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HOME > Social Responsibility > CSR Guidelines > Step Up Environmental and Recycling Efforts > Initiatives to Design Environmentally Friendly Products

CSR Guidelines

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CSR GUIDELINE 7 Step Up Environmental and Recycling Efforts

Initiatives to Design Environmentally Friendly Products

Toray is working to develop and commercialize products and technologies based on the concepts of “Clean” and “Less Energy” with goals such as CO2 reduction, energy reduction, water purification, air purification, reductions in hazardous substances, and recycling.

Expected effects Products
Reduction of CO2 gas PLA fibers, plastics and films, 3GT fibers & textiles, bamboo composite fibers, cellulose fibers, soy bean protein fibers, flexible heat-resistant films
Energy reduction Carbon fiber composite materials for transport, machinery, engineering plastics, components for wind turbine generators, components for fuel cells, films for solar cells, capacitor films for hybrid cars
Water purification
(water treatment)		 RO, NF, UF, MF, and MBR membranes, water treatment system businesses, Torayvino*
Air purification Heat-resistant bag filters (PPS, PTFE fibers), air filters
Reduction of hazardous substances Non-halogen fire retardants (fibers & textiles, plastics, films), waterless CTP plates, non-halogen circuit materials, heavy-metal-free color filters
Recycling PET, Nylon-6, PBT, ABS, PPS, CFRP, Toraysurou*, DMSO

Development of Non-petro Chemical Products

Toray is working to develop and commercialize non-petro chemical products in response to increasing interest in these materials from the standpoint of preventing global warming and dealing with resource depletion. Of these substances, PLA is manufactured using plant-origin materials such as corn and is a carbon neutral material that does not increase CO2 levels, even when incinerated. We are developing PLA fibers, textiles, and plastic products under the Ecodear* brand.


Blanket made with Ecodear* fiber filling


Ecodear* is the registered trademark for Toray's PLA materials.

In FY 2006, Hitachi, Ltd., selected Ecodear* plastic for use in manufacturing a desktop mobile phone cradle. Nano-alloy technology, which is capable of dispersing small amount of high-performance polymers throughout a PLA substrate at the nanometer level, dramatically improves PLA's heat resistance, impact resistance, and formability, enabling its use in a variety of electric and electronics products.

Tomy Company, Ltd., chose PLA for its “Nohohon Family” toy because it is an environmentally friendly material capable of offering the safety required of a toy, along with the same strength as the petroleum-based ABS resin conventionally used.


Takara Tomy's “Nohohon Family” made from Ecodear*

Environmental Impact of Manufacturing “Nohohon Family”


A Foresse* display created by Miyake Design Studio Co., Ltd., for the TORAY Advanced Materials Symposium.

Toray Saehan, Toray Group's Korean subsidiary, began production of PLA sheet (non-oriented film) using a newly installed manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons.

Toray has been successful in creating a number of nonpetro chemical products other than PLA, including Foresse*, a new fiber manufactured using the world's first application of the melt spinning technique for cellulose; Aminos*, a fiber made from vegetable protein; and SOTAKE*, a textile produced using bamboo as a raw material. During FY 2006, we successfully produced textiles with Foresse*, including super-lightweight textiles made with hollow fibers and super-soft textiles made with extra fine fibers.

Products That Help Reduce Hazardous Substances

Toray Group technologies are also hard at work reducing the use of hazardous substances.

For example, the world's first Waterless CTP Plate*1, developed and commercialized by Toray, enables images to be formed using a nearinfrared laser and offers exceptional printing capabilities for a wide range of fields. Moreover, this innovative technology reduces alkaline developer liquid waste and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by eliminating the need for dampening water during the printing process. The product received the Sixth (FY 2006) Green & Sustainable Chemistry (GSC) Award in recognition of its contribution to lowering environmental impacts.

In addition to providing material products, we develop highly regarded manufacturing equipment. The Toray Slit Coater, developed and commercialized by Toray, utilizes film manufacturing nozzle technology to coat materials (photo resists) using only a slit nozzle. The system helps dramatically reduce loss of coating liquid while contributing to energy savings.

*1 Computer-to-plate, a system for directly printing image data on printing plates with lasers.


  • Waterless plate

  • the Butterfly Mark

  • Toray Slit Coater

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