On February 1, a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a styrene chemical recycling plant was held at the proposed construction site, attended by officials from the head office, Toyo Styrene, Chiba Plant, and construction workers. The event consisted of a prayer given by the high priest Tokita of Omiya Shrine, a purification ceremony, followed by a groundbreaking ceremony, in which a representative from each of the participants presented tamagushi and prayed for safe construction and that the construction period would proceed as scheduled. After the completion of this project, we hope to contribute to the early establishment of a decarbonized, recycling-oriented society by aiming to utilize chemical recycling throughout the entire styrene chain in order to fulfill our social responsibility as a petrochemical product manufacturer. In addition, we will also be participating in the "Creation of an Ichihara-based circular economy", an initiative undertaken by Ichihara City, the future city of SDGs, on a platform that brings together local residents, businesses and government.

On February 18, the completion of "Ichihara Get The Point" was unveiled at Yume Hall in Ichihara City, where a letter of appreciation was presented by the City to Denka and Toyo Styrene for our cooperation in the Ichihara Get The Point project. The collaboration between Denka and Toyo Styrene aims to promote the recovery of post-consumer polystyrene materials and the implementation of a chemical recycling business with Ichihara City as a form of social implementation of the polystyrene chemical recycling business. At the unveiling, a certificate of appreciation was presented to participating companies which was followed by presentation of a certificate of appreciation to our Plant Manager, Mr. Tokumoto by Mayor Koide of Ichihara. This was followed by an interactive session of "Ichihara Get The Point" attended by Ichihara Promotion Ambassador, Suzuran Yamauchi. The completed "Ichihara Get The Point" will be distributed to elementary, middle and high schools, universities and special needs schools around the city. "Ichihara Get The Point" an educational game that allows people of all ages to learn more about SDGs, is a simple game in which players create items using resource cards and compete for the total number of points set for each item, allowing everyone from elementary school students to adults to experience two worlds "a world where individual interests take priority" and "a world where we work with others to achieve sustainable prosperity".

As a result of our application to the 2022 Ichihara City awards program for companies promoting child-care and work-life balance, we received notification of our selection in recognition of our efforts and attended the awards ceremony held at the Ichihara City Hall on March 13. The awards ceremony was attended by Plant Manager, Mr. Tokumoto and Ms. Takada, responsible for styrene polymerization at the plant while also raising her own children,and were presented with a certificate of commendation by Mayor Koide of Ichihara. This project seeks to raise awareness of the need to create an environment that supports child-care throughout society by inviting and honoring corporations, etc., that have business offices or offices in Ichihara City and are actively working to support the achievement of child-care and work-life balance. As part of our initiative to create a “workplace where people want to come back tomorrow”, we will continue to make positive efforts to create a work environment where employees can achieve a good child-care and work-life balance and alleviate any anxiety or concerns.

On April 26, plant employees worked to clean the Nakamura irrigation dam. This water is an important source of water for agriculture in the local Nakamura area, and flows through the plant premises and adjacent area to nearby rice fields. In response to a request for cooperation from the water union before the intake of water, employees cleaned irrigation canals running through and adjacent to the plant.

The Shibukawa Plant achieved a Class 3 accident-free record. This is an award for achieving zero accidents resulting in loss of work and four or fewer accidents resulting in no loss of work in accordance with Shibukawa’s commendation regulations. This is due to a 36-month period from September 17, 2018 to September 16, 2022, in which the plant's absence safety record achieved zero lost time injuries and four or fewer injuries that did not result in loss of work. We will continue to build on our safety record to achieve a Class 4 accident-free record.

A comprehensive disaster drill based on the assumption of a fire occurring at the Substrates Production Section was held on October 18. At the site of the fire, training included first aid for the injured, reporting, extinguishing the fire, and fire hydrant operation; at manufacturing and research sites other than the fire site, emergency equipment shutdown training; and in the office, setting up a disaster headquarters, communicating with the on-site command center, and contacting related parties.

On November 11, employees donated blood in a mobile operation run by the Gunma Red Cross Blood Center. Blood for transfusions is always in short supply, and in order to maximize our contribution, we called for donations by e-mail and posters in advance and by broadcasts on the day of the event, resulting in a line at the reception desk with 69 people waiting to donate blood.

From 1999 to 2022, we have worked together with the local residents of Nakamura and NPOs to plant hydrangeas (variety name: Annabelle) in the median strip along Route 17 in Shibukawa City. This was the last planned activity as a multi-level crossing construction is now planned to relieve traffic congestion near the Shibukawa-Ikaho I.C.

