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Endeavor to Create a Circular Economy

Biomass Strategy and Recycling Strategy

Conventional linear economic activities, based on the premise of mass consumption and disposal of resources, are placing a heavy burden on the global environment. For over 100 years, the Mitsui Chemicals Group has supported rich and comfortable living through our philosophy of innovating and creating materials as a materials manufacturer. Going forward, we will continue to contribute to solving social challenges by bolstering circular economy initiatives which enhance environmental and social sustainability.

Based on this thinking, the Basic Strategy of VISION 2030 calls for building circular economy-based business models for all businesses. We are focusing on biomass and recycling strategies with a view to the entire supply chain for plastics, which are the Group's main products. By implementing these two strategies and addressing the problem of plastic waste, we will continue to promote resource recycling and endeavor to create a circular economy.

Biomass strategy and Recycling strategy

Biomass Strategy: Expanding Lineup of Bio-Based Plastic Products

As we believe that a shift to bio-based raw materials encourages resource recycling, curbs the further use of fossil resources, and therefore helps mitigate climate change, we aim to expand our lineup of bio-based plastic products.

Starting in fiscal 2021, we have been using bio-based hydrocarbons produced from waste cooking oil and other materials as raw material for our naphtha cracker, thereby converting the various chemicals and plastics derived from it into bio-based products. In order to expand the lineup of bio-based hydrocarbon derivatives that we can offer, we are working to obtain ISCC PLUS certification for each product, and as of September 2025, approximately 40 products have been certified, including products produced from naphtha and their downstream products.

The Mitsui Chemicals Group has procured and introduced bio-based hydrocarbons as feedstock for our naphtha crackers at the Osaka Works ethylene plant. At the same time, we are producing and marketing chemicals such as phenol and acetone, as well as plastics products such as polyethylene and polypropylene under the mass balance approach, which allows for the attribution of bio-based content to specific products.

In order to expand the lineup of bio-based hydrocarbon derivatives that we can offer, we are working to obtain ISCC PLUS certification for each product, and as of September 2025, approximately 40 products have been certified, including products produced from naphtha and their downstream products. Through our collaborations with partners like Teijin Limited, which uses the Group’s biomass-derived bisphenol A to develop and produce biomass-derived polycarbonate resins, and efforts to promote sales of BePLAYER™ products, we will establish a social foothold for biomass and propel the spread of both bio-based chemicals and bio-based plastics.

バイオマスナフサによるバイオマス化学品およびバイオマスプラスチックの製造・販売

Prasus™, a mass-balanced bio-polypropylene (PP) manufactured and sold by Prime Polymer Co., Ltd.—a Mitsui Chemicals Group company—has been adopted by the Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union for use in food packaging, becoming the first plastic container and packaging using bio-attributed plastics to receive the Eco Mark*.

*Eco Mark:
An environmental label that is given to various products and services operated by the Japan Environment Association, which are recognized as having a low environmental impact throughout their life cycle from production to disposal and as being useful for environmental preservation. Bio-attributed plastics (i.e., bio-based plastics produced under the mass balance method) were newly added to the Eco Mark certification criteria on February 1, 2023.

エコマーク

Mass Balance Method

Mitsui Chemicals produces bio-based chemicals and plastics by mixing fossil-derived naphtha with bio-based hydrocarbons in the manufacturing process. These products are made of mixtures of fossil-derived and bio-based raw materials, but we allocate the share of bio-based raw materials used during production only to specific products and provide them to customers. This method is called the mass balance method. By using this method, a portion of the finished product can be considered “100% biomass-derived” depending on the amount of biomass-derived feedstock input, thus making it possible to meet the diverse biomass product needs of customers. We have acquired a third-party certification (ISCC PLUS certification) to prove that we properly manage and run the mass balance method in a reliable way. The Group believes that this method will play an important role not only for biomass products, but also as a scheme to help expand the portfolio of recycled chemical products.

