YKK Corporation, headquartered in Japan, said it will begin purchasing alloy wires that utilise low-carbon aluminium, to make a staged transition from conventional aluminium alloy zippers to eco-friendly zippers which use low-carbon aluminium.

For this, the manufacturer has come together with Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. and Sumitomo Electric Toyama Co., Ltd. and agreed to a contract on the use of low-carbon aluminium.

YKK shared that beginning in fiscal year 2024, it will begin purchasing alloy wires that utilise low-carbon aluminium for use as materials in aluminium alloy zippers, and gradually expand their application.

The manufacturer pointed out that the adoption of low-carbon aluminium as a material for zippers is one of its initiatives to achieve the reduction target for Scope 3 emissions.

Terry Tsukumo, vice president of the product strategy division at global sales headquarters, YKK Corporation, said: "Up to this point, YKK has been working to reduce GHG emissions by increasing the use of recycled materials and plant-based materials in textile materials for zippers and switching to eco-friendly products. In addition to this, low-carbon aluminium is a new YKK initiative to reduce the environmental impact of metal materials used for zippers. We will continue to work with our business partners to reduce our environmental impact throughout the supply chain."

The manufacturer adopted Sustainability Vision 2050, its sustainability goals for achieving climate neutrality by 2050, and set targets under the five themes of climate change, material resources, water resources, chemical management, and respecting people. 

YKK emphasised it has been working to achieve 10 of the SDGs which are related to each of these themes.

For the theme of climate change, under the 1.5°C target recognised by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), YKK shared it is striving to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the company and across the YKK supply chain, with the goal of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 50% (compared to 2018) and Scope 3 emissions by 30% (compared to 2018) by 2030.

YKK underscored that it will continue to work together with customers and suppliers to reduce GHG emissions through the development and expansion of eco-friendly products and technologies and accelerate its efforts to bring about a sustainable society.

In June 2023, YKK Corporation said the number of its global locations that switched 100% of their electricity consumption to renewable energy the last year increased by 20.