Oct. 17, 2022
Sojitz Pla-Net Corporation
Sojitz Pla-Net Establishes Plastic Recycling Process that Prevents Contamination
Expanding a Closed Recycling Initiative that Reproduces Products Identical to theOriginal Plastic Product– Helping Businesses to Achieve their Environmental Goals with the Launch of a
Recycling Operation –Sojitz Pla-Net Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative
Director and President: Kenichi Ariga; “Sojitz Pla-Net”) has launched a recycling
operation that allows plastic waste from logistics centers and manufacturing plants
to be reproduced with the same quality as the original plastic product. The recycling
technique developed prevents foreign contaminants from being mixed with theplastic, and Sojitz Pla-Net aims to expand this closed recycling initiative to enable
resources to be reused without being wasted.

[Recycling operation]

In plastic recycling, it is difficult to reproduce the original products as foreigncontaminants cause quality levels to deteriorate. There is also no means of tracking
how and where plastic waste is treated, which remains another issue in therecycling process.
Sojitz Pla-Net has partnered with major Japanese plastic film manufacturer
Okura Industrial Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Marugame, Kagawa; Operating Officer;
President, Representative Director: Susumu Kanda; “Okura”), which possesses
advanced plastic manufacturing technology and quality management capabilities.
To address some of the challenges with plastic recycling, Sojitz Pla-Net and Okura
have developed a manufacturing technique that removes foreign particles fromcollected plastic waste in order to produce high quality recycled materials.
This manufacturing technique makes it possible for plastic products to be recycled
back to the same original product, which allows companies to recycle products andreduce waste while simultaneously enabling better visualization of recycling
conditions. Sojitz Pla-Net aims to help companies to achieve their environmental
targets through proposals based on its recycling operation.
Specifically, Sojitz Pla-Net and ANA Holdings Inc. (Head Office: Minato-ku,Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Koji Shibata) partnered together
last month to launch a recycling operation for plastic film coverings used for air
cargo—the first closed recycling initiative be taken on by a Japanese airline.

[Joint recycling operation with ANA Holdings Inc.]

In Japan, annual plastic waste reaches approximately 8.2 million tons. Efficientuse of resources is an issue as only 2 million tons (approximately 24%) of this waste

is recycled through means other than incineration with heat recovery.
The Japanese government announced its “Resource Circulation Strategy forPlastics” in 2019, which aims to double the volume of plastics reused and promotebioplastics that reduce the environmental burden.
Sojitz Pla-Net estimates that the plastic recycling and bioplastic market will
expand to approximately JPY 600 billion. The company will utilize this recycling
operation and other recycling technologies as well as expand use of plant-based
bioplastics to build a JPY 100 billion recycling and bioplastics business by 2030.
Sojitz Pla-Net will continue to take on initiatives in the recycling business tocontribute to a decarbonized and sustainable society.
[Related Information][Company Overview – Okura Industrial Co., Ltd.]
Established

1947

Head Office1515 Nakazu-cho, Marugame, Kagawa

Representative Susumu Kanda
Director

Operating Officer; President, Representative Director

Main Business

Manufacture and sale of all types of polyethylene andpolypropylene products, optical functional films, and particleboard, engineered wood boards, plywood, and other engineeredwood products

Websitehttps://www.okr-ind.co.jp/en/[Related Press release]“Sojitz Pla-Net and ANA Group launch recycling operation to reduce the disposal ofplastic waste.” Sojitz Pla-Net Corp. Press release, 29 Sep 2022.
http://www.sojitz-planet.com/jp/wp/wpcontent/uploads/2022/09/2cfa98bb620678e89b5182ddb28aaa8f.pdf[For questions, contact:]
Sojitz Pla-Net Corporation

Environment Sustainable Business Office+81－3－6871－5619