Technology company Sony, along with thirteen chemical producers and materials companies have established what is said to be the world’s first global supply chain for renewable plastics. The materials will be used in Sony’s “high-performance audio-visual products.”
The 14 collaborators, which include Neste, Mitsui Chemicals and Qingdao Haier New Material Development Co. come from five countries, and the various plastic materials manufactured through this supply chain will be used in Sony’s products worldwide.
The partners say that high-performance products, such as audio-visual equipment, involve a wide variety of engineered plastics, and manufacturers have struggled to pivot from fossil-based products as recycled materials often fall short on the requirements in areas such as flame resistance, as well as precision performance. In addition, the wide variety of plastics needed in such specialised products has resulted in a complex supply chain, making it difficult to manage the entire flow from raw materials.
Addressing these challenges, the collaborators mapped Sony’s existing supply chain, then developed a new supply chain based on biomass resources using a mass balance approach.
Under the mass balance system, the mixture of renewable and conventional fossil-based feedstocks is strictly managed, and the certified renewable share is carefully quantified through bookkeeping. While conventional resources cannot be completely replaced with renewables overnight, this approach, the partners say, allows them to demonstrate exactly how much renewable input has been introduced, while leveraging existing facilities to deliver renewable resources more quickly and at lower cost.
In addition, Sony can source raw materials that match the quality and performance of virgin fossil-based plastics. The partners add that: “By clearly defining the supply chain, the companies can also track and document greenhouse gas emissions in a verifiable way. Participating companies can use the data to support ongoing efforts to reduce their carbon foodprint.”
The entire supply chain comprises:
- Neste Corporation – renewable naphtha
- Idemitsu Kosam Co – renewable styrene monomer
- Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation – renewable polystyrene resin
- SK Geo Centric Co – renewable paraxylene
- Eneos Corporation – renewable paraxylene
- Hanwha Impact Corporation – renewable terephthalic acid
- Toray Advanced Materials Korea – renewable PET resin
- Mitsui Chemicals – renewable bisphenol-A
- Chimei Corporation – renewable polycarbonate resin
- Adeka Corporation – renewable flame retardants
- Quingdao Haier New Material Development – renewable polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.
- Molding manufacturers
- Sony Corporation – design and manufacturing of finished products
- Mitsubishi Corporation - management of supply chain
This development is part of the ‘Creating NEW from reNEWable materials' project, jointly launched by Sony and Mitsubishi. It aims to eliminate the use of virgin fossil-based plastics through the introduction of renewable plastics, and Mitsubishi Corporation.
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