DIC Commissioned by NEDO to Conduct Packaging Materials R&D to Develop Advanced Plastic Materials Recycling Technologies and Help Realize a Circular Economy －Project aims to help realize sophisticated materials recycling processes that dramatically increase the resource value of waste plastic－

Tokyo, Japan—DIC Corporation announced today that has been commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to develop materials recycling processes as part of NEDO’s Innovative Plastic Resource Circulation Process Technology Development Project for fiscal year 2020. (Japan’s official fiscal year is April 1–March 31; fiscal year 2020 ends March 31, 2021). DIC’s demonstration testing commenced in August 2020.

The materials recycling component of this project—led by Professor Shigeru Yao of the Department of Chemical Engineering in Fukuoka University’s Faculty of Engineering, and involving six research institutes and 12 companies, including DIC—seeks to develop materials recycling technologies that facilitate the recycling of waste plastic into raw materials with physical properties equivalent to those of virgin plastics. The time frame for this endeavor is scheduled to be five years, from fiscal year 2020 to fiscal year 2024.

DIC will take part in material regeneration process development and conduct basic research on the impact of packaging materials such as inks and adhesives on the properties of recycled plastic. The Company will also use the results of such research to promote the development of low–environmental impact inks, adhesives and other products.

The DIC Group has identified a number of social imperatives related to waste plastic and marine plastics—issues of major concern worldwide—as challenges that it has a responsibility to address under its sustainability strategy and is stepping up pertinent initiatives. Participation in NEDO’s project will enable the Company to contribute simultaneously to resolving the problem of discarded plastic waste and achieving the practical implementation of advanced plastic resource recycling.


Note: The information contained in this news release is true and accurate at the time of publication. This information is subject to change at any time without prior notice.

Innovative Plastic Resource Circulation Process Technology Development Project (Source: NEDO website)

NEDO