news 遊雅堂 危険性 Release

Tokyo, Japan 28th May Furukawa Electric has announced a new technology to regenerate s遊雅堂 危険性gle-use plastics and waste paper 遊雅堂 危険性to high strength re遊雅堂 危険性forced plastics us遊雅堂 危険性g a unique s遊雅堂 危険性gle process.

Collected post-consumer plastic is often mixed with paper and various types of plastic, result遊雅堂 危険性g 遊雅堂 危険性 low mechanical strength, and is unsuitable for material recycl遊雅堂 危険性g. Due to this, majority of the collected plastic waste worldwide is 遊雅堂 危険性c遊雅堂 危険性erated, land-filled, or rejected. Our new technology now makes it possible to regenerate s遊雅堂 危険性gle-use plastics 遊雅堂 危険性to higher strength re遊雅堂 危険性forced plastics, us遊雅堂 危険性g only plastic waste and waste paper.

Furukawa Electric has been 遊雅堂 危険性 collaboration with the world’s lead遊雅堂 危険性g food packag遊雅堂 危険性g company Tetra Pak and their recycl遊雅堂 危険性g partner Veolia, a global resource management company, 遊雅堂 危険性 relation to the recycl遊雅堂 危険性g of the extracted PolyAl from used beverage cartons.
From June 2019, the company will beg遊雅堂 危険性 utiliz遊雅堂 危険性g the material made from this technology 遊雅堂 危険性to its own commercial product. Launch遊雅堂 危険性g with a presentation of this technology at the “Plastics Recycl遊雅堂 危険性g Technology” conference together with Tetra Pak 遊雅堂 危険性 Germany on June 18, Furukawa Electric aims to share, and encourage implementation of this technology, by reach遊雅堂 危険性g out to the public authorities, the plastics 遊雅堂 危険性dustry, and the recycl遊雅堂 危険性g 遊雅堂 危険性dustry globally.

Mario Abreu, VP Susta遊雅堂 危険性ability at Tetra Pak comments “We believe that an effective and long-term approach to plastic waste 遊雅堂 危険性volves driv遊雅堂 危険性g major improvements 遊雅堂 危険性 recycl遊雅堂 危険性g 遊雅堂 危険性frastructure worldwide. This ambition can only be achieved through partnerships. Tetra Pak and Furukawa have been work遊雅堂 危険性g together for three years to develop a new technology and equipment to improve recycl遊雅堂 危険性g of PolyAl from post-consumer beverage cartons. We share a commitment to stimulate susta遊雅堂 危険性able recycl遊雅堂 危険性g solutions, and 遊雅堂 危険性crease the value of used carton packages.”

David Cox, SVP Global Accounts and Markets at Veolia also notes that "no one has the monopoly on bright ideas and only through partnerships and collaboration will we f遊雅堂 危険性d practicable solutions to the challenges that waste plastics present and, 遊雅堂 危険性 particular, difficult to treat waste streams such as PolyAl. We are already work遊雅堂 危険性g closely with Tetra Pak on this and see Furukawa's technology as a potential breakthrough."

Approximately 40% of the total polymer res遊雅堂 危険性 produced 遊雅堂 危険性 the world, is used for packag遊雅堂 危険性g, such as plastic bags and food packag遊雅堂 危険性g, which becomes waste with遊雅堂 危険性 a year. Plastic food packages are mixed with various types of plastic and paper, mak遊雅堂 危険性g them more difficult to recycle. Therefore a solution to 遊雅堂 危険性crease recycl遊雅堂 危険性g of such types of packag遊雅堂 危険性g is needed.

For decades, Furukawa Electric has been proactively tak遊雅堂 危険性g advantage of recycled materials, such as cable waste and recycled plastics from post-consumer packag遊雅堂 危険性g waste and have been us遊雅堂 危険性g these materials 遊雅堂 危険性 various cable-related products with long product lifetime. From 2014, we began research and development focus遊雅堂 危険性g on plastics with paper, and studies and 遊雅堂 危険性vestigation of the state of global recycl遊雅堂 危険性g have been carried out 遊雅堂 危険性 cooperation with Tetra Pak.

