Environmentally and Socially Friendly Products
The Kureha Group is developing products and businesses with the wish to contribute to the development of a sustainable society by providing chemistry-based products and services as solutions to various social issues, starting with the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Under the new mid- to long-term management plan, we will promote the manufacturing of differentiated products with our unique technologies in the high priority categories of the environment and energy, life, and digital communications for solving social issues.
Environment
"KF Polymer" Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF)
Binders for lithium-ion batteries CLIMATE ACTIONon electric vehicles
reduce CO2 emissions
Efforts, such as the Paris Agreement, to mitigate and adapt to global warming, considered to be caused by greenhouse gases, are being made at various levels. Governments and automobile manufacturers around the globe have been announcing policies to reduce greenhouse gases from vehicle exhaust, powering the shift from gas- and diesel-powered engines to electric, eco-friendly vehicles.
Batteries are a key technology for ensuring the shift to electric vehicles. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are installed in most electric vehicles due to their light weight, high energy density, and degradation due to repeated charging and discharging is low. There is now strong demand for solutions to such issues as improving the reliability of lithium-ion batteries, increasing the mileage through high-capacity output, high-speed charging, reduction of battery cost, and availability of charging stations. Our KF polymer is widely used as a binder in EV lithium-ion batteries, which are required to have long-term reliability, as it fulfills all the various performance requirements, including high adhesion to active materials, electrical stability over a wide potential range, and high permeability of lithium ions. As a pioneer of lithium-ion battery binders, we are also promoting compatibility for all-solid-state batteries in next-generation vehicles.
"Fortron KPS" Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS)
Reducing vehicle CO2 emissions by reducing the weight of automobiles and improving fuel efficiency
Reducing the weight of automobiles should improve fuel efficiency and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Steel, which accounts for about 70% of the total weight of automobiles, is increasingly being replaced with lightweight materials, mainly for interior and exterior components.
In the 1980s, Kureha succeeded in developing a PPS with a molecular structure (linear instead of cross-linked) that overcomes the weakest point of PPS, which was previously considered a brittle material. Our PPS is a material not only easy to mold, but also has excellent thermal stability and is resistant to elongation and impact. Compared to cross-linked PPS, our linear PPS has the properties required of a metal substitute for automobile components, such as for applications demanding strict electrical characteristics. Demand is increasing year by year, mainly for use around engines and exteriors of electrical components where heat resistance is required.
GASTAK, Fluidized-Bed Adsorption Type VOC Recovery & Deodorization Equipment
Recovers and recycles VOCs contained in factory exhaust gas with low energy consumption, contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions
In order to conserve our environment and protect people's health, measures such as regulations on emissions and promotion of voluntary efforts are being taken against volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as organic solvents emitted or dispersed from factories and other facilities, as well as toxic and malodorous substances. In the past, factory exhaust gas containing these substances was generally given a type of combustion treatment. Kureha Ecology Management's GASTAK is an exhaust gas treatment system that removes and recovers substances contained in exhaust gases for recycling with low energy consumption and without the use of combustion. GASTAK has various models depending on the user's purpose and type of VOCs involved, but the basic layout is made up of an adsorption tower, a desorption tower, and a condenser.
VOC-containing gases emitted from factories are channeled into the adsorption tower, where VOCs are adsorbed and removed by Kureha Bead-shaped Activated Carbon (BAC), which has excellent abrasion resistance and flowability due to its spherical shape. The treated gas is released into the atmosphere from the top of the adsorption tower.
VOCs adsorbed onto BAC are then desorbed from BAC by indirect heating in the desorption tower, and the circulating desorption gas is sent to the condenser to be recovered as a liquid. Use of nitrogen gas as the desorption gas makes it possible to recover high-purity VOCs with low moisture content.
VOCs collected by GASTAK are highly recyclable and have been delivered to many printing, film, and chemical factories that use a large volume of them.
Also, because GASTAK can be used to recover and recycle ammonia, which is expected to be utilized as a hydrogen carrier and carbon-free fuel, GASTAK is attracting renewed attention. Now that awareness of the need to mitigate global warming grows on a global scale, GASTAK will be turned to as a VOC exhaust gas treatment system which is both carbon neutral and prevents air pollution.
Life
NEW Krewrap
Supporting an abundant, waste-free diet
Food waste is currently estimated to be 1.3 billion tons per year globally, and 6.12 million tons in Japan (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries estimate, FY2017). Food is discarded when it deteriorates and becomes inedible, and there are various causes for deterioration. However, when oxidation or dehydration is to blame, packaging that is impermeable to oxygen and water vapor can delay food deterioration.
Our "NEW Krewrap" is a household plastic wrap made from polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). Compared to other plastic wrap materials, PVDC has a superior oxygen barrier (impermeability) which prevents food oxidation. Since it is also a strong barrier against water vapor, it keeps food fresh and prevents it from drying out. It is also microwave-friendly due to high heat-resistance, making it suitable material for food storage, thereby reducing food waste.
Krehalon Film
Fought postwar malnutrition, still fighting food waste today
Krehalon film, like NEW Krewrap, is a film made from polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). It is primarily used for the retort packaging of sausages, such as the casings for fish sausages. Since it can be used in high-temperature and high-pressure sterilization, sausages cased in PVDC can be transported and stored for long periods at room temperature. Thus, PVDC cased sausages were a valuable protein source in post-war Japan, when there was a shortage of refrigeration equipment. Even today, sausages are used as a convenient ingredient, and their long shelf life contributes to the reduction of food waste.
- Sustainability
- Message from the President
- Kureha Group's Sustainability
- Material Issues
- Environmental Report
- Social Report
- Governance Report
- Kureha Group's Sustainable Product Development
- Environmentally and Socially Friendly Products
- GRI Standards Content Index/Comparison with ISO 26000
- ESG Data Collection
- Sustainability Report Archive
- Group Company Initiatives
- External Recognition
- Sustainability Site Editing Policy and Contents of the Report