Sumitomo Rubber has announced the adoption of circular carbon black in some of its racing tires, marking a significant step in the company’s circular economy initiative known as Towanowa. This marks the company’s first application of resource-circulated carbon black in tire production. The new racing tires were used in the GT300 class of the 2025 Autobacs Super GT Round 4...
sustainability
Zeon Begins Construction of Japanese Pilot Plant to Produce Butadiene from Bio-Based Ethanol
Zeon Corporation has begun construction of a pilot facility at its Tokuyama Plant in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, to demonstrate technology that efficiently produces butadiene from ethanol derived from plant-based and other renewable sources. The new facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2026. Zeon plans to use the butadiene produced at the site to prototype polybutadiene rubber, aiming to...
ENEOS and Mitsubishi Chemical Complete Chemical Recycling Facility for Plastic-to-Oil Conversion
ENEOS and Mitsubishi Chemical have completed the construction of a chemical recycling facility at Mitsubishi Chemical’s Ibaraki Plant in Kamisu City, Ibaraki Prefecture. The facility, which had been under development since July 2021, is designed to support the launch of a plastic-to-oil conversion business. The new facility uses supercritical water hydrolysis technology developed by UK-based Mura Technology to chemically break...
Denka Earns A-Rank in Fluorocarbon Measures Rating for Fourth Consecutive Year
Denka has achieved the highest A-rank rating for the fourth consecutive year in the Japan Refrigerant and Environment Conservation Organization’s (JRECO) 4th Fluorocarbon Measures Rating, which evaluates efforts toward compliance with the Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Law. The rating assesses publicly available information on fluorocarbon measures from 1,641 companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market. JRECO independently evaluates companies’...
Yokohama Rubber Secures Mizuho Eco Finance Financing Contract
Yokohama Rubber has signed a financing contract with Mizuho Bank for its Mizuho Eco Finance environmental evaluation loan product. Mizuho Eco Finance is designed to support corporate efforts toward a decarbonized society, offered by Mizuho Bank as an environmental evaluation financing product. Based on an environmental evaluation model developed by Mizuho Research & Technologies, companies are scored on their climate...
Toyota Gosei to Sell Outdoor Pouch Made from Recycled Airbag Fabric and Seatbelt Scraps
Toyota Gosei has collaborated with KNOT, a bouldering gym located in Nagoya’s Endoji shopping district near Nagoya Station, to launch an outdoor pouch made from hard-to-recycle airbag fabric and seatbelt scraps. The pouch is designed to hold small items such as bouldering chalk, mobile batteries, or makeup supplies, making it suitable as a bag-in-bag accessory. The silicone-coated airbag fabric offers...