Limestone, the raw material for LIMEX, is found in abundance around the world and is a resource that Japan can be 100% self-sufficient in. (*1) By using abundant limestone, we can reduce the use of resources that are highly unevenly distributed and at high risk of depletion, such as petroleum, wood, and water, which are necessary for the production of plastic and paper, thereby contributing to resource conservation on a global scale.

The world's population will continue to grow, and the demand for plastics and paper will continue to increase. In this regard, limestone is abundant, so it has excellent supply stability and low price as an alternative raw material to plastics and paper. For this reason, LIMEX, which can be made from limestone, is attracting attention from all over the world, including countries with scarce water resources that rely on imports for paper, and African regions where resource consumption is accelerating due to population growth. It is not just a new material, but also a business that distributes new wealth around the world.

The main component of limestone is calcium carbonate. Currently, countries around the world are working on developing carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology to capture, fix and effectively use CO2. As part of this, TBM is working with external partners to fix CO2 and produce calcium carbonate. In the future, we aim to create a material that will achieve carbon negative while further reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using calcium carbonate made from CO2 emitted from factories and power plants, rather than limestone, a mineral resource.

Limestone in Japan is mostly used for urban development, as shown in the graph. We are familiar with it, and it can be said that it is an indispensable resource in our lives. The amount of limestone used in LIMEX produced at our own factory is only 0.01% of the amount used in Japan. Incidentally, about 600,000 to 900,000 tons of limestone is used annually as a coating agent and filler (preventing see-through) for paper, and as a raw material for pulp bleaching agents.

As mentioned above, the amount of limestone used for LIMEX produced at our own factory is 0.01% of domestic limestone shipments. In addition, limestone is used as a paper coating agent and filler (preventing see-through) at approximately 600,000 to 900,000 tons per year, which is 30 to 50 times the amount of LIMEX, and is also used as a raw material for bleaching pulp. It has been.

As LIMEX becomes more popular in the future, the amount of limestone used is expected to increase. , about 3.79 million tons of limestone is required. It is only about 3.0% of the total shipment of limestone. Similarly, even if all polyethylene and polypropylene (4.5 million tons in 2019)*2, which account for approximately 46% of total plastic production in Japan, were replaced with LIMEX Pellet, approximately 4.42 million tons of limestone would be required (*3). ), which is about 3.5% of the total shipment of limestone in Japan.

In recent years, there has been a demand to quantitatively understand the environmental impact of all products and services throughout their life cycles and to work to reduce it. Among these, greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2 emissions, have received the most attention.

petroleum-based plastics are manufactured by drilling for crude oil, transporting it to an oil refinery, fractionating naphtha, and polymerizing the extracted monomers. A large amount of energy is consumed during the heating process and other processes, resulting in the emission of CO2. On the other hand, limestone is manufactured and processed in a simple manner, by crushing mined limestone, so the energy required at the raw material procurement stage is less than that required for petroleum-based plastics.

Of course, limestone also emits CO2 when incinerated. However, compared to petroleum-based plastics such as polypropylene, CO2 emissions during combustion are approximately 58% lower due to differences in molecular structure.

For more information on data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as CO2 throughout the entire life cycle of LIMEX, which is made from limestone, (from the procurement of raw materials to disposal), please see "Product Introduction."