Close
Sustainability
Provision of New Value for Helping to Enrich People’s lives
- HOME >
- Sustainability >
- Provision of New Value for Helping to Enrich People’s lives >
- Supply of Environmentally Friendly Products and Services
Supply of Environmentally Friendly Products and Services
Policy/Philosophy
As humans enrich their lives, there are various effects on the global environment, which is the foundation of life. Large consumption of fossil fuels, including oil, increases greenhouse gas emissions and accelerates climate change. The increasing risk of drought due to the progress of climate change, water quality deterioration, and increased water demand due to population growth and economic development are increasing the risk of not being able to secure necessary water resources, especially in Africa and Asia. Improper management of waste, pollutants, and chemicals affects the natural environment as well as people's health. Deforestation and changes in land use have reduced the world's forest area by half since the 1990s. As a result, many plant and animal species are said to be in danger of extinction. Since the world population will continue to grow, it is essential to preserve the global environment while maintaining and improving human life.
We define environmentally friendly products as the products that reduce environmental impact across each of the processes below, from manufacture to distribution, use and disposal, or that play an important role in achieving that goal. We aim to contribute to society in harmony with the environment by increasing the percentage of our products that are environmentally friendly.
Activities
Performance Materials
HYPERTECH®
<Nucleating agents for electroless plating>
Nucleating agents make it possible to reduce the amount of metal used for wiring in items such as flexible printed substrates or touch panels by more than 90%.
Metal wiring is made by forming a metal film across the entire surface of the substrate in a vacuum, and then removing unwanted parts with acid. HYPERTECH® makes it possible to draw wiring patterns, meaning that metal only adheres to drawn lines. This in turn minimizes the amount of metal plating required.
▲Touch panel
<Coating materials with ultra-high refractive index>
OLED lighting is known as one of low environmental impact application. HYPERTECH® makes a film that is applied between the electrodes and substrate, or between the electrodes and light source of OLED and makes it possible to improve light efficiency from the light source by up to 20%. This product is transparent and heat resistant, and offers excellent adhesion to different substrate materials. Ease of application can also help to reduce manufacturing costs.
▲OLED lighting (illustration purposes only)
Inorganic Materials
<SNOWTEX®, Aluminasol, Organo silica sol, NanoUse® ZR>
Materials can be used for a wide range of purposes, including saving energy from transformers, improving the efficiency of natural energy, purifying emissions, and extending the life of motors.
▲Purifying emissions (illustration purposes only)
<CCS/CCUS applications>
We engaged in initiatives related to CCS (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage) and CCUS (Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage) applications, as a way to develop applications toward carbon neutrality.
For CCS applications, we are developing new silica that increases CO2 storage in reservoirs such as sandstone with many gaps. It is possible to store CO2 more efficiently by seizing the movement of CO2 by hydrophilizing the rock surface, which has a hydrophobic surface.
For CCUS applications, we are developing special silica for CO2-EOR technology. It is possible to increase the recovery efficiency of crude oil by stabilizing the CO2 foam.
Agricultural Chemicals
Compact agrochemical formulations
We supply lightweight and compact agrochemical formulations that contain a high concentration of active ingredients, including WG (Water dispersible) and Jumbo (floating granules, containing active ingredients, wrapped in a soluble film). This helps in ways such as reducing packaging materials, waste products, and CO2 emissions from manufacturing and shipping.
▲Comet WG
▲Tenku Jumbo
Chemicals
AdBlue®
AdBlue® is a high-grade urea solution used in “urea SCR system”, a technology for purifying emissions. When sprayed onto emissions from diesel vehicles, it breaks down nitrogen oxide (NOx) into harmless nitrogen and water, which helps to reduce environmental impact. We supply AdBlue® in line with each customer’s needs, in tank trucks, 200L drums, 1m3 containers, or BIB (Bag-in Box, 20L, 10L).
▲AdBlue®
HI-LITE®
HI-LITE® is widely used to assist with environmental sanitation for purposes such as disinfecting and sterilizing pools and septic tanks. Having obtained certification under NSF / ANSI-60 (the standard for chemicals intentionally added to drinking water), there is new scope to expand the range of applications for HI-LITE® for sterilizing drinking water, such as applying in areas where standards of sanitation are insufficient, particularly in developing countries.
▲Hygienic water supplies (illustration purposes only)
Venus® Oilclean
Venus® Oilclean is a microorganism formulation that decomposes oils and fats in wastewater from food factories and other facilities. Compared to the pressurized floating facility, which is a typical oils and fats in wastewater treatment system, the facility using Venus® Oilclean significantly reduces odors and workload as well as waste with simple equipment. Some major food factories have reduced the amount of waste derived from oils and fats to almost zero by introducing this product.
▲Industrial water treated with wastewater (illustration purposes only)
Planning and Development Division
ECOPROMOTE®Series
ECOPROMOTE® is a crystal nucleating agent for polylactate. Combining the properties of a bioplastic, made from plant instead of oil, and a biodegradable plastic that is broken down into water and carbon dioxide by microorganisms, polylactate is the foremost carbon neutral synthetic resin in terms of practical application. Uses are nonetheless limited due to issues relating to moldability and heat resistance. ECOPROMOTE® stimulates the growth of polylactate crystals, and can be used for high speed injection molding or extrusion molding without affecting transparency. As a result, it is increasingly being used for durable purposes such as electronic devices, printers and filaments in 3D printers.
▲3D printer
Lithium-ion Secondary Battery Materials
We mainly develop the additive for lithium-ion secondary battery materials. Adding a small amount of this additive to the electrode material enhances the property stability and improves the performance of the battery.
We are also developing materials that reduce electrode resistance, further improve adhesion, and improve battery performance by coating aluminum foil and copper foil that serve as current collectors.
Environmental Harmony Materials
We are developing ion-conductive polymers, which are non-PFAS materials, that contribute to platinum reduction in fuel cells, organic thin-film solar cells as next-generation solar cells, and materials that improve the performance of perovskite solar cells.
