JEPLAN, INC.
Hitachi Zosen Corporation
PRESS RELEASE
July 18, 2024

JEPLAN and Hitachi Zosen have Concluded a Memorandum of Understanding
Regarding Joint Demonstration and Feasibility Studyfor Pyrolysis Gasification of Blended Fabrics- To Promote Further Resource Recycling of Textile Products -JEPLAN, INC.（Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Pref., Representative Director, President, and Chief
Executive Officer: Masaki Takao; hereinafter, “JEPLAN”） and Hitachi Zosen Corporation (Osaka City,
Osaka Pref., President and Chief Operating Officer：Michi Kuwahara; hereinafter, “Hitachi Zosen”)
have concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (hereafter, the “MOU”) regarding a joint
demonstration and feasibility study for pyrolysis gasification of textile products. Based on the MOU,
the two companies will start a joint demonstration project to promote further resource recycling oftextile products.

In Japan, 512,000 tons, or more than 60% of the new domestic supply (819,000 tons) of clothing madefrom fibers derived primarily from petroleum resources is disposed of by incineration or landfill. Globally,
the fiber-to-fiber recycling rate for textile products remains low at less than 1%*1. Clothing is often
produced with blended fibers that combine different materials such as polyester, cotton, and wool toimprove functionality. While technology exists to recycle clothing made of single materials, there are manytechnical challenges to recycling clothing made of blended fabrics because each material must be recycled
in a different way. It is a factor that makes it difficult to recycle.

Pyrolysis gasification is a technology that converts waste materials such as textiles into useful gases byheating them to high temperatures in an oxygen-free environment. The carbon in the waste is converted
to combustible gas, thus reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions compared to treatment by incineration.
With the MOU, we aim to convert blended fabrics into useful gas by pyrolysis gasification, and recycle theresulting gas into polyester, a raw material for clothing. This is intended not only to recycle discarded
clothing, which would otherwise be incinerated or landfilled, into a useful resource, but also to contributeto the reduction of CO2 emissions.
Hitachi Zosen has been working on pyrolysis gasification technology as a next-generation treatment
technology for municipal solid waste and has constructed a demonstration plant at the Maishima
Incineration Plant of Osaka Waste Management Authority (Osaka City) under a project commissioned by
the Ministry of the Environment. Then, from April 2022 to October 2023, Hitachi Zosen have conducted ademonstration operation of pyrolysis gasification of municipal solid waste. JEPLAN works with various
apparel brands to collect and recycle clothing in stores and business uniforms, such as work clothes andoffice uniforms. Of the collected clothing, polyester fibers are chemically decomposed and impurities are
removed using JEPLAN’s proprietary PET chemical recycling technology to regenerate them to a quality
equivalent as petroleum-derived fibers. By selling the recycled polyester resin and developing apparelbrands that use recycled materials, we are working to recycle used clothing resources.
Based on Hitachi Zosen's pyrolysis gasification technology, JEPLAN's clothes collection scheme andknow-how on their manufacturing and sales, and the knowledge gained from the joint demonstration in
2023*2, we will consider making textile products from blended fabrics as a raw material for recycled
polyester by pyrolyzing and gasifying blended fabrics and converting the resulting gas into chemical raw
materials. We aim to further recycle used clothing resources while being widely involved in the supply
chain of the apparel industry.
JEPLAN Group will continue working towards its Mission to “We circulate our world” collaborating withpartners within and outside Japan to unite as a Group and lead the way towards a circular economy.

※１ Source：New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Technology Strategy Center ForesightVol.116：https://www.nedo.go.jp/content/100967090.pdf （Japanese）※２ Reference：https://www.jeplan.co.jp/en/2023/09/22/13404/■The MOU outline
1.

Title：Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Joint Demonstration and Feasibility Study forPyrolysis Gasification of Blended Fabrics in Fiber-to-Fiber

2.

Signatory：Hitachi Zosen Corporation and JEPLAN, INC.

3.

Signing date：June 27, 2024

4.

Schedule：The term of the MOU is set until March 2025 to promote the study

■Hitachi Zosen Corporation（https://www.hitachizosen.co.jp/english）
President：Michi Kuwahara, President & Chief Operating Officer
Foundation：April 1881
Business：Engineering, procurement and construction of Waste to Energy plants, desalination plants,
water and sewage treatment plants, marine diesel engines, press machines, processequipment, precision machinery, bridges, hydraulic gates and equipment for use in disasterprevention/mitigation, etc.
While shipbuilding was our founding business, we started "environmental business" such as Wasteto-Energy (WtE) facilities in the 1960's. In 2002, we spun off our shipbuilding business and made amajor shift to environmental business. In the field of WtE plants, we delivered Japan's first full-scalefacility to Osaka City in 1965, and since then we have become the leading company with more than
1,500 installations in Japan, Asia, Europe, and other parts of the world. In recent years, in order toreduce CO2 emissions, we have been working on the development of technologies other thanincineration and toward "post-combustion". In October 2024, we will change the company name to“Kanadevia Corporation”.

■ JEPLAN, INC. (https://www.jeplan.co.jp/en/）
Representative：Representative Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer : Masaki Takao
Established：January 2007
Business content：Business based and related to PET chemical recycling technology(for PET bottles, polyester), etc.

With the mission of "We circulate our world", we are widely involved in the supply chain and promote
manufacturing, business development, and technology licensing using our proprietary PET chemical
recycling technology, thereby realizing the recycling of limited resources and contributing to thereduction of CO₂ emissions. Through our proprietary chemical recycling technology and resource
recycling system, we operate the "BRINGTM" apparel brand, which implements a circular economy insociety by collecting unwanted clothes and "clothes to clothes", and we are also engaged in a resource
recycling business that realizes the recycling of PET bottles repeatedly in cooperation with local
governments and companies. To implement resource recycling into society, we operate PET chemical
recycling plants in Kitakyushu Hibikinada and Kawasaki (Group company: PET Refine Technology Co.,
Ltd.).