Environmentally conscious "LIMEX Pellet" adopted for the main bottle of Kaneyo Soap's flagship product "Kaneyon"

~An eco-friendly bottle marks the next evolution of a long-selling product that has been around for over half a century~

TBM Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Nobuyoshi Yamasaki; hereinafter referred to as TBM) is pleased to announce that its environmentally friendly "LIMEX Pellet," which uses calcium carbonate and other inorganic materials as its main raw material, has been adopted for the product bottle of "Kaneyon," a cleanser that is one of the flagship products of Kaneyo Soap Co., Ltd. (Head office: Arakawa-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Toshikazu Tomita; hereinafter referred to as Kaneyo Soap).

In this case, TBM collaborated with Soda Nikka Co., Ltd. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Ryuji Mezaki), a trading company specializing in chemical products, to switch to LIMEX bottles* as part of the evolution of Kaneyon, a product that has been loved for many years.

*LIMEX products: Products that use LIMEX material and contain 50% or more (by weight) of inorganic substances such as calcium carbonate.

The Reason for the Adoption

Kaneyon was launched in 1971 as Japan's first liquid cleanser by Kaneyo Soap, a company that has been making cleansers since 1933. Since its launch, it has been loved for many years as a kitchen essential that removes stubborn stains with a synergistic effect of cleaning and polishing power. In 2021, Kaneyo Soap will celebrate its 50th anniversary, and will look back on its long history and begin considering an environmentally friendly bottle as a new evolution for Kaneyon.

As the company continued to consider options, it decided to adopt the "LIMEX Pellet" manufactured by TBM, due to its environmental friendliness in reducing the amount of plastic used and its economic merits in preventing rising costs. By switching to LIMEX bottles, it is expected that the amount of plastic used will be reduced by approximately 31% and greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by approximately 14%* compared to conventional plastic bottles.

This new "Kaneyon" will be gradually sold in stores from September 2024, with one million bottles planned to be produced in the first year. It is expected that the "LIMEX Pellet" will be adopted in other products in the future. TBM will use this initiative as an opportunity to further expand the adoption of LIMEX bottles in Japan and actively promote the spread of "LIMEX Pellet" in overseas markets.

*2 This is an approximate value based on TBM's estimates and is not a guaranteed value. It is subject to change depending on the data acquisition situation, etc. Greenhouse gas emissions are calculated from raw material procurement to incineration (excluding the processes such as cutting and  transportation).

■ Features of LIMEX Pellet

・Reduction of Petroleum-Based Plastic Usage and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Compared to polyethylene, LIMEX Pellet reduces the amount of petroleum-based plastics used and greenhouse gas emissions.
It is expected.

２．Various shapes of bottle containers can be handled by existing molding machines

We can utilize existing molding machines for direct blow molding of single-layer and multi-layer structures according to the contents.

４．Achieves a matte texture unique to LIMEX

By using calcium carbonate as the main ingredient, it is possible to achieve the matte texture that is unique to LIMEX.