Press release
- Material Circulation
- Recycling Plant
Completion of Yokosuka Plant, the world's first automatic sorting and recycling of LIMEX and plastic
~Starting operations at one of Japan's largest recycling plants, aiming to build a pioneering material circulation model~
TBM Co., Ltd., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Nobuyoshi Yamasaki; hereinafter referred to as TBM) is pleased to announce the completion of the "Yokosuka Plant," the world's first recycling plant that automatically sorts and recycles collected used LIMEX and waste plastics, in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, which has declared itself a "Yokosuka Zero Carbon City."
TBM has been working on the development, manufacturing, and sales of LIMEX, an environmentally friendly new material primarily made from limestone, and LIMEX products. LIMEX products are used by over 8,000 companies and local governments as a plastic alternative in products such as shopping bags, stationery, and food containers, as well as a paper alternative in printed materials such as booklets and posters.
While promoting the widespread use of LIMEX products, TBM is also working to promote resource recycled material that includes not only LIMEX but also waste plastics, as the domestic processing of waste plastics has become a major social issue. This is achieved through closed-loop material circulation of LIMEX products, sales and product development of "CirculeX," a material containing more than 50% recycled materials, and the employee-participatory material circulation coordination service "MaaR for Business."
Furthermore, under the "Act on Promotion of material circulation Related to Plastics (New Plastics Act)," which came into effect in April 2022, LIMEX falls under the category of plastic products. We have also been working on creating a system to separate LIMEX from general-purpose plastics from "plastic resources" discharged from households and build a highly accurate recycling system.
The newly completed Yokosuka Plant will automatically sort and wash collected used LIMEX and plastics to produce recycled pellets that will be used as materials for new LIMEX and plastic products. The material detection and sorting technology, which uses near-infrared light to automatically sort only LIMEX from other materials such as plastics and paper, is a unique program developed in collaboration with a major overseas sorting machine manufacturer. Utilizing this automated sorting technology, TBM will work with Yokosuka City to promote the city-wide collection of container and packaging plastics and product plastics by 2023, as well as efforts to promote the widespread use of LIMEX products and establish them as a designated collection item. With the start of operations at this plant, TBM aims to expand this pioneering material circulation model both domestically and internationally, towards the realization of a Decarbonization society through material circulation.
Background
Globally, approximately 6.3 billion tons of plastic have been discarded since 1950, and it is estimated that about 79% of this ends up in landfills or is released into the natural environment*1. In Japan, of the approximately 8.22 million tons of waste plastic generated in 2020, about 7.1 million tons were effectively utilized. Of this, about 5.09 million tons were used for thermal recycling (energy recovery), where the heat from burning is used for power generation and hot water supply. Combined with simple incineration, about 70% of all separated and collected waste plastic is incinerated*2. Given the current situation where plastic recycling is not progressing, the New Plastics Law was enacted in April 2022, requiring businesses that manufacture and sell products using plastic to voluntarily collect and recycle those products.
TBM has been working to address global environmental issues such as resource depletion and climate change by developing, manufacturing, and selling LIMEX, a new material originating in Japan that is mechanical recycling and primarily made from limestone. Through this work, TBM has been promoting the reduction of the use of petroleum-based plastics, the reduction of CO2 emissions, and the establishment of a circular model for used LIMEX through closed-loop recycling in collaboration with partner companies and local governments.
*1 Geyer, R., Jambeck, JR, & Law, KL (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made
*2 Current status of production, disposal, recycling, and processing of plastic products in 2020 (Japan Plastics Recycling Association)
Outline of Yokosuka Plant
(1) The world's first*3 plant that automatically sorts and recycles LIMEX and general-purpose plastics.
In collaboration with a major overseas sorting machine manufacturer, we have been conducting verification tests on material detection and sorting using near-infrared light, and have developed a unique program that automatically sorts only LIMEX from other materials such as plastic and paper.
*3 According to TBM research | As of November 2022 | As a "factory that automatically sorts and recycles LIMEX and waste plastics"
(2) One of the largest plastic recycling plants in Japan
With an annual processing capacity of approximately 40,000 tons and an annual production capacity of approximately 24,000 tons of recycled pellets, this plant is one of the largest plastic recycling plants in Japan.
(3) Taking the lead in the integrated collection and recycling of household-derived plastic containers and packaging and plastic products.
With the new Plastics Law in effect, there is a need for a recycling system that corresponds to the new sorting category "plastic resources" which collects all types of waste plastic from households. This factory is capable of sorting and recycling the diverse types of waste plastic discharged from households.
(4) Advanced technology for recycling miscellaneous industrial waste plastics that have been incinerated.
The introduction of an automated sorting line will enable us to actively accept and recycle various types of business waste plastics, such as those discharged from offices and factories, which were previously incinerated.
