The TNFD is an international initiative launched in June 2021. It aims to shift financial flows away from nature-negative outcomes and toward nature-positive outcomes*2 by encouraging companies and financial institutions to disclose information about their nature-related issues.
Sumitomo Chemical recognizes the sustainable use of natural capital, which contributes to ecosystem conservation, as one of its material issues that should be addressed as a management priority. As such, in December 2011, the Company established Sumitomo Chemical's Commitment to the Conservation of Biodiversity, and has since been operating its business under this commitment. Furthermore, in order to enhance the Company's disclosure of nature-related information, Sumitomo Chemical has engaged in the TNFD Forum, which advocates for the goals and vision of the TNFD and supports its activities, since March 2022.
The Sumitomo Chemical Group will continue to work together to contribute to achieving a sustainable society through enhancing its disclosures based on the TNFD Recommendations, as well as creating solutions that contribute to ecosystem conservation.
*1 Companies and organizations that are willing to disclose information based on the TNFD Recommendations and have registered their commitment to do so on the TNFD website.
*2 A concept that aims to halt and reverse the loss of natural capital and biodiversity and put nature on a path to recovery, proposed at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) held in 2021.
Carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology is expected to serve as a game-changing solution to halt global warming and achieve a circular economy for carbon by recovering CO2 and utilizing it in products, and Sumitomo Chemical is accelerating the development and spread of various new CCU processes. Among them is a technology that uses CO2 to produce methanol, a raw material for a wide range of products, from plastics to adhesives, chemical agents, and paints. It is often cited as a key example of CCU technology. However, conventional CO2-to-methanol conversion processes have faced challenges, such as low yield due to the reversible nature of the reaction (*2) and catalyst degradation caused by byproduct water.
Sumitomo Chemical has resolved these issues through joint development with Professor Koji Omata of Shimane University Interdisciplinary Faculty of Science and Engineering, leveraging the internal condensation reactor (ICR), a technology that Professor Omata has been developing. The ICR enables the condensation and separation of methanol and water within the reactor, which is impossible with conventional technologies. This helps to improve yield, downsize equipment, and achieve higher energy efficiency, while it is also expected to prevent catalyst degradation.
Principle of the ICR (conceptual drawing)
Photo of the pilot facility
Features of the new technology
Sumitomo Chemical is working on six development themes that have been selected as GI Fund projects. They include four chemical recycling technology projects, a project for the development of a CO2 separation and capturing system using CO2 separation membranes, and a project for the development of a battery cathode materials recycling process. The Group will strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and contribute to achieving a sustainable society by advancing research and development, demonstration, and implementation across society of innovative manufacturing processes.
(*1) NEDO: New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.
(*2) A reversible reaction is a chemical reaction where the raw materials react to form the product, while simultaneously the product reacts to form the raw materials.
Propylene is an essential chemical product. Currently, it is mainly produced by cracking fossil resources, such as naphtha, and classified as an upstream petrochemical. Ethanol, meanwhile, can be produced from biomass, such as sugarcane and corn, and it is anticipated that technology for manufacturing ethanol at scale from combustible waste, waste plastics or CO2 will be established in the near future. Expectations are rising for ethanol as a sustainable essential chemical raw material.
Given these developments, Sumitomo Chemical has newly established a pilot facility to produce ethylene using ethanol as a raw material at its Chiba Works, while it has also been working to develop a proprietary new process to manufacture propylene using ethanol. This process, which is to produce propylene directly from ethanol, has the advantage of being compact and low-cost compared to existing processes that involve multiple intermediates. Additionally, while producing propylene, which enjoys ongoing solid demand, it also generates hydrogen as a by-product at the same time.
Sumitomo Chemical will acquire the necessary data for scaling the process for commercial production from the pilot facility, while also providing samples of polypropylene using the propylene produced in the pilot facility for customer evaluation. The Company aims to start commercial production with the new process, as well as licensing of the technology to other companies, by the early 2030s.
Sumitomo Chemical will contribute to creating a carbon neutral society and a circular economy through the establishment of innovative production processes.
