Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals launches joint research with Nagaoka University of Technology for promoting plastic waste recycling

Mitsui Chemicals, a chemical company that has a market in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and the USA, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is known to excel in various sectors such as automobiles, home appliances, packaging and printing materials, healthcare, construction, and industrial materials, agriculture, and chemical products. Nagaoka University of Technology in Nagaoka, Japan is one of the only two universities there in Japan. It has developed into a world-class university, offering various undergraduate level courses, masters, and doctoral programs. These two institutions have mutually agreed on a collaboration to conduct joint research to propel efficient plastic waste recycling. Professor Takahashi Tsutomu of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagaoka university would be responsible from the university side, for leading the research work in coming up with innovative technology. 

Plastics can be classified into a number of different categories. Thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics are some of the frequently seen categorizations. Thermoset plastics are non-recyclable in nature whereas thermoplastics can be melted and given a new shape and thus can be put to a new use. But the thermoplastics are discarded in the form of bottles, containers, packaging materials, and other forms. Each of the disposed of items contains varying quantities of extra unwanted additives like dyes, impurities, adhesive materials, etc. that were added to make the consumer-ready. Now, when these plastic wastes are gathered for recycling, segregation is almost impossible as it by itself is a time-consuming process, and considering the versatility of each of those disposed of items’ chemical nature, it’s almost unreasonable and impractical to do so. That calls for a creative solution, a technology, that would be efficient in recycling plastic wastes. Though companies like Loop, Suez, and LyondellBasell, in Europe, are coming up with plans to build recycling facilities and pilot plants, either the focus is on a particular type of recyclable plastic material or the facilities are to only benefit the European Union. This being a Japanese collaboration, the Asian countries, the more ardent plastic consumers, can be benefited.  

Owing to the varying states of material and difference in properties, when the material to be recycled is heated, melted plastic is uneven in terms of fluidity. This means that each time the recycled material will be of a different distribution or composition due to the non-uniform flow. Therefore, reproducibility of the same quality is highly inconsistent, limiting the viable range of applications. The two institutions are looking to develop, in 3 years, a new technology that would facilitate in-line measurement and control for the melted plastic’s flow nature, which will in turn help to stabilize the regeneration quality and consistency.

Mitsui Chemicals established the Corporate Sustainability Division in April 2018 and has ever since been proactive in adopting corporate sustainability factors and circular economy into its strategic upholdings.  The company is advancing in what is called a triple bottom line management approach where economic, social, and environmental measures are simultaneously incorporated, for tackling social issues, keeping in perspective the long term effects of the decisions taken as well as the health and well being of the aging society. Further, the Design and Solution Center in Niigata prefecture, also the location of the Nagaoka University of Technology, was opened in March 2019. Domestic affiliate Kyowa Industrial Co., Ltd. has been helping Mitsui Chemicals with its expertise in product development capabilities to ensure the creation of continuous social value. Hub universities are assigned with the task of leading the way in SDG related initiatives. Only one university across the world gets chosen for a particular goal. And Nagaoka, in 2018, was given the designation of the world’s Academic Impact Hub for Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Being the only east Asian universities with the honor, among other better universities in terms of rankings like NTU and NUS, it is highly logical as to why a top-class company like Mitsui Chemicals came up with this partnership project.