Cross-industry collaboration in PET chemical recycling to expand sourcing of feedstocks for non-food contact materials

TOKYO, May 7, 2025 – The following nine companies are launching an initiative that uses PET*1 beverage bottles and non-food-use PET in the chemical recycling*2 (CR) process to produce recycled beverage bottles: Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd (Kirin Holdings), JEPLAN, INC. (JEPLAN), TDK Corp. (TDK), Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Murata Manufacturing), Kao Corp. (Kao), FANCL Corp. (FANCL), Kirin Beverage Co., Ltd. (Kirin Beverage), PET REFINE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. (PET REFINE TECHNOLOGY), and Asahi Soft Drinks Co., Ltd. (Asahi Soft Drinks). The initiative to recycle non-food contact material grade PET materials into PET beverage bottles is the first of its kind in Japan.*3
*1 Abbreviation for polyethylene terephthalate.
*2 A recycling method whereby PET is broken down to the molecular level and impurities such as pigments and metals are removed to be recycled into PET resin of the same quality as that derived from petroleum.
*3 Based on JEPLAN research.

This initiative aims to address the issue that the current recycling methods do not achieve an adequate level of PET resource recycling, expanding non-food contact PET as a CR feedstock in the production of PET beverage bottles.

In this initiative, in addition to used PET beverage bottles, PET used not for food contact, including industrial film and cosmetic bottles, as well as product samples for vending machines, will be used as feedstocks for CR. TDK and Murata Manufacturing will supply scrap material from industrial PET film used in the manufacture of electronic components. Kao and FANCL will supply used cosmetic bottles collected in shops. Kirin Beverage will supply product samples for vending machines when those product samples become obsolete. PET REFINE TECHNOLOGY will then carry out CR for companies that plan to use the CR resin. These companies will evaluate the quality of the CR resin and then consider adopting it for use in beverage and cosmetic bottles. Kirin Beverage will start manufacturing some of its products using the CR in April, and Kao will start manufacturing some of its cosmetics using the PET bottles recycled by CR in May. In addition, Asahi Soft Drinks plans to adopt the use of the resin from October onwards, and FANCL is also considering that possibility.

The companies have been working on the horizontal recycling of PET resin for some time. In this initiative, JEPLAN’s proprietary CR technology for PET resins was proposed, along with Kirin Institute for Packaging Innovation’s concept and analytical method regarding safety assessment on recycling PET resins as food containers. The companies agreed to launch the initiative after they had each conducted safety assessments. The companies will continue to work together to make more effective use of used plastics and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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