Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has completed construction of what is claimed to be Japan’s largest chemical recycling facility.
The Ibaraki plant has been under construction since July 2021 at the Kashima Complex, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Chemical and Eneos, a Japanese petroleum company. According to sustainableplastics.com, the facility was originally expected to start operations in 2023.
The plant has capacity to handle 20 000 tonnes of plastic waste per year with hydrothermal plastic recycling technology. The use of supercritical water enables mixed plastic waste to be recycled into feedstock for new plastics and other products.
More regulation
The initiative is supported by Japan’s ambition to introduce mandatory recycled plastic content targets for selected industries. For example, the country is well on the way to a 15% target for new cars.
Most plastics are incinerated
Japan generated around eight million tonnes of plastic waste in 2022, most of which goes to energy recovery. In 2021, 63% of plastic waste was incinerated for energy recovery, 25% was recycled while the remaining 13% was landfilled or incinerated without energy recovery.
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