Showa Denko

Showa Denko is a Japanese company producing a wide range of products and serving an equally wide range of customers, from heavy industry to the electronic and computer industries. The company is divided into five business sectors: petrochemicals (olefins, organic chemicals, plastic products), aluminium (aluminium cans, sheets, ingots, foils), electronics (semiconductors, ceramic materials, hard disk drive platters), chemicals (industrial gases, ammonia, agrochemicals), and inorganic materials (ceramics, graphite electrodes). Showa Denko has more than 180 subsidiaries and affiliates. The company has vast overseas operations and a joint venture with Netherlands-based Montell and Nippon Petrochemicals to make and market polypropylenes.

Total score

10 / 48

Grade Summary

Showa Denko has a relatively large production of hazardous chemicals and data tells us that it is producing 13 problematic substances, including 2 persistent chemicals. The production of problematic chemicals is one reason for the poor score in…

Product Portfolio

0 / 18

Showa Denko produces/uses 13 highly hazardous substances – 13 SIN List chemicals, 2 PICs, and 3 HHPs – 6 of which are included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List. None of these highly hazardous substances are either banned or severely restricted, with set dates when production needs to cease (no Authorisation List substances, and no POPs). The company produces 2 persistent chemicals. Persistent chemicals are particularly problematic, since they do not break down, but instead accumulate in humans and the environment. Because of this, persistent chemicals should be of extra concern for investors; substances that are not considered a problem today could become huge liabilities in the future.

Please note that there is no available data for the 94 percent of the company’s production that takes place outside of the EU and US. Lower EU/US production means higher uncertainty with regard to the total production of hazardous chemicals, which will have a negative impact on the company’s score in this category.

Development of Safer Chemicals

3 / 12

Showa Denko has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products and includes the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. It does not, however, exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Showa Denko does not actively market safer alternatives on its own website or on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has no true circular product, process or innovation. Showa Denko does not use biobased resources. Nor does it source and treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Showa Denko is not actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

Management & Transparency

1 / 12

The Japanese company does not produce only sustainable products. Nor does it have a phase-out strategy for hazardous substances that go beyond regulatory compliance. It does not share chemical safety information on its website, but is following a credible code of conduct standard. Showa Denko did not respond to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking. Nor does it share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Showa Denko has no circular economy program in place, thus lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.