マスバランス方式の認証体制

Recycling Strategy: Promoting Plastic Recycling

As social challenges related to waste management, such as resource depletion and problem of marine plastic waste, become more serious, the Group regards waste plastic and other materials as resources and is working to make effective use of them. We believe that promoting resource recycling can contribute not only to the effective use of resources such as the reduction of the use of fossil raw materials and fuels, but also to the reduction of waste through the recycling of waste plastics and to the reduction of GHG emissions throughout the entire value chain.

Specifically, we supply products through mechanical recycling, in which waste plastics and other waste are considered as raw materials and reused as raw materials for products, and chemical recycling, in which used resources such as waste plastics are chemically and thermally processed and decomposed into raw materials and monomers, and then recycled as plastics and chemicals. In addition to this, we will expand the circle of the circular economy through the development of new materials, recycling systems, and value chains, such as the conversion of packaging materials to monomaterials to promote recycling, and the provision of the digital resource circulation platform that realizes traceability of plastic recycling.

Since May 2022, the Mitsui Chemicals Group has been promoting "RePLAYER™ – Renewable Plastics Layer System," an initiative for mechanical recycling of flexible packaging film. The system serves to recover film waste after printing from converters, remove the ink, and then pelletize the waste before turning it back into flexible packaging film. In December of the same year, Toppan Inc., RM Tohcello Co., Ltd., and Mitsui Chemicals began discussing the basis of the joint pilot testing, and in fiscal 2023, the three companies shifted to full-fledged joint pilot testing. In these tests, we verified the suitability of mass production processes including printing, laminating, and pouch forming, and since the pouch met physical property requirements such as seal strength and tear strength, we began providing samples of this film starting in October 2024.

Specifically, printed film waste generated by Toppan Inc. is collected and sent to Mitsui Chemicals’ Nagoya Works, where the ink is removed and the material is pelletized. The pellets are then converted into film by RM Tohcello Inc. The recycled film undergoes mass production testing at TOPPAN Inc.’s packaging facilities, confirming its suitability for printing, laminating, and pouch forming. Physical property evaluations have also been conducted on the pouch form, verifying its functionality as packaging.

The companies hope to see their new material adopted in society within fiscal 2025, with an eye toward further developing and popularizing the horizontal recycling of flexible packaging film.

Joint Project Develops Pouch Made From Horizontally Recycled Flexible Packaging Film

Joint Project Develops Pouch Made From Horizontally Recycled Flexible Packaging Film

As a leading manufacturer of ophthalmic lens materials, Mitsui Chemicals provides lens manufacturers worldwide with the highest quality products. These products offer high weather resistance and a variety of refractive indices, including the MR™ series of high-refractive-index lens materials. Mitsui Chemicals is committed to technology and offers coating materials that help improve the lifespan and performance of ophthalmic lenses through our subsidiaries. In fiscal 2024, we launched the development of a new technology that chemically recycles shavings and waste lenses generated from the production and processing of MR™ ophthalmic lens materials so that they may be repurposed into MR™ ophthalmic lens materials. The company has also launched efforts toward the practical implementation of this technology.

Ophthalmic lenses go through various processes on their way to becoming final products, including lens molding by the lens manufacturer, prescription processing, surfacing, edging, and fitting into frames at retail stores. Currently, most of the lens swarf and waste lenses generated throughout these processes are simply discarded. With a revolutionary new effort, Mitsui Chemicals aims to recover the lens swarf and waste lenses to subject them to chemical recycling utilizing the company’s new technology. This new technology allows the materials to then be reused for MR™ ophthalmic lens materials while maintaining the highest quality standards. This requires high levels of transparency, strength and more. Mitsui Chemicals aims to achieve a circular economy by building a business model that spans the entire ophthalmic lens value chain.

Diagram showing the chemical recycling scheme for MR™ ophthalmic lens materials Diagram showing the chemical recycling scheme for MR™ ophthalmic lens materials

Mitsui Chemicals Launches Effort to Implement Chemical Recycling Technology for MR™ Ophthalmic Lens Materials

The Mitsui Chemicals Group is advancing the development of pyrolysis chemical recycling technologies aimed at realizing a circular economy. These technologies involve the pyrolysis of waste plastic to produce pyrolysis oil, which is then fed into a naphtha cracker to generate new monomers that can be converted into recycled plastics.