*NEDO: New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization
Since 2016, Sumitomo Chemical has been working to designate the Group’s products and technologies that contribute to addressing climate change and reducing environmental impact as Sumika Sustainable Solutions, after review and assessment by multiple external experts. The Company aims to increase Sumika Sustainable Solutions sales revenue to 700 billion yen by FY2024, the final year of the current Corporate Business Plan period, and to 1.2 trillion yen by FY2030.
The products designated this time include: gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafers for radio frequency wireless communication applications that help reduce power consumption of cellular base stations; biorationals using natural enemy insects that contribute to the implementation of sustainable and environmentally-friendly agriculture; and the SumiLarv® 2MR with WALS® vector control products for preventing outbreaks and spread of insect-borne infectious diseases, such as dengue fever. All these products and technologies are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts,” and are expected to contribute in their respective areas.
In June 2023, Sumitomo Chemical established a new indicator of avoided greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, called Science Based Contributions (SBC), as an effort to more clearly show the contributions of its products and technologies to carbon neutrality. With the SBC indicator, the Company quantifies and visualizes, through scientific calculations, how much GHG emissions have been reduced in society through the use of selected Sumika Sustainable Solutions technologies and final products that are expected to reduce definite amounts of GHG emissions. The SBC indicator in FY2022 totaled 8.30 million tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). Sumitomo Chemical will utilize the SBC as one of its major indicators set for promoting proactive information disclosure to its stakeholders and advance its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality globally.
The Sumitomo Chemical Group will continue to work as one to create solutions that contribute to building a sustainable society by leveraging the diverse technologies that it has cultivated as a diversified chemical company.
The products and technologies newly designated as Sumika Sustainable Solutions
Solutions |
● Designation area ■ Features | Contributions to SDGs |
---|---|---|
GaN epitaxial wafers for radio frequency wireless communication applications |
● Addressing climate change ■ Gallium nitride (GaN) compound semiconductor for high-power, high-speed electron devices, which helps reduce the power consumption of wireless infrastructure that utilizes radio frequency signals |
|
Ecologically friendly pouch containers for liquid shower herbicides |
● Addressing climate change and reducing environmental impact ■ Standing pouch containers for liquid shower herbicides, replacing plastic bottles to reduce the volume and weight of plastic waste |
|
BENICA Natural Spray |
● Addressing climate change, reducing environmental impact, and effective use of resources ■ A new insecticidal and fungicidal spray using a unique formulation of naturally derived ingredients, which shows outstanding efficacy against lepidopteran pests. Replacement with sprays using naturally derived ingredients contributes to reducing environmental impact. |
|
Biorationals (natural enemy insects) |
● Reducing environmental impact, and others ■ Biorationals using insects of native species in Japan propagated with proprietary technology. These products contribute to the shift to sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture, reducing the environmental impact of chemical pesticides. |
|
SumiLarv® 2MR with WALS® |
● Reducing environmental impact, and others ■ Combinations of Sumitomo Chemical’s vector control products and technologies for controlling pests carrying infectious diseases, which contribute to preventing outbreaks and spread of dengue fever and other insect-borne infectious diseases, while reducing environmental impact |
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Tokyo, Japan and Boston, MA – July 18, 2023 – Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd (TSE:4005), one of Japan's leading chemical companies, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, today announced a new program to develop functional chemicals with synthetic biology and expand upon the companies’ existing biomanufacturing partnership.
Sumitomo Chemical and Ginkgo Bioworks have been collaborating since 2021 using Ginkgo's synthetic biology platform for the production of products in industries ranging from personal care and cosmetics, to agriculture and pharma. Today’s announcement marks the start of a third project between the companies which aims to enable the mass production of functional chemicals via fermentation.
As part of this latest project, Ginkgo Bioworks plans to utilize its strain design technology to develop a microbial strain and related fermentation process to produce the target molecule, while Sumitomo Chemical will develop the manufacturing process and its scale-up for commercialization. By mass-producing the functional chemicals through microbial fermentation instead of traditional fossil fuel-based chemical synthesis, the companies aim to provide products with a lower carbon footprint that contribute toward a carbon-neutral society.
