Nippon Paper Industries and Mitsui Chemicals will collaborate to develop a new biocomposite material with a higher content of cellulose powder. The two companies plan to develop and bring products to the market as soon as possible and expand in consumer goods, household products, containers, building materials, home appliances, auto parts and other fields.
The collaboration aims to bring to market a new biocomposite material with a high degree of stability in quality and supply, with both partners leveraging their material supply chains and advanced materials manufacturing and development technologies cultivated over many years.
With cellulose powder as the main component, this new composite material will have the same processing properties as traditional plastics. Additionally, composites using woody biomass as their main component will help reduce the use of fossil fuel-derived virgin materials, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan is somewhat of a hotbed for the development of biocomposites based on cellulose derivatives. Japanese auto parts manufacturer Toyoda Gosei recently developed a cellulose nanofiber (CNF) reinforced PP compound. Polyplastics, meanwhile, uses regenerated cellulose in a long-fiber thermoplastic PP compound. Japanese pulp and paper companies have been working for some time to develop composite applications for cellulose fibers.
Mitsui Chemicals aims to combine cellulose powder from Nippon Paper with composite technology cultivated by Mitsui Chemicals Group to develop a powerful, easy-to-use biocomposite with a high content of cellulose powder. The plan is to utilize the existing sales network of Mitsui Chemicals Group’s own composite resins and provide samples to customers based on this.
Mitsui Chemicals aims to become carbon neutral by 2050.