Measures to Achieve Carbon Neutrality
We will introduce our initiatives toward achieving carbon neutrality.
- Use of Biomass-Based Materials
- Measures for the CCS Project
- Recycling Plastic Waste into Materials
- R&D
Use of Biomass-Based Materials
We previously used oil-derived materials at our ethylene plant. In June 2024, however, we started to include biomass-based materials among the raw materials used for ethylene and have obtained ISCC PLUS certification* for this. To go carbon neutral by 2050, we will manufacture and sell ISCC PLUS-certified biomass-based products, thereby contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The acquisition of the ISCC PLUS certification has enabled us to attribute sustainability to products and derivatives containing sustainable biomass-based materials by adopting the mass balance method available under the certification system and sell them as sustainable products. We will continuously work to contribute to the practical use of sustainable materials in society and to the creation of a recycling-oriented society toward carbon neutrality.
* ISCC PLUS certification system: International certification system to ensure the sustainability and appropriate management of biomass-based/renewable materials and products across a supply chain.
Measures for the CCS Project
A total of eight companies, including Resonac, have been commissioned by the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) to conduct surveys as part of the Organization’s Japanese Advanced CCS Projects for FY2024. For the surveys, we will examine the technological requirements and estimate the related costs for each stage of a value chain that spans from the separation and capture of CO2 emitted at the Oita Complex through to the storage of the captured CO2 at the storage site and its transportation from that site.
CCS：Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage
Recycling Plastic Waste into Materials
We established a “knowledge hub” with other companies and a university to build a model for a resource recycling-oriented society in Kyushu. The base is designed to serve as a forum for discussion to identify and solve issues toward the establishment of Kyushu’s first local production and local consumption process for the utilization of various wastes generated by local industries and government bodies as well as other unused resources. The project to establish this base was selected as one of the fiscal 2024 projects to create regional circular and ecological areas through decarbonization innovations by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. Through this project, we will use the local production and local consumption system to collect plastic waste generated in the Kyushu area and recycle it into basic chemical products, thereby contributing to the establishment of a model for a resource recycling-oriented society in Kyushu and to the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050.
Chemically recycled waste plastic can substitute for oil as a resource/raw material used to produce basic chemical products and can eventually be recycled into plastic.
R&D
By combining the PCF/MOF technology and catalyst technologies developed in Oita, we are developing technologies to separate and capture CO2 from exhaust gas emitted by plants and then convert the captured CO2 into chemical products.
This initiative to use an innovative separating agent to develop a low-concentration CO2 separation system was adopted by NEDO as one of its Green Innovation Fund Projects (Development of Technology for CO2 Separation, Capture, etc.). Through this project, we will create and expand the CO2 separation & capture plant business and the separating agent business to create a CO2-based chemical product business model that does not depend on fossil resources, thereby contributing to carbon neutrality.
Process to separate and capture CO2 and convert it into chemical products