As the rapid development of biotechnology and digital technologies continues, synthetic biology, in which organisms are genetically engineered to express desired functions, is attracting more attention in various fields. In particular, leaders in the chemical industry expect synthetic biology to have the potential to replace raw materials and create energy-saving processes, replacing the current high-temperature, high-pressure processes that use petroleum as a raw material.
“In the field of chemicals, there is an urgent need to develop products and processes with low environmental impact, and we believe that the use of synthetic biology will meet this need,” said Hiroshi Ueda, Executive Vice President of Sumitomo Chemical. “By strengthening our collaboration with Ginkgo Bioworks as a partner in synthetic biology, we aim to accelerate the development of innovative technologies that could be a game changer for the chemical industry and ultimately consumers.”
“Sumitomo Chemical is a valued long-term partner to Ginkgo Bioworks, and we are as excited as ever about our work together to introduce bio-based products across multiple industries. Our ongoing relationship provides an invaluable opportunity to generate continuous learning and create scalable processes that allow our partners to make more and more sustainable products through synthetic biology,” said Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. “We’re so proud of the fruits already borne by our unique collaboration, and we look forward to continuing to work through the pipeline of products of interest that we share with our fantastic colleagues at Sumitomo Chemical.”
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sumitomo Chemical is one of Japan’s leading chemical companies, offering a diverse range of products globally in the fields of Essential Chemicals & Plastics, Energy & Functional Materials, IT-related Chemicals, Health & Crop Sciences, and Pharmaceuticals. The company’s consolidated net sales for the fiscal year of 2022 were JPY 2.9 trillion, and the number of employees is about 33,500 as of March 31, 2023. For additional information, visit the company’s website at https://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/.
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. Ginkgo’s biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and concentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as Twitter (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks and @ConcentricByGinkgo), or LinkedIn.
E-Mail:sumika-kouhou@ya.sumitomo-chem.co.jp
press@ginkgobioworks.com
Established in 2007, EcoVadis is a performance rating agency, working to help companies improve their environmental and social practices through their global supply chains. The agency has assessed about 100,000 companies from 175 countries, across 200 business sectors, in four areas: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. A large number of global companies refer to EcoVadis assessment results as one of the important selection criteria for choosing suppliers.
In this year’s assessment, Sumitomo Chemical has again achieved high ratings in the areas of Environment, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. Specifically, the Company has been highly rated in Sustainable Procurement for having expanded the scope of its implementation of sustainable procurement that prioritizes the environment and respect for human rights. Furthermore, its efforts to strengthen supplier engagement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the supply chain, and to enhance the acquisition of certifications related to sustainable procurement also contributed to the recognition.
The Sumitomo Chemical Group has taken strong encouragement from these assessment results, and will strive together to step up its sustainability efforts. The Company will also continue to deliver sustainable growth and meet the expectations of its stakeholders by contributing to the creation of a sustainable society through its business.
Since 2015, Sumitomo Chemical has been advancing its Sumika Sustainable Solutions initiative, an in-house effort to recognize the Sumitomo Chemical Group’s products and technologies that contribute to climate action and the reduction of environmental impact, taking the entire product life cycle into consideration, and to step up their development and dissemination. In fiscal 2022, the number of Sumika Sustainable Solutions products and technologies reached 66, with revenue reaching approximately 680.0 billion yen, and their share of the Company’s revenue increased to 24%.
The SBC indicator represents the amount of GHG emission reductions achieved in society through the use of Sumika Sustainable Solutions products and technologies sold and provided by the Group that are quantitatively and scientifically calculated.*1 The calculation is based on the carbon footprint*2 and sales volume of each of the products, as well as the production capacity of licensees’ plants using the technologies. The calculation method is validated by external experts.
Discussions are becoming more active globally about avoided GHG emissions calculation rules and related issues. Sumitomo Chemical hopes that the SBC indicator will serve as a catalyst for promoting more in-depth discussions on avoided GHG emissions in various areas and industries.
