Circular society
Basic approach
The Idemitsu Group believes that the purpose of realizing a recycling-oriented society is to reform the society of mass production, mass consumption, and mass waste, while curbing the consumption of natural Resources and forming a society that reduces the burden on the environment as much as possible. We are promoting various initiatives to reuse renewable Resources within the scope of their regeneration capacity, and to consume non-renewable Resources in the most effective way possible, while curbing their use over the long term and shifting to other renewable Resources.
Policy
Circular Economy Guideline
1. Objective
Our company group believes in creating a recycling-oriented society by transforming the traditional society of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal, and creating a society that suppresses the consumption of natural Resources and reduces the burden on the environment as much as possible. And our company is striving to reduce the environmental impact by reducing the amount of waste generated and promoting the reuse of raw materials and the use of recycled materials from the perspective of effective Resources use.
Within the Idemitsu Group's sustainability policy, there is a statement that states, "We will promote innovative technological development, proactively reduce environmental risks associated with our business activities, and contribute to the conservation of the natural environment and the realization of a circular society." In addition to complementing the above sustainability policy, this guideline establishes guidelines for further implementation of circular economy activities.
2. Main Text
(1) In all existing and future business activities, we will promote the efficient use of resources, minimize waste, and encourage recycling and reuse, thereby reducing environmental impact and ensuring stable procurement of raw materials.
(2) Taking into account economic viability, we will create a framework that incorporates demand while making recycling and other costs feasible, and practice the circular economy.
(3) We aim to consider recycling and reuse from the product design stage and strive to reuse waste as new resources.
(4) Achieving this requires collaboration with related companies and suppliers, including in terms of technology and raw material procurement, and we will promote it based on collaborative partnerships.
(5) We will not only educate and raise awareness among employees but also among stakeholders, aiming to foster understanding and widespread adoption of the circular economy.
Strategy
Based on the technology possessed by each department, our group is conducting a cross-company study aimed at realizing a sustainable circular business by reusing renewable Resources as much as possible and incorporating them into our business supply chain. We are making progress. Specifically, we are working on plastic recycling and, from a long-term perspective, carbon recycling, which treats CO₂ as Resources.
Risk management
Metrics and targets
Quantitative target
| oil |
|
|---|---|
| Used plastic recycling |
|
In formulating the above quantitative targets, we are participating in Circular Partners, a partnership established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to promote collaboration between industry, government and academia with the aim of realizing a circular economy.
The initiative was established based on the "Growth-oriented Resources Autonomous Economy Strategy" formulated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in March 2023. Because realizing a circular economy is difficult for individual companies to achieve alone, it requires collaboration and expansion of efforts among stakeholders throughout the entire lifecycle, and this initiative is part of that effort.
Initiatives
Recycling of Used Plastics
In April 2023, we decided to invest in an oil-making chemical recycling facility that uses used plastics as a raw material. We have established Chemical Recycle Japan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as CRJ), a joint venture with Environmental Energy Co., Ltd., with whom we have been working together to establish oil-making equipment technology, to produce refined oil from used plastics, with the aim of starting commercial operations in fiscal 2025.
CRJ will use its proprietary technology to produce refined oil from the collected used plastics, which will then be used to produce "renewable chemicals" as an alternative to crude oil. Resources circulation will be achieved by producing plastic products using these "renewable chemicals" as raw materials. After establishing a business model in the area adjacent to Chiba Complex, the company plans to install oil-refining equipment at other group Refineries/Complexes, and to expand the business to a large scale targeting used plastics nationwide.
Supporting Gunpla through chemical recycling
The Gundam series plastic model "Gunpla" sold by Bandai Namco Group has been using polystyrene from group company PS Japan Co., Ltd. (PSJ) since its launch. “Gunpla” will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2020 and is a huge hit with over 700 million units sold. PSJ is participating in the "Gunpla Recycling Project" launched by the Bandai Namco Group in 2021 in terms of chemical recycling. This project aims to collect the ''runners'' that form the frame of ''Gunpla'' and commercialize plastic models through chemical recycling, the first in the world.
Chemical recycling technology is a cutting-edge technology that thermally decomposes used polystyrene products and returns them to their raw material, styrene monomer, and PSJ will continue to establish this technology through repeated demonstration experiments.
