Toray Group is contributing to society and reducing its own environmental impact through business activities, aiming to realize the four objectives outlined in the Toray Group Sustainability Vision. The Group defines its Sustainability Innovation (SI) Products as products and technologies that can help achieve the four priorities outlined in the Toray Group Sustainability Vision, namely, 1) products that accelerate measures to counter climate change, 2) products that facilitate sustainable, recycling-based use of resources and production, 3) products that help provide clean water and air and reduce environmental impact, and 4) products that help deliver better medical care and hygiene for people worldwide. To certify its SI products, the Group has established an SI Product Certification Committee, and products are certified according to the procedures shown in the diagram below. Based on a three-stage review process involving the relevant divisional committee, supervising organization, and the SI Product Certification Committee, SI products are certified based on objective assessment of their contribution to sustainability.

1. 1 In addition to estimates of CO₂ emissions reduction attributable to the product, and details concerning the intended applications and materials used, analysis results data based on 1) a product life cycle assessment (a method for quantitatively evaluating environmental impacts throughout the entire life cycle of a product, from resource extraction and material and component manufacturing, to distribution, use, and disposal), as well as 2) a life cycle inventory (a list of environmental impact items and the relevant resource inputs and emission outputs over the life cycle of the product or service)
2. 2 Supervising organizations (domains of responsibility):
   ■SI Strategy Group, Corporate Strategic Planning Division (Carbon Neutral and Nature Positive)
   ■Environmental Solutions Department (Circular Economy)
   ■Sustainable Technology Department (Life Innovation)
3. 3 Sustainability Innovation Product Certification Committee: The SI Business Expansion Project leader (committee chair: executive vice president for Corporate Sales & Marketing), senior vice president in charge of the Corporate Strategic Planning Division, executive officer in charge of the SI Strategy Group, general manager of the Corporate Marketing Planning Division, general manager of the Technology Center Planning Division, as well as external experts when necessary

Toray Launches DEWEIGHT^™– A PFAS-free Stretch Textile with Outstanding Water Repellency

1. 4 Website for conjugate spinning technology NANODESIGN^™: https://www.nanodesign.toray/en/

Toray Develops High-Durability Reverse Osmosis Membrane that is Expected to Improve Wastewater Reuse Efficiency, and Halve CO₂ Emissions

Toray Industries, Inc. has recently developed a high-durability reverse osmosis (RO) membrane that can produce high-quality water for extended periods while maintaining treatment performance, which makes it suitable for reusing industrial wastewater and treating sewage. The new membrane offers double the resistance to cleaning chemicals compared to conventional products. This is expected to reduce performance degradation due to membrane deterioration and simplify operational management, thereby halving replacement frequencies and shrinking the product’s carbon footprint.
The broad applications of RO membranes include desalinating seawater and river water, reusing wastewater, and producing drinking water as a technology to ensure sustainable water sources.
In the field of wastewater reuse, cleaning chemicals are being used more frequently to maintain filtration performance, leading to membrane pore deformation, which in turn lowers contaminant removal performance. This has spurred demand for more durable RO membranes.
The company combined scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM)⁵ technology developed by the Toray Research Center with a digital data analysis technique to quantitatively analyze the pore structure of the separation layer of RO membranes. These pores are smaller than one nanometer (a billionth of a meter) in diameter. Toray drew on the analysis to identify a substructure that helps enhance pore structure stability when in contact with cleaning chemicals. It then designed a new polymer structure to create an RO membrane that delivers a stable pore structure.

Toray tested its new RO membrane at a wastewater reuse plant to simulate harsh chemical cleaning conditions. The membrane proved effective in reducing deterioration by half in the quality of obtained water.
By offering an extended lifespan, the new RO membrane can halve associated CO₂ emissions based on less frequent membrane replacement and disposal. This is particularly beneficial in applications such as wastewater reuse in facilities that require frequent chemical cleaning, like sewage treatment plants, as well as chemical, steel, and dyeing factories. It is also useful when implementing a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)⁶ environmental management strategy.

1. 5 Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (STEM): A device that scans a sample using an electron beam while detecting transmitted electrons to obtain high-resolution images. It enables the analysis of the sample's elemental composition and atomic-level structural information.
2. 6 Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD): A framework for water reuse by ultimately discharging only solid waste with concentrators and crystallizers after RO membrane and other treatment, eliminating environmental or sewage releases of wastewater from factories and other facilities.

Toray Launched Toray APOA2-iTQ- Insurance-Covered In Vitro Diagnostics Kit for Aiding the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

1. 7 APOA2 Isoforms (APOA2-AT and APOA2-TQ): Apolipoprotein A2 is a major component of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and is a protein composed of 77 amino acids. APOA2-TQ has a terminal sequence of “alanine (A) - threonine (T) - glutamine (Q),” and truncation of the terminal glutamine results in APOA2-AT, with a final sequence of “alanine (A) - threonine (T).” In healthy individuals, APOA2-AT and APOA2-TQ are present at constant concentrations. In many pancreatic cancer patients however, one or both types of APOA2- isoforms decrease, leading to changes in their relative proportions. With the new diagnostic kit, the concentrations of the two types of APOA2 isoforms (APOA2-AT and APOA2-TQ) in blood plasma are measured separately.
2. 8 Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP): An enzyme found in horseradish. Antibodies tagged with this enzyme are used to detect the target protein indirectly through a colorimetric reaction.