Four Companies Collaborate to Develop Japan's First Commercial Containers for Edible Oil Made with Circular Polyamide

• Aimed towards achieving packaging circularity with chemical recycling

BASF Japan, Kohjin Film & Chemicals, TOPPAN, a group company of TOPPAN Holdings Inc., and J-OIL MILLS, INC. are collaborating to develop Japan's first^*1 “bag-in-box” (BIB^*2) commercial container for edible oil using chemically recycled polyamide. This collaboration supports the recycling of packaging materials.

In this process, chemical recycling technologies turn mixed plastics into their chemical building blocks which are then used in the initial stages of polyamide^*3 production replacing the fossil raw materials. The recycled raw material is attributed to the polyamide using a mass balance approach^*4. Products from chemical recycling have the same performance as conventional products, e.g. meeting requirements for food contact. The first step in this collaboration is to develop the scheme to supply BIBs for edible oils that utilize materials from chemical recycling by March 2026.

As a next step, the four companies will utilize chemical recycling and purification to achieve packaging circularity^*5 of composite packaging materials^*6 containing polyamide. This approach will help reduce landfill and incineration of used composite plastics.

■        Background of this initiative

The Japanese government's plastic resource recycling strategy aims to replace plastic resources with materials that can be reused and recycled by 2025. It targets the reuse and recycling of 60% of containers and packaging and aims to double the usage of recycled plastic resources by 2030. With 2025 as an essential starting point, companies are expected to expand their reuse/recycling efforts toward 2030.

Compared to single packaging materials, composite packaging materials, which consist of multiple materials, can contribute to functionalities such as weight reduction and product quality retention, reduction of virgin plastic usage, and reduction of food loss. However, used composite material containers are typically incinerated or landfilled, highlighting a social issue due to the lack of established commercial-scale resource recycling methods. Alongside promoting the 3Rs of reduce, reuse, and recycle, chemical recycling is anticipated to play a significant role in reducing plastic waste in the future. Innovation and cooperation throughout the value chain, such as this initiative, are vital for addressing these challenges.

■        Roles of the four companies

First, BASF will produce chemically recycled polyamide based on a mass balance approach. KOHJIN FILM & CHEMICALS will form polyamide film blended with this recycled material, while TOPPAN will manufacture the container (TL-PAKⓇ). J-OIL MILLS, INC. will then design and verify the optimal packaging material to ensure both the strength of the BIB container and the quality of the contents.

■        Future Goals

BASF Japan, Kohjin Films & Chemicals, TOPPAN, and J-OIL MILLS, INC. will work together to expand this ecosystem by inviting further stakeholders such as, retailors, recycling companies, and pyrolysis oil manufacturers. By doing so, we aim to recycle plastic containers from households (PCR^*7) and to realize packaging circularity by 2030.

*1 Based on the expertise of BASF Japan, Kohjin Film & Chemicals, TOPPAN, and J-OIL MILLS, INC..

*2 BIB (bag-in-box): A liquid container consisting of a plastic bag inside a cardboard box made of paper. Note that only the inner bag plastic is subject to chemical recycling this time.

*3 Polyamide: It improves container strength and contributes to maintaining the freshness of contents with its high oxygen gas barrier properties. Being used in consumer goods packaging, at the end of its life, polyamide is part of mixed plastic waste streams with specific requirements for high-quality sorting and recycling.

*4 Mass Balance Approach: When raw materials with certain characteristics (e.g., biomass-derived raw materials) are mixed with other raw materials (e.g., petroleum-derived raw materials) in the processing and distribution process from raw materials to finished products, this approach allocates the characteristics to a portion of the product in accordance with the input amount of the raw materials with those characteristics. (Source: Ministry of the Environment). Attribution based on the mass balance approach is done under certification by a third-party organization.

*5 Packaging circularity: A resource recycling method that uses parts of used products to regenerate products for the same application.

*6 Composite packaging materials: Packaging materials that utilize the functions of each material by laminating polyester, polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, and other multi-material films with an adhesive.

*7 PCR (Post Consumer Recycle): Material that occurs during its role as an end-user of a product, either in the home or in a commercial, industrial, or institutional setting, and can no longer be used for its original purpose. (Original Japanese translation according to the definition in ISO 14021)

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