Compliance with the Act on Promotion of Resources Recycling of Plastics
Based on the Act on Promotion of Resources Circulation Related to Plastics, which came into effect on April 1, 2022, our amount of waste plastic emissions from fiscal 2021 onwards is as follows.
| FY2023 |
|
|---|---|
| FY2022 |
|
| FY2021 |
|
In the "Plastic Resources Circulation Strategy" formulated by the government in 2019, one of the milestones is to "reduce the cumulative amount of single-use plastic emissions by 25% by 2030," and in order to achieve this, we must reduce waste plastic emissions by an average of about 3% per year over the period. To achieve this, we will work on the following implementation items.
1. Try to use it for a long time.
2. Curb excessive use.
3. When disposing of plastic products, try to continue using healthy parts.
Every year, we educate our employees about the Act on Promotion of Resources Recycling of Plastics as part of our environmental management capability improvement training.
Solar panel recycling
The number of used solar panels is expected to increase rapidly from the 2030s. Solar Frontier Co., Ltd., a member of our group, is developing recycling technology for solar panels, aiming to achieve a material recycling rate of over 90% and commercialize it in fiscal 2024.
All-solid-state lithium battery recycling
As EVs become more widespread, the supply and demand of raw materials such as lithium is expected to become tight in the long term. Through the investigation of a waste battery recycling scheme, we aim to increase the added value of all-solid lithium battery value chain in the future.
Carbon recycling
Carbon recycling is an initiative that treats CO₂ as a carbon Resources (carbon) and generates various carbon compounds from CO₂ to reuse it in chemicals, fuels, minerals, etc. Our company is currently conducting research and development on carbonation and CO₂ electrolytic reduction technologies.
Carbonation
With the participation of Ube Industries, Ltd., JGC Holdings, Inc., JGC Corporation, and multiple universities, we are working as an industry-academia collaboration initiative to utilize industrial waste containing a large amount of calcium, etc., to produce thermal power plants. and CO₂ emitted from factories. In 2019, we established the CCSU (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage with Utilization) Study Group, which aims to develop new technologies to convert carbon dioxide into Resources. The country is releasing CO₂ as a measure against global warming. While promoting the development of technologies such as collection, we are using industrial waste containing a lot of calcium to reduce CO₂ emissions. We are working on the development of a new technology that reacts with carbonate to create high added value.
In July 2020, "Research and development of accelerated carbonation process using calcium in industrial waste such as waste concrete" was selected as a NEDO research and development contract project. The contract period for this project is five years from FY2020 to FY2024. Calcium, which is a raw material, will be extracted from industrial waste containing a lot of calcium, such as waste concrete, and CO₂ in exhaust gas will be extracted. We will develop technology aimed at the practical application and widespread use of a process that reacts with and immobilizes. In addition, in order to increase the efficiency of calcium extraction and carbonation, we will conduct tests and evaluations of accelerated carbonation technology, establish the technology while optimizing the entire process, and CO₂ We will evaluate the reduction effect.
In response to this project's selection, CO₂ emissions from power plants and factories will be reduced. In addition to developing new technologies related to the immobilization of biochemicals through collaboration between industry, academia, and government, we will accelerate efforts toward provide for society in a wide range of areas, from raw material procurement to application development.
CO₂ Resources
To date, we have succeeded in directly synthesizing hydrocarbons and alcohols from water and CO₂ using gas diffusion electrodes using proprietary catalysts. Conventionally, most methods involved reacting CO₂ once dissolved in water, but this method is unique in that it uses a gas diffusion electrode that allows CO₂ to react directly as a gas. In the CO₂ Resources recovery technology (electrolytic reduction technology) using this gas diffusion electrode, we are proceeding with development to further increase the CO₂ processing capacity by improving the performance, lowering the cost, eliminating precious metals, and extending the life of the electrode catalyst. I am.
We will further advance our research and development of CO₂ electrolytic reduction technology using this gas diffusion electrode, and establish a technology that uses renewable energy to produce useful substances such as chemicals and fuels from CO₂ with high efficiency. We aim to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 by reusing CO₂.
