We received the Golden Order of Merit from the Japanese Red Cross Society at the 2023 Osaka Prefecture Red Cross Congress held in November. The Golden Order of Merit is awarded to individuals and corporations that have donated more than a certain amount toward funding the activities of the Japanese Red Cross Society.

In March 2023, we donated 1,191,600 yen (including donations from ESPEC Group companies, directors, and employees) to the Osaka branch of the Japanese Red Cross Society to be used for relief and recovery efforts in the areas affected by earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6.

In March 2022, we utilized the corporate version of the Hometown Tax System to contribute 10 million yen to Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture, where the ESPEC mother plant is located, in order to help enhance their disaster prevention measures and firefighting and emergency response systems. The donation has been utilized to purchase high-spec ambulances that can provide advanced emergency medical care and other relevant equipment. In February 2023, we received a letter of gratitude from the mayor of Fukuchiyama for the donation.

Since 2020, ESPEC MIC has been working with the civic action group, Suzusaiko Association for Love of Nature in Hometown, to regenerate and conserve species-rich grassland that once disappeared due to river improvement work. On the banks of the Shingose River, which flows through Inuyama City in Aichi Prefecture, there is a semi-natural grassland that is home to a wide range of native plant species, including the endangered Cynanchum paniculatum (suzusaiko). To conserve this rich grassland, ESPEC MIC held an event to weed the area with local people in June 2022, and then in November, an event to plant young native grasses that the company had grown from seeds collected from the surrounding grassland. In recognition of these efforts, ESPEC MIC was certified as an Aichi Biodiversity Company by Aichi Prefecture in October 2022.