Origin of DURACIRCLE®
“DURA” was taken from the word “durable”, representing the durability of engineering plastics which is a hallmark of DURACON® POM and other brands in our engineering plastics business.
Combined with “CIRCLE” to evoke the concept of a cycle, the name expresses our dedicated commitment to pursue 100% recycling of engineering plastics as a leader in the field.
| Approach | PCF reduction rate | Ratio of renewable content | Renewable Content | Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
DURANEX® rG-PBT | Segregation | Approx. 25% | Approx. 30% | PCR | Released to market | Learn more |
|
PLASTRON® rG-LFT | Segregation | Under verification | 100% at most (Polymer portion) |
PCR | In development | Learn more |
| Re-compounding service | Scrap materials from customers’ processes | Service has started | Learn more | ||||
| Re-compounding system | PIR/PCR | In development | Learn more |
||||
| Approach | PCF reduction rate | Ratio of renewable content | Renewable Content | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAPEROS® LCP | Mass balance | Under verification | (Depends on grade) | Pyrolysis oil | In development | Learn more |
| POM Chemical Recycling System (provisional name) | PCR-POM | In development | Learn more |
|||
| Approach | PCF reduction rate | Ratio of renewable content | Renewable Content | Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
DURACON® bG-POM | Mass balance | 50% at most | 97% at most | Biomethanol | Released to market | Learn more |
|
LAPEROS® bG-LCP | Mass balance | Under verification | Depends on grade | Bio-aromatics | In development | Learn more |
| PLASTRON® LFT Long cellulose fiber reinforced grades |
Segregation | Under verification | 40% at most | Long Cellulose Fiber Reinforced | Released to market | Learn more | |
| DURACON® POM Short cellulose fiber reinforced grades |
Segregation | Under verification | 30％ (In development) |
Short Cellulose Fiber Reinforced | In development | Learn more |
| Approach | PCF reduction rate | Ratio of renewable content | Renewable Content | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DURACON® POM | Mass balance | Under verification | Under verification | CO2 | In development | Learn more |
| Ultra reduction using sunlight | In development | Learn more | ||||
About LAPEROS® bG-LCP biomass-balanced LCP
Mechanical Recycling
Mechanical recycling (material recycling) directly reuses discarded plastic as raw material for products (also called “recycled resin”).
This recycling approach normally achieves the lowest cost and environmental impact in recycling plastics, but through repetition, plastic performance may deteriorate and there is the possibility of contamination.
Re-Compounding
Compounding means blending a base plastic with selected ingredients to achieve functionalities and value equal or better than the original resin. Since our engineering plastic products are thermoplastic resins, they can all in principle be used for mechanical recycling. However, usage applications for engineering plastics often require durability and reliability. In many cases, mechanical recycling does not all requirements for quality or performance.
Through re-compounding based on our materials and production technologies expertise honed as a specialized manufacturer of engineering plastics, we will generate more functionality and value than simple resin recycling and help to achieve 100% recycling of engineering plastics by expanding the scope of application for mechanically recycled materials.
Chemical Recycling
Chemical recycling is an approach that involves decomposing discarded plastic and returning it to chemical raw material state before using it.
It is an effective method to recycle discarded plastic that cannot be processed through mechanical recycling (material recycling), but it still has problems that must be solved such as capital investments and CO2 emissions resulting from energy consumption.
Biomass Utilization
Biomass absorbs CO2 in the atmosphere during its growth process. In addition to recycling, biomass carbon cycles are also essential to achieving 100% circularity of engineering plastics.
However, although biomass resources are renewable, they are also limited. Biomass resources and their usage are not free of environmental impact. The challenge is that not every problem can be solved simply by making anything and everything “bio”.
CO2 Utilization
CO2 Utilization (Carbon Capture and Utilization, "CCU") is an approach that uses CO2 directly as a chemical material. This approach may contribute toward achieving carbon negativity in the future.
Various methods are now being evaluated, and practical application of this approach for methanol which goes into DURACON® POM is likely within the next few years.
However, some challenges still remain, such as the availability of renewable hydrogen used in the reduction reaction, in addition to capital investments and costs.
Mass Balance Approach
The mass balance approach is a methodology that combines raw materials derived from biomass with those derived from fossil resources, inputting them together into resin manufacturing processes and considering a portion of the resulting product to be biomass-derived according to the volume of biomass raw material input.
Resin manufacturers are not required to differentiate their production of products derived from biomass from those derived from fossil resources, and users do not need to re-evaluate the performance and quality as separate grades.
We believe that this approach will be effective for achieving a carbon-neutral society and circular economy even faster.
