Dec 7 2004
Sumitomo Corporation broke into the recycling business with polyvinyl chloride interior waste materials by accepting the allocation of new shares to a third-party (Investment amount: JY49.5 million; Investment ratio: 6.2%) from Refineverse Inc., a polyvinyl chloride interior waste material recycling venture business. Sumitomo Corporation will be selling recycled materials (polyvinyl chloride compounds and sheets), produced by Refineverse, to flooring and construction material manufacturers domestically and overseas (such as China), while selling ECO mark-certified tile carpets for offices(note) that are made of recycled materials through a comprehensive interior business with 100% capital participation by Sumitomo Corporation, Sumisho Interior International Inc., (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Tetsu Tsuji). Sales, in the amount of JY2 billion, are anticipated for the Sumitomo Corporation group of companies as a whole over three years (fiscal 2007).
Refineverse is a holding company, which was mainly established by Gomisho Inc. (Head Office: Katsushika-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Yuji Kaga), a company involved in the business of waste material collection and transportation. The company owns proprietary technologies (with 16 related patents pending) for refrigerating, dicing and pulverizing polyvinyl chloride interior waste materials into the size of several hundred microns to make them recyclable. With the acquisition of funds through the additional capital investment, the company will construct a new manufacturing plant in Chiba Prefecture (construction planned to start in April next year) and is planning to enhance the production capability more than threefold (36,000 tons per year, based on waste carpets) by 2007.
Waste materials subject to recycling will range diversely from tile carpet for offices, hard flooring materials and wallpaper that are polyvinyl chloride interior materials, to construction and automotive materials. Recycled materials, obtained by pulverizing these items, can contribute to a huge reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption during manufacturing processes, when compared to the use of virgin materials. Sumitomo Corporation, already involved in diverse environmentally-aware businesses, is seeking to participate in the capital investment and business alliance with Refineverse as well as provide support for the improvement of customer CSR, thereby aggressively promoting a business of recycling polyvinyl chloride interior waste materials as part of their contribution toward a recycling society.
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