Method of calculating avoided GHG emissions using the SBC Indicator
The SBC indicator is calculated based on the carbon footprint and sales volume of each Sumika Sustainable Solutions product, as well as the production capacity of licensees’ plants using Sumika Sustainable Solutions technologies, following the steps (1) through (3):
The Company carefully selects those Sumika Sustainable Solutions products and technologies that are expected to reduce definite amounts of GHG emissions and calculates their respective SBC indicators—contributions to emissions reductions by customers and licensees—as avoided emissions that those products and technologies have achieved in society. The SBC indicator in fiscal 2022*3 totaled 8.30 million tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), with 2.70 million tons for those Sumika Sustainable Solutions technologies and 5.60 million tons for those Sumika Sustainable Solutions final products.
Utilizing the SBC indicator, Sumitomo Chemical will step up its disclosures and strive to promote stakeholders’ understanding of the contributions of the Group’s products and technologies to society, while also advancing its efforts toward achieving global carbon neutrality.
*1 While taking on the challenge of reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions as its obligation on its own initiative, Sumitomo Chemical will implement the SBC indicator as a separate initiative to make visible the contributions that the Company makes to society’s reduction of GHG emissions through its technologies and final products.
Scope 1 emissions: Direct GHG emissions by businesses (from burning of fuels and industrial processing)
Scope 2 emissions: Indirect GHG emissions from purchases of utilities such as electricity and heat from outside the plant
*2 Carbon footprint: GHG emissions of a product across its life cycle, from the procurement of raw materials to the manufacture, use, and disposal of the product, expressed as a CO2 equivalent.
*3 The fiscal 2022 SBC indicators for the selected technologies and products were calculated as follows:
For the technologies: Contributions to emissions reductions by licensees using the technologies were calculated by comparing the Company’s propylene oxide (PO)-only process with the average of other PO manufacturing processes, such as the chlorine process, and by comparing the Company’s hydrogen chloride oxidation process with the salt electrolysis process.
For the products: As for methionine, contributions to the reduction of N2O in poultry waste were calculated by comparing feed using methionine with feed not using methionine. Regarding the Sumisoya herbicide, contributions to emissions reduction achieved by no-till farming in the U.S. were calculated by comparing no-till farming for soybean cultivation with the conventional farming method. As for a seed treatment agent and a paddy rice nursery-box treatment agent, contributions to emissions reduction achieved by avoiding the use of some crop protection chemicals were calculated by comparing these treatment methods with conventional methods.
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
REVER CORPORATION
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (“Sumitomo Chemical”) and REVER CORPORATION (hereinafter "REVER") have concluded a business alliance agreement for material recycling of waste plastics derived from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). Through this alliance, the two companies will work to build a circular system for recycling waste plastics that includes the whole process, from collection to sorting to recycling into useful plastic resources, and to accelerate business development for plastic recycling, which has become an urgent issue not only in the automotive industry but also in society as a whole.
As various initiatives progress to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, resource recycling initiatives are becoming increasingly important in the automotive industry, which is a key industry of Japan. In particular, the movement to recycle waste plastics obtained by dismantling ELVs is gaining momentum, and is expected to accelerate further, driven by the resource collection incentive system which the Japanese government and various stakeholders are working to establish.
Sumitomo Chemical and REVER, a comprehensive recycling company that crushes and sorts approximately 240,000 ELVs annually, have been jointly studying the establishment of a circular system for recycling plastic resources since June 2021. After verifying waste plastic collection methods, recycling processes, and environmental impact assessments, the two companies have developed a viable system to produce and supply high-quality recycled plastic, and decided to form a business alliance to further strengthen the collaboration.
Through this business alliance, REVER will, by utilizing the process of collection, dismantling and sorting of ELVs that it has developed, provide Sumitomo Chemical with a stable supply of materials of good quality that can be used for producing recycled plastic. Sumitomo Chemical will, by using the materials provided by REVER, work to establish a commercial production process to efficiently make high-quality recycled plastics needed by automotive manufacturers. Through the collaboration, Sumitomo Chemical aims to begin supplying recycled plastic materials to automotive-related manufacturers by as early as fiscal 2025. In addition, Sumitomo Chemical and REVER will consider establishing a joint venture in order to expand their network and accelerate business development.
