Cross-industry collaboration in PET chemical recycling to expand sourcing of feedstocks for non-food contact materials

In this initiative, in addition to used PET beverage bottles, PET used not for food contact, including industrial film and cosmetic bottles, as well as product samples for vending machines, will be used as feedstocks for CR. TDK and Murata Manufacturing will supply scrap material from industrial PET film used in the manufacture of electronic components. Kao and FANCL will supply used cosmetic bottles collected in shops. Kirin Beverage will supply product samples for vending machines when those product samples become obsolete. PET REFINE TECHNOLOGY will then carry out CR for companies that plan to use the CR resin. These companies will evaluate the quality of the CR resin and then consider adopting it for use in beverage and cosmetic bottles. Kirin Beverage will start manufacturing some of its products using the CR in April, and Kao will start manufacturing some of its cosmetics using the PET bottles recycled by CR in May. In addition, Asahi Soft Drinks plans to adopt the use of the resin from October onwards, and FANCL is also considering that possibility.

The companies have been working on the horizontal recycling of PET resin for some time. In this initiative, JEPLAN’s proprietary CR technology for PET resins was proposed, along with Kirin Institute for Packaging Innovation’s concept and analytical method regarding safety assessment on recycling PET resins as food containers. The companies agreed to launch the initiative after they had each conducted safety assessments. The companies will continue to work together to make more effective use of used plastics and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.