forest trimming) each year, mostly unused, and the Plan aims to utilize approximately 30% or more of those materials by the year 2020. Further, in order to create new industries and activate agricultural, forestry, and fishing industries through the utilization of biomass, numerical targets have been set for municipalities for their promotion of biomass utilization and the size of new biomass industries.

### B. Biomass Plastic

The plastic that is currently used for various purposes and widely distributed is made mainly from petroleum. Replacing the petroleum plastic with plastic made from renewable resources is one of the efforts aimed at replacing exhaustible resources with renewable resources. At present many efforts are now being made to create plastic from renewable resources.

One of these efforts is plastic that is made from plant resources as its raw material (hereinafter referred to as “biomass plastic”). Biomass plastic is made from corn and sugarcane as its raw materials through processes such as saccharization, fermentation, or synthesis (Figure 4-3-16). The characteristics of biomass plastic include the reduction of the use of fossil resources because it uses renewable plant resources as its raw materials, and that it is carbon-neutral because the plants, the raw material of biomass plastic, use atmospheric carbon dioxide for photosynthesis; therefore, it does not increase

Figure 4-3-17 Examples of Biomass plastic Products

Source: Pamphlet by the Japan BioPlastics Association

atmospheric carbon dioxide. Biomass plastic can be called a sustainable material. Biomass plastic is currently being used for a wide range of products, such as grocery tray wrapping, and egg packaging as well as interior parts for automobiles and computer enclosures (Figure 4-1-17).

In order to further increase the use of biomass plastic in the future, it is important to enhance the technologies such as flame-resistance and durability, develop forming/processing technologies (hereinafter referred to as "processing technologies"), and to simulate new demand for products that can optimize the advantages of biomass plastic. For example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is a type of plastic, became rapidly industrialized due to the progression of its processing technologies and demand for products such as bottle containers (plastic bottles). In order to expand demand for biomass plastic in the same way, it is important to develop processing technologies. However, Japan's processing technologies for biomass plastic are among the highest levels in the world, and by leading the world by developing new demand for biomass plastics using Japan's advanced processing technologies, Japan can contribute to the increased use of biomass plastics, which will facilitate the departure from exhaustible resources.

On the other hand, even biomass plastic consumes energy for production of its raw material plants, and the manufacturing of materials and products, and therefore the $ CO_{2} $ emissions in its lifecycle are not zero. For that reason, if the plant-derived plastic is produced

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## Adoption of Biomass Plastic for Automobiles

Biomass plastic is being used for a variety of purposes, and has even spread to uses in automobiles. A certain Japanese automaker is independently developing biomass plastic and using it as material for interior parts for automobiles. A model released by this automaker in 2009 used biomass plastic interior parts for as much as 60% of the total surface area. Because plants are used as raw materials, it is possible to achieve more carbon-neutral benefits than conventional petroleum plastic, and the $ CO_{2} $ emissions in the lifecycle from manufacturing through disposal can be controlled.

By replacing polypropylene (PP), which is a polymer most widely used in automobiles, with