Annual total of approximately 610,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions avoided; percentage of female directors climbs to 58%
Mercari, Inc. (“Mercari”) has published its FY2024.6 Impact Report, a report consolidating information on the efforts Mercari made to realize a circular economy in FY2024.6 and the results of those efforts.
https://pj.mercari.com/impact-report/FY2024_6_ImpactReport_EN.pdf
Mercari strives to be a planet-positive company that contributes to solving environmental and societal issues through its business activities, working to help realize a circular economy in which all forms of value—not just physical goods and money—circulate seamlessly. The company first published a report containing this information in 2020.
The FY2024.6 Impact Report summarizes the actions Mercari took on each of our five material topics. The material topics describe the most important issues we should resolve through our business and are closely related to our Group mission, “circulate all forms of value to unleash the potential in all people.” With robust organizational and management structures as our bedrock, we believe that value creation through our products and services is crucial to achieving our mission. The value that our platform creates is linked directly to the social impact it generates, which is in turn linked to the achievement of our mission. In defining our five material topics, we consider these concepts as well as such things as the level of impact value creation will have on Mercari and our stakeholders.
Highlights from the FY2024.6 Impact Report
Material topic 2: Creating a world that circulates all forms of value
Positive impact of Mercari’s business (contribution to avoided emissions)
In our calculations, we found that approximately 610,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions are avoided annually through transactions on Mercari in Japan and the US.1 This is equivalent to approximately 250 covered baseball stadiums. In Japan alone, users avoided approximately 52,000 tons of apparel waste (by weight) by listing items they no longer needed on Mercari. This is equivalent to approximately 10% of the total 485,000 tons of apparel thrown away annually in Japan.
1. Target categories: Clothing; Sneakers; Electronics; Books, Magazines & Comics; CDs, DVDs & Blu-rays; and Bags (added to the calculations this year)
Negative impact of Mercari’s business (scope 1/2/3 emissions)
In estimating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated through our business, we expanded our scope of calculations in FY2023.6 and beyond to include category 9 of scope 3 emissions (downstream transportation and distribution).
We also set targets for category 9 emissions and received Science Based Targets (SBT) certification2 for those targets.
2. Mercari Obtains SBT Certification for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Targets: https://about.mercari.com/en/press/news/articles/20240925_sbt/
Material topic 4: Building long-term public trust
In September 2023, we transitioned from a company with an Audit and Supervisory Board to a Company with Three Committees. In an exclusive interview included in the Impact Report, outside directors Kazuhiko Toyama and Makiko Shinoda discuss the changes they witnessed resulting from strengthening the company’s corporate governance structure.
For the full version of the article, visit the following webpage: https://about.mercari.com/en/ir/governance/outside-directors-interview/
Material topic 5: Unleashing the potential in diverse talent worldwide
Workforce of professional talent from 55 countries; management-level I&D surges ahead, with women comprising 58% of company directors
Mercari is most heavily focused on investing in people, aiming to become an organization that unleashes the potential in diverse talent worldwide in pursuit of its mission. Mercari follows a policy of acquiring professional talent from around the world with market-competitive compensation and further developing that talent through continuous learning. Based on this policy, Mercari has currently attracted a workforce hailing from approximately 55 different countries, with non-Japanese employees comprising more than 50% of our engineering division in Japan.
In FY2025.6, we have accelerated I&D in management roles, and the percentage of non-Japanese employees and women has improved, with women comprising 58% of the company’s Board of Directors3 as of the passing of resolutions at today’s General Meeting of Shareholders. We have also taken action to address the unexplained pay gap, a difference in salary between male and female employees that cannot be explained by roles, grades, or job types. Our actions have effectively reduced the pay gap to 2.3%.
3. Notice of Appointment of New Directors: https://about.mercari.com/en/press/news/articles/20240925_directors/
Focusing on equal opportunity rather than equal outcomes
To accelerate I&D initiatives within the company, Mercari defines and monitors three process KPIs for our candidate pools: percentage of women in hiring candidate pools; percentage of women/employees of foreign nationality considered for appointment to management positions; and percentage of women/employees of foreign nationality considered for promotions to high grades.
Process KPIs are targets we set for candidate pools to improve the selection process in order to enhance diversity within the organization, rather than focusing on the end result. By focusing on the process rather than the results, we ensure that we provide equal opportunities to diverse talent in our hiring and promotion processes.
Analysis conducted over a period of approximately two years shows that our process KPIs roughly correlate with the percentage of women hired, promoted, and appointed to management positions. This supports our hypothesis that diversifying the candidate pool naturally diversifies the results as well.
Through our business and corporate activities, Mercari will continue to contribute to realizing a society where all forms of value can be circulated and the potential of all people can be unleashed.
Mercari Group’s sustainability strategy
Mercari strives to be a planet-positive company that contributes to solving environmental and societal issues through its business activities by realizing a circular economy in which all forms of value circulate seamlessly.
In 2024, a report calculating the positive impact of Mercari’s business on carbon emissions revealed that an annual total of 610,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions were avoided across Japan and the US through Mercari Group’s combined business activities in both countries. In Japan alone, users avoided approximately 52,000 tons of apparel waste (by weight) by listing items they no longer needed on Mercari. This is equivalent to approximately 10% of the total 485,000 tons of apparel thrown away annually in Japan. Going forward, Mercari will strive to do its part in creating a circular economy by continuing to take action to promote reuse and provide alternatives to throwing items away.
https://about.mercari.com/en/sustainability/