JSW Group Contributing to realize a Circular Economy Society

Economic activities of mass production and mass consumption result in a large amount of waste, which is one of the factors of environmental pollution. Continued extraction of limited resources can lead to depletion of natural resources and destruction of ecosystems.

Therefore, efforts to shift from a "one-way" economy of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal to a "circular" economy that reduces consumption of limited resources and uses resources efficiently are accelerating in many parts of the world. This is the "circular economy. In order to realize a sustainable society, companies are also required to shift to a circular economy.

JSW Group is working to realize a circular economy society by reducing resource consumption at the product manufacturing stage and recycling waste.

In order to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, a current challenge in the mobility industry is to reduce the weight of vehicle bodies.

One of the growing needs in the attempt to reduce weight is plastic foam molding technology. This is a molding process technology that generates fine air bubbles inside plastic to produce lightweight products while maintaining strength and using less plastic than conventional products.

JSW Group provides the physical foam injection molding machines needed to manufacture plastic products with this foam molding process.

Material means "raw material" or "material" in Japanese. Mechanical recycling is a recycling method in which waste plastic is reused as plastic and used as "raw materials" for new products.

It is desirable that the plastic to be mechanical recycled be a single material, such as a plastic bottle collected after sorting. On the other hand, it is difficult to reuse as a raw material a mixture of several materials, such as household waste, and is not suitable for mechanical recycling.

In response to this, in recent years, efforts have been made to produce packaging for daily necessities using a single plastic material, and JSW Group is promoting the production of packaging film made of a single material and the spread of production technology to promote the use of mono-materials in food packaging.

Conventional food packaging films are generally "multi-material," consisting of multiple layers, each with its own role. A film made of a single material does not need to be separated for recycling and can be easily recycled.

We also contribute to mechanical recycling by using waste plastics and other materials generated in the manufacturing process as part of the raw materials and processing them into new plastic products.
Our large, multi-layer Blow Molding Machine, which is capable of molding hollow plastic products such as fuel tanks, has molding technology that maintains the same high performance as virgin materials even when the percentage of recycled materials in the raw materials used is increased, thereby contributing to the reduction of resource consumption. In addition, we contribute to the realization of a circular economy society by stimulating the use of recycled resin through the provision of machines that produce resin raw materials (pellets) using recycled resin, injection molding machines, and other equipment.

Energy recovery is a recycling method that recovers the heat (thermal) generated when waste is burned and reuses it as energy. Thermal energy generated at a waste incineration plant is used to generate electricity or to heat a heated swimming pool.

In addition, waste plastics containing a large amount of chlorine generate dioxin, which is a harmful substance, when burned, depending on the method. JSW Group also has the technology to produce blast furnace reductant, which is used in the steelmaking process, from waste plastic after removing the chlorine that causes dioxin generation.

Electricity is indispensable to life in modern society. JSW Group supplies forged and cast steel components for power generation plants. We use steel scrap such as coming from automoble production for main raw material for our steel prodction. The scrap is melted and refined in an electric furnace, then the chemical composition is adjusted for required properties. The scrap steel is reborn as a high performance steel.(The scrap steel turns into a high performance steel.) Our steel production process using electric furnace is the recycling process as a circuration system through products such as compornents for power generation and industries.

Ordinary plastics are virtually undecomposable in the natural environment, so once they are released into the natural environment, they remain there semi-permanently unless human intervention is used to remove them.

Biodegradable plastics, on the other hand, are decomposed into water and carbon dioxide by the action of microorganisms in the natural environment, thus minimizing the impact on the natural environment even if they are spilled into the environment.

By applying foam molding technology to this biodegradable plastic, the decomposition rate can be faster than with non-foamed molded products. Foam molding technology is generally used to reduce the weight of molded products and improve dimensional accuracy and molding defects such as warpage, sink marks, and burrs, but it is also attracting increasing attention in recent years as a technology for reducing environmental impact.

JSW Group is working toward the realization of a Circular Economy society by enhancing its technology to accommodate a wide variety of recycling processes.