Japan Partnership for Circular Economy

Japan Partnership for Circular Economy

casestudy

プラスチックの再資源化で循環型社会に貢献

[Company / organization] Toyota Tsusho CorporationVeolia Japan GK Kojima Sangyo Co., Ltd.

Members, their roles, and reason for cooperation

Toyota Tsusho Corporation (Toyota Tsusho), in collaboration with Veolia Japan GK (Veolia Japan) and Kojima Sangyo Co., Ltd. (Kojima Sangyo), jointly established PLANIC Co., Ltd. (PLANIC). The new company, which is to be Japan's largest recycled plastic processing company, will collect mixed plastic from recycling and other facilities, sort and compound* mixed plastic based on material type to recycle them back into plastic raw materials.

*Compound is a technique used to adjust quality by blending pigments, additives, and other resins to the raw material resin

Time to be started

We are aiming to start operations in 2022.

Technology and business model

PLANIC will not only recycle used plastic from automobiles and home appliances, but will also carry out the material recycling of product plastic, which includes used palettes and containers, and packaging materials from distribution centers and shopping centers, to return them to their raw material state. As the collected plastic is a mixture of various different types of plastics, one issue is that they have to be sorted by material. PLANIC’s goal is to process high quality recycled plastic at a low cost by being the first in Japan to utilize an advanced gravity separation technology.

Achievements and goalsPLANIC will operate an environmentally-friendly business.

The company aims to launch operations in 2021, with the goal of annually recycling roughly 40,000 tons of plastics, taken mainly from automobiles and home appliances. The raw material in the majority of plastic products is petroleum. Promoting the recycling of plastics will also contribute to a reduction in the CO2 emitted at the time the petrochemical products are produced. Through the operations carried out by PLANIC, Toyota Tsusho, Veolia Japan and Kojima Sangyo will contribute to the promotion of resource recycling and a reduction in environmental impact.

Reference URL

https://www.toyota-tsusho.com/press/detail/190405_004357.html