This alliance is a full-scale collaboration in which a company in the manufacturing industry that is producing and selling products and a company in the recycling industry that is collecting and processing used products work together, crossing over industry boundaries. Sumitomo Chemical and REVER will strive to contribute to achieving a circular economy by building a system for recycling waste plastics that includes the entire process, from collection through recycling, and thereby contribute to the creation of a circular economy.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Sumitomo Chemical is one of Japan’s leading chemical companies, offering a diverse range of products globally in the fields of essential chemicals and plastics, energy and functional materials, IT-related chemicals and materials, health and crop science products, and pharmaceuticals. The company’s consolidated net sales for fiscal year 2021 were JPY 2.7 trillion and number of employees is about 35,000 as of March 31, 2021. For additional information, visit the company’s website at https://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/
REVER CORPORATION is one of Japan’s leading recycling companies, involved in various activities focusing on metal recycling such as automobile, home appliance and industrial waste disposal in the Kanto area. The REVER group is contributing to the creation of an efficient recycling, carbon-neutral society through its waste recycling businesses and its resource recycling business for unused resources while strengthening cooperation with the other industries. For additional information, visit the company’s website at https://www.re-ver.co.jp/english/
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Dept.
Phone: +81-3-5201-0220
E-Mail:sumika-kouhou@ya.sumitomo-chem.co.jp
REVER CORPORATION
Public Relations Division
Phone: +81-3-5204-1891
E-Mail:kouhou@re-ver.co.jp
Acrylonitrile is used in a wide range of products, including synthetic fibers such as acrylic fiber, synthetic resins such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin, paper strength enhancers, and polymer flocculants. Businesses are called on to shift their raw materials away from fossil resources in order to achieve a sustainable society, and as part of its efforts to address the need, Sumitomo Chemical has been applying for ISCC PLUS certification for its products made from biomass and recycled raw materials. The acrylonitrile has become the Company’s first ISCC PLUS certified product.
The acrylonitrile can be sold by applying the mass balance approach*2 because the certification, which covers the entire supply chain, from manufacturing to distribution, provides assurance that it uses a sustainable raw material. Sumitomo Chemical will offer to customers products that are certified as sustainable, with the aim of contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across society.
Sumitomo Chemical has identified the mitigation of environmental impact as one of its material issues to be addressed as management priorities. The Sumitomo Chemical Group will continue to work to obtain ISCC PLUS certifications and strive together with various stakeholders to achieve a sustainable society.
*1 An international certification system to certify and manage across the supply chain sustainable products derived from biomass and recycled raw materials. Under the ISCC PLUS certification, the mass balance approach can be used.
*2 In the mass balance approach, when a product is manufactured using a raw material with a certain characteristic (such as a biomass raw material and a recycled raw material) and a raw material without it, that characteristic can be allocated to a part of the output of the product based on the proportion of the raw material with that characteristic used in the manufacturing process.
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Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd., and Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly study the feasibility of implementing collaborative projects at the Keiyo Coastal Industrial Complex, located in Chiba, Japan, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality. Under this agreement, the three companies will explore the possibility of working together to carry out measures for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as the conversion of fuels and feedstock.
The chemical industry provides various materials essential to people's lives, ranging from daily necessities to materials for semiconductors. Meanwhile, the industry, which consumes a large amount of fossil resources and energy in its value chain, accounts for about 15% of the carbon dioxide emitted by the industrial sector in Japan in fiscal 2020*. Accordingly, the industry is aware that it has a critical role to play to achieve the Japanese government's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Specifically, for reducing GHG emissions from production, chemical companies need to change fuels to carbon-free sources, while also replacing crude oil-derived naphtha as their major feedstock by developing and implementing carbon recycling technology, among other measures. To implement these transformations promptly and effectively at the Keiyo Coastal Industrial Complex, one of Japan's largest industrial complexes, where there is a concentration of materials and energy industries, there is an increasing need not only for each individual company’s action but also for collective efforts among the companies concerned.
