Sony Establishes First Global Supply Chain for Renewable Plastics in High-Performance Products
- Fourteen companies from five countries form a supply chain for renewable plastics.
- The initiative aims to replace virgin fossil-based plastics in high-performance products.
- The supply chain uses a mass balance approach to produce plastics from biomass.
- GHG emissions data is tracked to support carbon footprint reduction efforts.
Global Supply Chain Initiative
Sony, along with thirteen other companies, has established the world's first global supply chain for renewable plastics. This collaboration spans five countries and regions, focusing on producing renewable plastics for Sony's high-performance audio-visual products.
Challenges in Plastic Use
High-performance products require a variety of plastics, complicating the supply chain and management. Certain plastic components need high flame resistance and optical properties, which cannot be fully replaced by recycled materials, limiting the reduction of virgin fossil-based plastics.
Innovative Solutions
The companies have visualized the existing supply chain and created a new one that produces multiple types of renewable plastics from biomass resources using a mass balance approach. This ensures the quality and properties of the materials are equivalent to virgin fossil-based plastics.
Environmental Impact
The defined supply chain allows for tracking and documenting GHG emissions data, enabling companies to use this data to reduce their carbon footprint. This initiative is part of the 'Creating NEW from reNEWable materials' project, aiming for zero usage of virgin fossil-based plastics.
Source: Mitsui Chemicals