Green Tombow

Green Tombow

We have established the “Green Tombow” symbol to convey to customers that Tombow products are friendly to nature as well as people in an easy-to-understand manner with an aim towards better communication.

Green Tombow

“Green Tombow” is a Type II environmental label based on the ISO14021 standard, displayed on products that meet “Green Tombow Standards” along with an explanation of the main environmental considerations.

It is listed in the “Environmental Labels Database” on the Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan website.

“Environmental Labels Database”
(in Japanese, maintained by the Ministry of the Environment website)

Green Tombow display example

Green Tombow Product Concept

Tombow Pencil has been making stationery for over 100 years, but in recent years harmonizing with the global environment and reducing environmental impact have become increasingly important issues to continue our business.
In response to this issue in 1992 Tombow became the first pencil to receive Eco Mark certification and has been selling products that comply with the Green Purchasing Law since the start of the Green Purchasing Law in 2001. In 2008, we obtained PEFC-CoC certification, an international forest certification and began working on the development, production and sale of environmentally friendly products.
In 2023, we began operating “Green Tombow” as Tombow’s environmental label, adding products that meet our own standards to Eco Mark-certified products, products that comply with the Green Purchasing Law, and forest-certified products.

Considering there is no energy consumption during the “use” stage of stationery product’s life cycle, Green Tombow places particular emphasis on reducing environmental impact at the “raw material procurement” and “disposal” stages.
Although the environmental contribution of each product itself is not large, we continue our efforts in the belief that stationery products, which are always by our side, can serve as an opportunity to further raise environmental awareness.
We at Tombow Pencil will continue to deliver products that are kind to people and nature

Implementation Guidelines and Green Tombow Standards

In order to correctly convey to customers the display of the environmental label “Green Tombow,” we have established and operate internal implementation guidelines and Green Tombow standards.

Implementation Guidelines (overview)

Target Products

Stationery and office supplies manufactured and sold under the Tombow Pencil brand

Operations Management System

  • Product planning and Development department:

    : Planning, design, and development of Green Tombow products

  • Design Department:

    : Symbol management

  • Environmental Management Department:

    : Certification of Green Tombow products, system operation management

Green Tombow Standards (overview)

Products that meet any of the following (1) to (3) are defined as “Green Tombow products.”

  • (1)

    Eco Mark certified products, Green Purchasing Law compliant products, forest certified products, Biomass Mark certified products, or equivalent products.

  • (2)

    Ink refill containers for marking pens, liquid glue refill containers, and glue stick refill containers (* Based on internal company calculation conditions)

  • (3)

    The plastic weight of the refill cartridge is 1.0g or less per meter of installed tape*, and is smaller than the plastic weight of the main applicator unit (*less than our single-use type products as of 2023)