To obtain pyrolysis oil of sufficient quality for use in naphtha crackers, it is necessary to carefully select the waste plastic used as feedstock and appropriately control the concentration of impurities in the resulting oil. Waste plastics currently subjected to thermal recycling (energy recovery) often contain mixed and composite plastics. When these are pyrolyzed, the resulting pyrolysis oil tends to contain high concentrations of impurities, posing a challenge for its use in naphtha crackers.

Hydrotreating is a well-known method for removing such impurities; however, since it requires high temperature and pressure, it consumes a large amount of energy. We have initiated the development of a technology to purify waste plastic pyrolysis oil, which efficiently removes impurities through optimized pyrolysis conditions combined with chemical processing at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, thereby achieving an estimated energy saving of approximately 70% compared to conventional methods. The practical implementation of this technology is expected to enable the use of mixed and composite plastics—previously destined for thermal recycling—as feedstock for pyrolysis chemical recycling, thereby making a significant contribution to the realization of a sustainable society.

This project has been selected for inclusion in the Program to Develop and Promote the Commercialization of Energy Conservation Technologies to Realize a Decarbonized Society (Phase of Developing Practical Application) under the initiative of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a National Research and Development Agency.

Chemical Recycling – NEDO Grant Awarded for Development of Waste Plastic Pyrolysis Oil Refining Technology

Renewing the world from the material of materials. BePLAYER™ and RePLAYER™ for regenerative lifestyles.

A significant social transformation is necessary to realize carbon neutrality and a circular economy society. As a materials manufacturer that supports life infrastructure of the population, the Mitsui Chemicals Group has the potential to change people’s lifestyles from the ground up. Recognizing this strength and purpose, we have the responsibility to broadly provide cross-Group solutions to society. In order to fulfil this responsibility, it is important to continue proactive communications and gain societal recognition as a comprehensive solutions company in the field of carbon neutrality and circular economy. To this end, the Group has launched two brands with the key messages of “we explore the materials of materials” and “we’re reshaping the world from a material level”—BePLAYER™, which achieves carbon neutrality with biomass, and RePLAYER™, which creates a circular economy through recycling. By promoting both of these solution brands, which aim to utilize renewable resources and manage stock resources, we aim to resolve multi-faceted and complex social challenges, and take sustainability a step further and provide regenerative lifestyles from the material level.
Looking back, the history of Mitsui Chemicals is also a history of switching to alternative raw materials. Starting with the production of chemical fertilizers from the byproduct gas of coal coke in 1912, we have expanded our business while switching raw materials and shifting to the chemical business using gas and petroleum naphtha as raw materials. Now is the time for a shift to the chemical business using biomass and recycled resources as raw materials. With the two brands at the center of communications with society, we aim to contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality and a circular economy society and achieve further growth by once again switching to alternative raw materials.

Problems with Plastic Waste

The problem with plastic waste stems from plastics that have escaped from the process for resource recycling and ended up in environments due to inappropriate waste management. To prevent leakage into rivers and oceans, it requires a united effort by companies in the entire plastics value chain.

We have worked to manage plastic waste properly and promote its recycling by participating in global and Japanese alliances such as the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) and Japan Clean Ocean Material Alliance (CLOMA).

Established in 2019, the AEPW is a global alliance of companies involved in the plastic value chain, including chemical and plastic manufacturers, retailers, and waste management firms. AEPW is working to reduce plastic waste and promote a circular economy for plastics by developing, de-risking, and demonstrating solutions through more than 50 projects around the world.

Mitsui Chemicals Joins New Global Alliance Formed to Take on Plastic Waste in the Environment

Alliance to End Plastic Waste
Panel discussion at the AEPW Tokyo Summit (September 2023) Panel discussion at the AEPW Tokyo Summit (September 2023)

The alliance was established in January 2019 as a platform to strengthen coordination among a broad range of stakeholders across various industries. CLOMA aims to achieve a 100% recycling rate for plastic products by 2050, with a milestone of 30% recycled content usage in plastic packaging by 2030. To this end, the organization facilitates technical information sharing among members, business matching, and the verification of technologies and business models through demonstration projects.

CLOMA