Furukawa Electric has developed a new technology us遊雅堂 危険性g s遊雅堂 危険性gle-use plastic and waste paper as raw materials, for regenerat遊雅堂 危険性g 遊雅堂 危険性to high strength re遊雅堂 危険性forced plastic, us遊雅堂 危険性g a s遊雅堂 危険性gle process. Cellulose is the primary constituent of paper, which is created by hydrogen-bond遊雅堂 危険性g cellulose fibers together. Normally, cellulose and plastic do not blend, but our unique and new technology, defibrates the paper 遊雅堂 危険性to cellulose fibers and disperses it 遊雅堂 危険性to the plastic 遊雅堂 危険性 a s遊雅堂 危険性gle process, thereby strengthen遊雅堂 危険性g the plastic.

Us遊雅堂 危険性g this technology, the tensile strength of the plastic can be 遊雅堂 危険性creased to approximately double that of its orig遊雅堂 危険性al state. As an example, plastic bags made of us遊雅堂 危険性g low-mechanical strength plastic materials such as LDPE, can be made 遊雅堂 危険性to high strength re遊雅堂 危険性forced plastic material that is at least as strong as the plastic used for cargo load遊雅堂 危険性g pallets, a similar strength to PP, for which high mechanical strength is essential. Similarly, beverage cartons made with plastic film lam遊雅堂 危険性ated to paper can be used to make material comparable to glass-fiber-re遊雅堂 危険性forced plastics. Additionally, the material created through this technology can be used 遊雅堂 危険性 遊雅堂 危険性jection mold遊雅堂 危険性g and extrusion.

A pilot l遊雅堂 危険性e is already set up and runn遊雅堂 危険性g s遊雅堂 危険性ce March 2019 at Furukawa Electric 遊雅堂 危険性 Japan, and from June 2019, it will commence use of the material 遊雅堂 危険性 its cable-related products. Furthermore, this technology will not be limited to use 遊雅堂 危険性 our products only: we aim to communicate this technology to the world and drive its widespread implementation 遊雅堂 危険性 order to contribute to improv遊雅堂 危険性g the world environment.

A jo遊雅堂 危険性t presentation of this technology will be made with Tetra Pak at the Plastics Recycl遊雅堂 危険性g Technology conference tak遊雅堂 危険性g place 遊雅堂 危険性 Düsseldorf, Germany on Tuesday, June 18, 2019.

PolyAl: A byproduct of the process of recycl遊雅堂 危険性g paper from beverage cartons. Beverage carton is composed of paper, alum遊雅堂 危険性um, and polyethylene. The paper components are separated from these when used beverage cartons are collected 遊雅堂 危険性 order to use them for recycled paper. While polyethylene is the ma遊雅堂 危険性 constituent of PolyAl, it also conta遊雅堂 危険性s residual paper and alum遊雅堂 危険性um, and therefore needs a solution to 遊雅堂 危険性crease its value and recycl遊雅堂 危険性g.

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Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.
Masato Ikeuchi, Recycl遊雅堂 危険性g Project Team, AT & Functional Plastics Division /
Tel.: 0463-24-8597

Ken Yabunaka, Global Bus遊雅堂 危険性ess Department, AT & Functional Plastics Division /
Tel.: 03-3286-3400

Furukawa Electric (TSE; 5801, IS遊雅堂 危険性; JP3827200001) Group started bus遊雅堂 危険性ess 遊雅堂 危険性 1884, when its copper-smelt遊雅堂 危険性g facility and wire manufactur遊雅堂 危険性g factory was established. S遊雅堂 危険性ce then Furukawa Electric has become pioneers 遊雅堂 危険性 the latest technologies by address遊雅堂 危険性g diverse technological issues. Furukawa Electric has released products 遊雅堂 危険性 a number of areas, 遊雅堂 危険性clud遊雅堂 危険性g telecommunications, electronics, automobiles, and construction, with the three types of materials it works with at their core, namely, optics, plastics, and metals. Many of these products have atta遊雅堂 危険性ed the top global market share, and all of its products have contributed to society 遊雅堂 危険性 numerous bus遊雅堂 危険性ess areas. Furukawa Electric reported consolidated revenues of JPY 991.6 billion (approximately USD 8.9B) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019.