Zeon builds plant-based rubber R&D hub in Yonezawa
Zeon has built a new research facility in Yonezawa to develop biotechnologies for producing butadiene and isoprene from plant-based materials, aiding its 2030 carbon neutrality goals. Part of a Green Innovation Fund Project with Yokohama Rubber, the facility supports Japan's 2050 net-zero target and advances sustainable raw material production for synthetic rubber.
Under STAGE30, the Group's Medium - Term Business Plan, Zeon has positioned ' Promote a transformation of monozukuri to realize carbon neutrality and a circular economy ' as Strategy 1 while also setting a target to reduce CO 2 emissions across the entire Group by 42% by fiscal 2030 compared to fiscal 2020 levels. By establishing this integrated research facility, which enables the simultaneous development of both chemical reaction and biofermentation processes, Zeon aims to promote monozukuri with a focus on the conversion of raw materials toward the realization of a sustainable society.
New research facility
This initiative is part of the 'Development of Manufacturing Technology Using Carbon Recycling for Commodity Chemicals Used in Synthetic Rubber,' a project jointly carried out by Zeon and The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (Yokohama Rubber; Chairman and CEO: Masataka Yamaishi), which has been selected under the 'Development of Technology for Producing Raw Materials for Plastics Using CO2 and Other Sources,' one of the Green Innovation Fund Projects of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Through research and development at this facility, Zeon aims to commercialize biotechnology for the direct production of butadiene and isoprene from plant - based materials by 2034. This facility has been certified as eligible for support under the Yamagata Prefecture Business Location Promotion Subsidy Program and has received partial construction funding from the prefecture.
NEDO's Green Innovation Fund Project
The Green Innovation Fund Project is a program established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to accelerate innovation through structural transformation of energy and industrial sectors and bold investment toward achieving the national goal of 'reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.' The program provides a continuous ten - year support to companies and organizations that pursue this goal as a business commitment in the areas from research and development, demonstration to commercial implementation. As part of a cooperative effort led by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), the National University Corporation Institute of Science Tokyo (formerly the Tokyo Institute of Technology), and the national research and development agency RIKEN, Zeon and Yokohama Rubber are working on two project themes. The current initiative falls under the theme of 'Development of technology for production of butadiene and isoprene from plant - based and other sustainable materials.' Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.
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