*Source: “National GHG Inventory Report of JAPAN (April 2022),” National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
Under these circumstances, Sumitomo Chemical, Maruzen Petrochemical, and Mitsui Chemicals, all of which have operations in the Keiyo Coastal Industrial Complex, have agreed to jointly study the feasibility of collaborating towards achieving carbon neutrality. The three companies will, with the aim of diversifying feedstock, consider utilizing biomass resources instead of petroleum resources and developing and implementing new chemical recycling and material recycling technologies, as well as explore how to source biomass and collect waste for recycling. In addition, they will consider the conversion of fuels used in their manufacturing facilities, such as naphtha crackers, and the renewal of infrastructure associated with it.
These efforts will not be limited to the three companies. Sumitomo Chemical, Maruzen Petrochemical, and Mitsui Chemicals will work to engage related local governments and companies through such initiatives as the Keiyo Coastal Industrial Complex Council on Carbon Neutrality led by the government of Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Comment by UEDA Hiroshi, Director and Executive Vice President, Sumitomo Chemical
In December 2021, we at Sumitomo Chemical formulated our grand design towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Under this policy, we are advancing initiatives from two perspectives: our “obligation” to bring the Sumitomo Chemical Group’s GHG emissions close to zero, and our “contribution” to reducing global GHG emissions through our products and technologies. Through this collaboration with Maruzen Petrochemical and Mitsui Chemicals, we will accelerate the development and implementation in society of technologies that contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions and to carbon recycling, and endeavor to solve the issues the chemical industry faces to become carbon neutral. The Sumitomo Chemical Group will continue to strengthen cooperation with various stakeholders and to strive to create a carbon neutral society.
Comment by FUNAHASHI Katsuyuki, Director Executive Officer, Maruzen Petrochemical
Based on the Cosmo Energy Group policy, we aim to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 through such CO2 emissions reduction efforts as converting to decarbonized energy and utilizing chemical recycling and negative emission technologies, while at the same time fulfilling our responsibilities for the stable supply of energy and petrochemical products.
Comment by YOSHINO Tadashi, Representative Director, Member of the Board, Senior Managing Executive Officer, Mitsui Chemicals
In November 2020, we declared our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2050. We are working to reduce our group's GHG emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and also maximize our contribution to GHG emissions reduction throughout the life cycle of our products, including Blue ValueTM products** and biomass naphtha derivatives, in order to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and realizing a circular economy. Bearing the responsibility of achieving these goals, working with our business partners and consumers, we will steadily reshape the world, one step at a time, starting with the materials of materials.
**Blue ValueTM: Mitsui Chemicals’ original tool for visualizing the value of environmental contributions of the products and services provided by the Mitsui Chemicals Group and sharing the information with stakeholders.
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +81-3-5201-0220
Inquiry form
Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd.
General Affairs Department, Public Relations Group
Tel: +81-3-3552-9361
Inquiry form (external site)
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.
Corporate Communications Division
Tel: +81-3-6253-2100
Acrylic resins, which possess the highest level of transparency among plastics, as well as superior weatherability and processability, are used in a wide range of applications, such as automobile tail lamps, home appliances, water tanks, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and protective partition panels to reduce the spread of droplets. Meanwhile, as plastics are made from fossil resources, there is an urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated across the entire process, from production to disposal of plastics, as well as to promote the recycling of used plastics as resources.
Sumitomo Chemical has jointly developed with The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (“JSW,” headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) a technology for pyrolyzing acrylic resin and recycling it, with high efficiency, into MMA monomer, which is a raw material for acrylic resin. The new pilot facility the Company has built at its Ehime Works is equipped with JSW's twin-screw extruder*. Sumitomo Chemical will validate the technology to recycle acrylic resin at a high quality and work on scaling the production process. The recycled MMA monomer will have the same level of quality, and its GHG emissions over the entire product life cycle are expected to be at least 60% less, compared to MMA monomer manufactured from fossil resources.
