As part of its efforts to pursue a circular economy, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has entered into a capital and business alliance with Japan-based Refinverse, Inc., which operates an industrial waste collection, treatment, and recycling business. The alliance was formed recently when Refinverse granted stock to MCC through third-party allotment to raise capital, and the two companies signed an outsourcing agreement. 

 

Having started from a business that collected and transported construction-related waste for treatment, the Refinverse Group built an integrated system extending from waste treatment to production of resin, thereby supplying a diverse range of recycled resources.

 

Formation of this capital and business alliance with Refinverse will enable MCC to combine Refinverse’s know-how regarding all aspects of industrial waste with its own technologies and knowledge to promote appropriate recycling and effective use of waste. Furthermore, this collaboration between the materials industry and the recycling industry—which have in the past tended to be separate—will enable MCC to further its understanding of final disposal methods for its products and leverage that understanding to design materials that are more environmentally friendly.

 

Based on the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group’s medium- to long-term basic management strategy KAITEKI Vision 30, MCC views the circular economy as a key element in its realization of KAITEKI, and recycling of used productsis an important initiative within this strategy.

 

Accordingly, on April 1, 2020, MCC established a Circular Economy Department. Global in both perspective and scale, this department is spanning boundaries between business domainsto promote the proposal and commercialization of solutions relating to the circular economy and proactively pursuing tie-ups with external parties including customers, academic institutions, and start-ups to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society.