Environment

• Buyer (Merchandise Department)
  It is very important to order the appropriate quantity to reduce excess inventory.
  Therefore, buyers responsible for the purchase of products analyze past records, forecast sales in the next season and then carefully calculate the purchase quantity required in the sales plan.
  Moreover, buyers reduce the order quantity at the beginning of the season and then place additional orders during the season depending on products. This prevents unsold products due to over-ordering. Additional orders during the season need to be processed in a short time. Therefore, the cooperation of suppliers is indispensable. Accordingly, this is a mechanism we have formed upon relationships of trust over a long time with our suppliers.
• Controller (Merchandise Department)
  It is very important to keep the appropriate quantity and content of inventory in each store to reduce excess inventory.
  Therefore, controllers responsible for the inventory management of products analyze product trends at all stores every week, and then carefully manage the inventory quantity in each store required in the sale plan by transferring products (moving products between stores) or reducing prices as appropriate.
  In addition, we have established a standard for price reductions. Accordingly, controllers reduce prices at the timing appropriate for each product. This means we do not excessively reduce prices like significantly slashing the price of all products at the end of the season (so-called bargain sales).
  

  See Inventory management

• Supplier (manufacturers, trading companies, etc.)
  We do not unreasonably return products we have ordered from suppliers and complete the transaction. Thus, we implement complete purchasing from suppliers.
  Therefore, suppliers do not dispose of our surplus products (excluding defective products).

The Shimamura Group has been proactively recycling resources since 2007. We use our own logistics to bring together recyclable resources (hangers, plastic bag, shopping bags, cardboard, and miscellaneous and used paper) generated in each store at transfer centers. Recycling operators then implement resource recycling.
Furthermore, we have been working on complete recycling in which we turn the hangers and plastic bag generated in-house into raw materials (pelletizing) at facilities we have designated in Japan and overseas and then reuse these materials in-house since May 2019. With this initiative, we are promoting a circular economy that is friendly on the global environment because it does not generate plastic waste.

• Changes in the amount of recycling
  　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
  Total amount of recycling（ｔ）	12,877	13,917	15,702	14,809	14,748
  Cardboard（ｔ）	7,047	7,325	8,018	7,026	7,068
  Plastic bag（ｔ）*Hangers and other plastic	4,346	4,585	5,632	5,929	6,031
  Miscellaneous and used paper（ｔ）	1,483	2,007	2,051	1,852	1,647

• Changes in resource recycling (hangers only)
  　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　

  	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
  Amount of hangers delivered（ｔ）*Approximation	3,700	3,700	3,700	3,400	3,300
  Complete recycling volume（ｔ）	212	539	1,316	1,786	1,983
  Complete recycling ratio（％）	5.7	14.6	35.6	52.5	60.1
  	2024 (Plan)	2026 (Plan)
  	3,350	3,500
  	2,178	2,625
  	65.0	75.0

• Hangers in our designated color (light gray)　*Complete recycling
  We collect designated color hangers at the time of payment after they have been used to display products in our stores. We bring them together at stores and transport them to transfer centers where they are compressed. They are then pelletized at recycling plants in Japan and overseas. After that, they are molded into hangers in China and elsewhere and delivered together with products. We then once again use them in stores in the Shimamura Group.
  
• Hangers not in our designated color (light gray)　*Circular recycling
  We remove hangers (mainly black) used at the time of delivery when they arrive and collect them. We bring them together at stores and transport them to transfer centers where they are compressed. They are then recycled into reprocessed plastic products at recycling plants.

We remove the plastic bag used to protect products at time of delivery when they arrive. We then sort it by materials in stores and recycle them.

• Plastic bag made of colorless and transparent polypropylene (PP) materials　*Complete recycling
  Each store sends them to transfer centers where they are compressed. They are then pelletized at recycling plants in Japan and overseas. After that, they are molded into hangers, hooks and other products in China and delivered together with products. We then once again use them in stores in the Shimamura Group.
  
• Plastic bag made of polyethylene (PE) materials and colored PP materials　*Circular recycling
  Each store sends them to transfer centers where they are compressed. They are then recycled into reprocessed plastic products, RPF (refuse derived paper and plastics densified fuel) and similar in recycling plants.

We have been asking customers to bring used shopping bags to our stores and then collecting them for 1 yen per bag since April 2007. Each of our stores will collect the shopping bags brought in by our customers, and send them to our transfer centers where they will be compressed before being turned into pellets at recycling factories in Japan. After that, they will be recycled into small delivery bags at our plastic factories in China and Thailand and then delivered together with our products to be used again at stores in the Shimamura Group.
It is possible to recycle approximately 65% of the materials back into small delivery bags by detaching the part where the label (paper) is affixed at the perforation on these small delivery bags.
Our shopping bags are made with materials that contain at least 25% of plant-derived raw materials(biomass plastic). These are environmentally-friendly plastic shopping bags which comply with the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law to contribute to saving limited oil resources. (We have been using these in all our stores since July 1, 2020.)
Small delivery bags: Outer bags used when delivering products from suppliers to stores
　　　　　　　　

Each store sends the carboard used for delivery and the paper used for product protection to transfer centers. We then recycle them once again into cardboard and paper products at paper mills through waste paper collection operators.