Chemicals Management
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Basic Policy
Through better innovation, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) provides value to all stakeholders, contributes to healthy living for people and the sustainability of society and the planet, and leads the way in realizing KAITEKI.
As product stewardship initiatives, we will further strengthen the product risk assessments, which we conduct from the R&D stage throughout the product life cycle, to ensure the products we manufacture and supply are safe for their intended use and in doing so do not cause harm to human health or the environment. This includes the commitment to reducing exposure to substances considered to be of very high concern.
Product Stewardship
Management System and Rules
MCC maintains a system, including internal management rules and systematic checks, that ensures the rigorous product stewardship-based product safety in all its business domains.
To effectively utilize the favorable properties of its chemical raw materials, MCC seeks out, aggregates and shares within the company information on all substances related to its products, including that on chemical hazards, applicable domestic and international regulations, and the results of risk assessments. In addition, we have built a structure to better enable the business domains to implement proper chemicals management.
Because chemical regulations vary by country and region, MCC has appointed persons responsible for overseeing Product Safety at the regional headquarters to reinforce the global management system.
We have laid out the essentials of product safety in our Product Safety Regulations. Furthermore, we have created guidelines and manuals that provide concrete methods for working within regulations, compiling and issuing SDSs*1 and implementing voluntary chemicals management. These efforts help ensure proper management.
In FY2024, MCC established Standards for Notification and Reporting of Incidents Concerning Product Safety.
In FY2025, we promoted more active sharing of case studies of product safety incidents across organizations in order to strengthen our efforts to prevent chemical management incidents.
*1Safety data sheet (SDS): A document for providing information on the properties, hazards and toxicity, safety measures and emergency responses concerning chemical substances when transferring or providing chemicals to other business entities.
Compliance with Product Safety Regulations
Japanese Laws and Regulations
MCC complies with wide-ranging laws concerning chemicals, including the Chemical Substances Control Law (CSCL), the Industrial Safety and Health Act’s requirements concerning filing new chemical substance notifications, and the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law’s requirements concerning the registration and management of manufacturing, importing and sale businesses as well as record maintenance. To ensure that such compliance is thorough and comprehensive, MCC has established internal guidelines related to compliance with domestic laws and carries out centralized management using a database of notifications filed.
Overseas Laws and Regulations
Countries around the world are establishing laws regulating chemicals aimed at accomplishing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
To respond to such changes, we are working with the regional headquarters and overseas Group companies to collect the latest information on legal requirements in each region or location and develop two systems to ensure a more accurate response to regulations.
Product Supply Chain Communication (SDS, etc.)
MCC gathers information on hazardous properties and regulations relating to substances contained in chemicals to ensure that customers can handle and manage products safely. We provide information on product hazardous properties on SDSs following the GHS*2 required by each country.
*2Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS): A system for classifying chemicals by the type and degree of their hazardous properties based on globally harmonized rules and communicating this information using labeling and the provision of SDSs.
Voluntary Chemicals Management Initiatives
Product Risk Assessment
As part of its product risk assessment measures, MCC has prepared a checklist on product safety-related laws and regulations and has introduced mechanisms to confirm compliance with domestic and international laws and regulations from the research and development stage through to response to changes after product launch. By avoiding risks from the research and development stage, we aim to speed up the process to market launch.
Voluntary Management for Enhancing Prevention of Misuse and Theft of Chemicals
To prevent the theft and/or abuse of chemicals, MCC has established its own list of MCC voluntarily controlled chemicals, which includes voluntarily designated substances in addition to legally designated or restricted substances. We have established safety management guidelines for managing these substances at plants and laboratories, during logistics operations and during transfer to customers. In this way, we are working to reinforce the management of such substances.
In-House Product Safety Training
In addition to basic chemicals management education, MCC hosts the Product Safety Seminar on a monthly basis at MCC Group headquarters. This seminar serves to teach employees, including Group company employees, about increasingly stringent regulations in and outside Japan and how to address them.
Every month, between 200 and 300 people attend MCC’s Product Safety Seminar. In FY2025, this seminar covered themes on laws and regulations of each country, including basic information on the dangers of fire and explosions caused by chemical substances and risk assessments under Japan’s Industrial Safety and Health Act. MCC also holds individual seminars for its business sites, R&D centers, and Group companies regarding the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Law and the Industrial Safety and Health Act. We also host theme-specific liaison meetings such as the National Chemical Regulation Liaison Meeting to provide detailed guidance on specific legal compliance.
