Toray, Honda Collaborate To Advance Chemical Recycling For Automotive Sustainability
Toray Industries has entered into a collaborative agreement with Honda Motor to jointly develop a chemical recycling technology aimed at repurposing glass-fibre reinforced nylon 6 components from end-of-life vehicles.
Currently, both companies are in the process of verifying the viability of this technology, which involves depolymerisation using subcritical water and subsequently regenerating the materials into caprolactam, a crucial raw monomer.
The primary focus of this collaborative effort lies in harnessing the unique properties of subcritical water, such as its high permeability, solvent capabilities and hydrolysis effects on resins.
The Ministry of the Environment has endorsed the adoption of this technology as part of a fiscal 2023 initiative geared toward establishing a decarbonised circular economy system, including the validation of recycling systems for plastics and other resources.
In line with this, Toray and Honda eyeing to utilise this project to establish a pilot facility with an annual processing capacity of 500 metric tons of raw resin, thereby conducting validation testing.
Initially, the focus is on recycling used automotive plastic components into equivalent automotive materials. The collaborative effort seeks to develop depolymerisation, monomer separation and refinement technologies, employing intake manifolds as raw materials for engine intake system parts.
Their objective is to apply these technologies for recycling chemicals in automotive resin components by approximately 2027. Both firms are also eyeing to expand the reach of their chemical recycling technology to encompass a broader range of applications, including apparel, films and other non-automotive sectors.
