Tokyo, Japan, December 10--Sumitomo Corporation has announced its entry into the recycling business with the allocation of new shares to a third-party from Refineverse Inc., a polyvinyl chloride interior waste material recycling venture business. The amount of the investment equals JY49.5 million with an investment ratio of 6.2%.
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 and Sumisho Interior International Inc.
Refineverse is a holding company, which was mainly established by Gomisho Inc, 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.
Sales in the amount of JY2 billion are anticipated for the Sumitomo Corporation group of companies as a whole over three years (fiscal 2007).