Company information sessions were held for second-year students at Maebashi Technical High School. This information session was held for high school juniors about to start their careers, and was designed to help them form an awareness of employment opportunities and to give them an opportunity to think about career choices. Approximately 500 students participated in the session. One person from the Administrative Section of the Shibukawa and Isesaki Plants took the stage to introduce the unique features and products of each plant, showing that the small "materials" we make as a chemical manufacturer, support a prosperous life for everyone. We will continue to participate in activities to increase communication with the local community.

A comprehensive disaster prevention drill was conducted on February 28.

The "Made in Isesaki Product Exhibition", sponsored by the City of Isesaki, was held at the City Shopping Mall, with an exhibit from our plant. The purpose of this annual exhibition is to raise public awareness of the city's manufacturing industry (industrial products, crafts, etc.). 20 companies and organizations with offices in the city participated in the event this year.
More than 300 citizens, from parents and children to the elderly, visited our plant booth on the day. Many employees and their families also visited, giving the employees' families a good opportunity to learn more about our plant. We will continue to cooperate with local government activities and actively promote PR activities to raise the profile of our plant within the community.

Disaster prevention drills were conducted on the assumption that an earthquake would trigger a fire or cause injury while trying to extinguish the fire. This was the first training session in approximately three years due to COVID-19, but the training was conducted quickly and accurately, using camera footage to monitor the situation on the ground in real time. We will continue to conduct regular drills to improve the level of disaster prevention at the plant.

A number of magnificent cherry trees stand in the Innovation Center, which is in full bloom in the spring and is very popular with the neighbors. It has become a custom to take a picture with the cherry trees in the background at plant awards for long service and initiation ceremonies.
However, as the cherry blossoms fall in large numbers around our center, we clean the petals off the premises as part of our CSR activities.

We carried out In-Place Protection (IPP) training and drill to ensure members know what to do when there is accidental release of hazardous/toxic gas in the workplace (stay indoors, seal-up doors and windows, check IPP kits, etc.) .

For the first time in three years, a hands-on emergency response drill was held in which all plant employees participated. (This training was held in the form of lectures in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.)
In addition to reconfirming our emergency response procedures and evacuation routes, we improved our disaster prevention skills and raised awareness of disaster prevention.

Singapore has a mild climate and a lot of rain, so the gutters are often clogged with fallen leaves. As a result, the slow flow of water creates an environment for mosquitoes to thrive, which can lead to infections such as dengue fever. Every weekend, employees from the South Plant remove leaves stuck in the gutters to reduce mosquito infestations and protect employees and local residents.

Japanese class held on April 10, 2023. As a pro-Japanese country, Vietnam is one country where the people are keen to study Japanese and we actively provide support to motivated employees. We also have human resource exchanges between Japan and Vietnam, with two employees who took Japanese classes working as engineers at Denka's Chiba Plant.

Forklifts are essential work tools for everyday operations, but the large number of accidents is also an issue. Training was given to all forklift operators, with new operators improving their driving skills and experienced operators taking the opportunity to reflect on their daily operations. With an even higher level of safety awareness, we will strive to prevent work-related accidents caused by forklifts.

Malaysia is a typical multi-ethnic country, with ethnic groups such as Malay, Chinese and Indian, and other indigenous peoples.
Each ethnic group respects each other's religion and way of life, living together while preserving their own culture and traditions, such as their own language, religion, lifestyle, ethnic costume and diet.
All company employees came together for this event to respect our respective cultures and shared Buka Puasa (a meal after fasting).

In Malay, "Gotong Royong" means mutual assistance.
This was a team-building exercise in which company employees came together to clean the plant and the neighboring area.

To raise employee awareness of disaster prevention, training was conducted on how to report a fire, evacuate employees, and use fire extinguishers.

We use a range of flammable, hazardous chemicals in our research, and all of our researchers attended an off-site hazardous chemical safety training course. Participants were required to take a test at the end of the course to further their understanding of handling hazardous chemicals.

March 8 falls on Women's Day (a holiday for adult women) in China. On the day, all employees were presented with a variety of daily necessities as a token of appreciation.

During National Day (Oct 1-9), COVID-19 forced us to refrain from returning to our hometowns or traveling, etc. However, as part of efforts to maintain good health and improve communication, a walking competition was held by members of the office. Blessed with fine weather, a good sweat, and smiles on the faces of children, it was a very meaningful holiday.