKK achieved a goal with the innovation of its GreenRise™ zipper, which uses plant-based polyester and achieves a 30% reduction in petroleum usage, and its NATULON® Ocean Sourced™ zipper, which is made from ocean-bound plastic waste.

“YKK aims to be a company that grows sustainably with society,” said Hiroaki Otani, President, YKK Corporation, in a statement. “That is why we have set ‘Better products at a lower cost and greater speed, more sustainably’ as our motto for the next four years. At the core of all our business activities is the ‘Cycle of Goodness’ corporate philosophy, which expresses YKK’s spirit of prospering together with all stakeholders. I believe this concept includes sustainability. YKK’s most precious stakeholders are nature and the environment.”

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