On March 15, the official website of Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG Group) announced that it has started a study, aiming to achieve an annual processing capacity of about 10,000 tons by 2030, seeking to integrate the world’s first polymer Commercialization of Chemical Recycling of Carbonate Resin (PC Resin) Depolymerization.
PC Resin Chemical Recycling Project
Currently, the Fukuoka plant is constructing a laboratory facility for validation studies, which is scheduled to be completed in August 2023. The Mitsubishi Chemical Group plans to complete demonstration experiments in the same fiscal year, followed by specific commercialization studies. This demonstration project has been adopted as a subsidy project of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment’s “2022 Fiscal Year Plastic Resource Circulation System Development Demonstration Project for a Decarbonized Society” plan.
Chemical recovery of PC resin
PC resin is an engineering plastic with excellent transparency, impact resistance, heat resistance, and dimensional stability. It is often used in automotive interior parts, headlights, and building materials. Currently, used PC resin is usually recycled by mechanical recycling, where it is shredded, melted down, and then remolded. However, if degraded resins or different resins are mixed together, there is a problem that sufficient quality of recycled resins cannot be obtained. In contrast, chemical recycling, in which used PC resin is depolymerized, returned to monomer, and then polymerized again, can regenerate a wider range of used resin into high-quality recycled PC resin.
The goal of MCG Group is not just to establish chemical recycling technology, but to establish a PC resin recycling system. We plan to actively cooperate with companies that use PC resin in their products.
In addition, MCG Group will deploy high value-added PC resin “XANTAR™” from April 3, 2023, aiming to further strengthen its engineering plastics business. The MCG Group will continue to provide high-value-added, high-performance products and contribute to the realization of a sustainable society by establishing a recycling system.
Restructure and strengthen engineering plastics business
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) issued the “Notice on Restructuring and Strengthening Engineering Plastics Business” on February 8, 2022, aiming to strengthen the company’s strength, and announced that from April 3, 2023, MCC will transfer its equity affiliated company Mitsubishi Engineering Half of the equity in Plastics Corporation (MEP) was transferred to Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Corporation (MGC), and at the same time, part of the business of the Ministry of Environmental Protection was acquired through an absorption spin-off.
Before the spin-off, MEP occupied more than 10% of the global PC market share, ranking third among global PC sales companies. After share reorganization, MCC will hold MEP
25% stake, MEP will become a consolidated subsidiary of MGC. MEP will continue to carry out business activities as a PC manufacturing and sales company, and other businesses will be acquired by the MCC and MGC groups through absorption spin-offs, respectively.
MCC is advancing portfolio reform to further increase the added value of its polybutylene terephthalate business and specialty polycarbonate business including XANTAR™, which will be acquired from MEP through an absorption spin-off. At the same time, as part of the high-performance polymer business, MCC’s goal is to achieve sustainable growth in specialty engineering plastics business, around key polymerization and compounding technologies, as well as other engineering plastics businesses represented by DURABIO™, MCC’s bio-based engineering plastic.
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