The Mitsubishi Chemical Group ('the MC Group'), Toppan Inc. ('Toppan') and Kyoeisha Chemical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter 'Kyoeisha Chemical'), signed an agreement on March 15, 2023 to jointly develop a material recycling production process for horizontal recycling1 of waste plastic discharged from packaging material manufacturing plants.

The three companies are pleased to announce that they will begin demonstration testing of the material recycling production process, including the installation of devices to verify the principles of the production demonstration process, in June.

The material recycling technology to be developed in this process will enable plastic composite packaging materials to be peeled, deinked2 and separated for extraction as resins of different materials. With little deterioration in the quality of each of the separated resins anticipated, consideration is being given to using these recycled resins as raw materials for films used in toiletries such as detergents and shampoos and food packaging materials. The three companies aim to develop a production process for material-recycled plastic film and make it publicly available in fiscal 2027.

Background to development

Establishing a recycling scheme to reuse waste plastic as raw materials rather than simply incinerating it has become an urgent issue in recent years from the viewpoints of combatting global warming and effectively utilizing petroleum resources. When packaging materials made of plastic composite materials are horizontally recycled, there is the potential for recycling them into films that can be used as packaging materials.

Newly developed material recycling technology

The three companies have jointly developed a technology to separate composite plastic film used in toiletries and food products into recyclable single materials such as polyolefin and polyamide by crushing it and treating it with chemicals. The recycled resin is then used to make plastic film for packaging applications.

Roles of the three companies

Mitsubishi Chemical Group

The MC Group will marshal the Group's comprehensive capabilities to design and manufacture principle verification devices that verify the stripping, deinking, and separation processes. Among other things, the Group will introduce and test equipment for separating recycled resin into single material resins. Utilizing its expertise in the production of packaging films, the Group will also fabricate packaging base materials using recycled polyolefin and polyamide raw materials and evaluate their performance for future social implementation.

Toppan Inc.

Toppan will supply waste plastic discharged from its own plants, seek out the optimal conditions for stripping and deinking, and evaluate the performance of the recycled resin to determine whether it can be used for packaging materials. Toppan will also engage in resin recycling for future social implementation and marketing of packaging materials using recycled resin.

Kyoeisha Chemical Co., Ltd.

Kyoeisha Chemical will establish and optimize a process for stripping and deinking plastic composite packaging materials using chemicals developed in-house by employing its monomer, oligomer, and polymer product development and manufacturing technologies as well as its formulation technologies. When this technology is made publicly available in future, Kyoeisha Chemical will not only manufacture chemicals but also develop techniques for recycling used chemicals to promote wider use of this technology.

Future goals

Through this initiative, the MC Group, Toppan and Kyoeisha Chemical will promote the recycling of used plastic film and help bring about a sustainable, recycling-oriented society.

Horizontal recycling: recycling waste plastic as a raw material to make the same type of product

Deinking: removing ink and adhesive components from packaging materials that have undergone a printing process

Contact:

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