Key Findings
Veolia Jenets K.K. and Sumitomo Chemical are partnering under the Ministry of the Environment of Japan’s FY2026 Model Project for Plastic Resource Circulation. The project focuses on combining mechanical recycling (MR) and chemical recycling (CR) to improve the conversion rates of plastic containers and packaging into chemicals and increase overall resource utilization.
Technical Details
The project addresses the limitations of conventional MR, which currently achieves a recycling rate of approximately 50% due to contamination, composite materials, and variations in material composition. Under the new model, waste plastics generated as residues during the MR process will be diverted to CR. This integrated approach is expected to raise the resource utilization rate to approximately 80%.
- Veolia’s Role: Leveraging expertise in waste management and sorting, Veolia will manage materials suitable for MR and develop a sorting and supply scheme to channel difficult-to-process plastics toward CR.
- Sumitomo Chemical’s Role: The company will apply CR technology to convert pyrolysis oil supplied by Veolia into basic chemicals, including ethylene and propylene, utilizing a proprietary catalyst currently under development.
Background and Context
Under Japan’s Containers and Packaging Recycling Act, collected plastics have traditionally been processed using either MR or CR as a sole method. Starting in FY2027, a new system will allow MR and CR operators to form joint groups to combine methods, improving the quality and yield of recycled packaging. The Model Project serves to promote the adoption of this system.
Significance and Outlook
By utilizing CR for residues that were previously used mainly for energy recovery, the project enables the production of chemicals with quality equivalent to fossil-derived virgin products. Veolia and Sumitomo Chemical intend to use the results of this verification project to collaborate with municipalities, product manufacturers, and recycling operators to implement a practical resource-circulation scheme and contribute to a circular society.
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