Teijin's initiatives towards carbon neutrality

As climate change has a large impact on the global society and economy, industry, governments and academia are making efforts to reduce environmental impact including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through energy conservation, green energy and lifecycle assessment (LCA).

As a people-focused company, the Teijin Group provides innovative solutions for enhanced quality of life and works to minimise any negative impact on the environment or society through its business activities. Teijin considers environmental management to refer to management that reduces the environmental impact over the entire product life cycle, including all processes from material procurement to production, product use and disposal.

With raised targets for reducing CO2 emissions, Teijin’s long-term environmental targets have been adapted to an ambitious level of 30% reduction. With a further target of reducing the portion of emissions that accounts for over two-thirds of the overall supply chain emissions by 15%. Establishing achievable targets while also being ambitious has been key for us in leading the way to a carbon-neutral future. The Teijin Group’s targets for GHG emissions are now officially validated as Science Based Targets (SBT) as the first Japanese chemical manufacturer. The objective of SBT is to help achieve the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial Revolution levels, which is expected to significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.

Teijin established a method for calculating CO2 emissions during the manufacture of Tenax carbon fibres, which has made it possible to conduct Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of all carbon fibres offered by Teijin. By doing so, Teijin became the first company in the industry to be able to achieve this. Not only calculates its own manufacturing processes, but Teijin also evaluates the carbon footprint of its customers’ manufacturing process with this method.

Teijin Aramid, a core aramid business of the Teijin Group headquartered in the Netherlands, has improved the carbon footprint of its para-aramid product called Twaron by 28% compared to 2014 according to the applicable ISO standards 14040 and 14044. The benefit of using Twaron can be calculated economically and environmentally by the Customer Benefit Model (CBM) developed by Teijin Aramid.

Teijin is also at the cutting edge of what is possible to exceed demands in our ever-changing world. Providing solutions to help reduce vehicle weight, which in turn helps reduce gas emissions and improves overall fuel performance, means we are impacting countless journeys around the world. Teijin Automotive Technologies' has one of these solutions called TCA Ultra Lite, a 1.2 specific gravity ultra lightweight sheet moulding compound formulation that uses glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP). Carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) Sereebo is another example. Conventional carbon fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) that utilises thermosetting resins requires several minutes to several hours to mould, making it unfit for components used in mass-produced automobiles. However, by making use of thermoplastic resins, we have been able to significantly reduce these moulding times. This has allowed Teijin to establish the world’s first mass-production technology that is able to mould CFRP in only one minute.

In addition to this, the Teijin Group’s fibres and products converting company Teijin Frontier offers apparel manufacturers numerous products that help reduce CO2 emissions, including ECOPET, a recycled polyester fibre that utilises used PET bottles and fibre scraps as raw materials, and SOLOTEX, which uses plant-derived ingredients for a portion of its polymers.

Teijin Frontier has also developed a system to calculate CO2 emissions within the polyester fibre manufacturing process, thereby enabling the implementation of LCA. It will gradually expand the scope of its operations to cover more textiles, including those used for weaving and dyeing, while working with its partner companies to evaluate the entire life cycle of polyester fibre products.