Sumitomo Chemical has also set out to build a circular system for acrylic resin, collecting acrylic plastic scraps and used acrylic resin from NIPPURA CO., LTD. (Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan), a long-time business partner, as well as from major home appliance manufacturers, while also working to develop a customer base for acrylic resin made from the recycled MMA monomer. Going forward, Sumitomo Chemical will step up collaboration with partners in other industries on collection, recycling, and business development in order to accelerate the development of a circular system for acrylic resin.
In September 2021, Sumitomo Chemical launched the Meguri® brand for plastic products made with recycling technology, as part of its effort to contribute to building a circular economy. The Meguri® brand is put on products that meet certain criteria the Company has established, such as GHG emission reductions achieved. The chemically recycled MMA monomer produced in the newly constructed pilot facility and acrylic resin made from the monomer will be the first Meguri® brand products. Going forward, acrylic resins obtained using recycling technology will be sold as Sumipex® Meguri®. In addition, acrylic resin sheets made with material recycling technology, handled by SUMIKA ACRYL Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, will also be sold under the Meguri® brand, with SUMIKA ACRYL SHEET Meguri® scheduled to be launched in January 2023.
The Sumitomo Chemical Group has defined its contribution to reducing environmental impact as one of the material issues to be addressed as management priorities, and has been working on plastics recycling, including chemical recycling. The Group will expand the "Meguri®" product lineup and continue striving to contribute to building a circular economy.
*A machine that melts plastics and other materials by heating, kneads them with two screws, and extrudes them.
Chemical Recycling System for Acrylic Resin
Chemical Recycling Pilot Facility
A sheet of acrylic resin made from conventional, fossil resource-derived MMA monomer (left) and a sheet of acrylic resin made from chemically recycled MMA monomer (right)
Named on the Climate A List for the fifth consecutive year, becoming the one and only diversified chemical company that has achieved this distinction
Sumitomo Chemical (“the Company”) has been named on CDP’s “Climate A List 2022” and “Water Security A List 2022,” where it is recognized as a company delivering outstanding performance in action on climate change and water security, including target setting, actions, and transparency. The Company has been on the A List, the highest rating given by CDP, for climate change for the fifth consecutive year, and for water security for the third consecutive year. Of approximately 19,000 companies that provided information on their environmental efforts for the CDP 2022 scoring, only 45 companies in the world, including 10 Japanese companies, received the highest rating for climate action for five straight years.
CDP is an international non-governmental organization that incentivizes companies and governments to become leaders in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, managing water resources, and conserving forests. CDP collects information from major companies about their environmental efforts on behalf of institutional investors around the world and scores their performance on an eight-level scale.
In December 2021, Sumitomo Chemical formulated and published a grand design to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, setting out a direction and goals for the Sumitomo Chemical Group’s GHG emissions reduction initiatives. Specifically, the Company set the Group’s FY2030 emissions reduction target at 50%, a significant increase from the previous target of 30%, which has been certified by the Science Based Targets (SBT)*1 initiative as meeting the standard of “well-below 2°C.” *2 Under this grand design, the Company is further stepping up efforts to address climate change. With regard to water security, the Company is working to reduce water use at its production sites based on water risk assessments. In addition to these climate and water security efforts, the Company is also committed to the conservation of biodiversity. Recognizing the importance of collaborating with suppliers on biodiversity, the Company revised the Sumitomo Chemical Group Supplier Code of Conduct in August 2022, enhancing the requirements regarding biodiversity conservation.
The Sumitomo Chemical Group has taken strong encouragement from these CDP 2022 scoring results, and will continue to work as one to step up its sustainability efforts. The Group will also strive to deliver sustained growth and meet stakeholders’ expectations by contributing to creating a sustainable society through its business.
*1 Science based targets refers to ambitious GHG emissions reduction targets set by companies in line with climate science in order to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
*2 The term “well-below 2°C” refers to the global common long-term goal put forward in the Paris Agreement, aiming to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
“Our designation on the A list 2022 by CDP” (posted on February 3, 2023)
* This video will be posted on Sumitomo Chemical Official LinkedIn Account on February 9, 2023.
Sumitomo Chemical Official LinkedIn Account