Nippon Paper Industries and Mitsui Chemicals will partner in the development of a new bio composite with a high content of cellulose powder, a woody biomass material. Source: Timberbiz
The two companies intend to develop products and bring them to market at the earliest possible opportunity, with plans to expand into a wide range of fields including daily necessities, containers, building materials, household appliances and auto parts.
Aimed at bringing to market a new bio composite that offers a high level of industrial stability in terms of both quality and supply, the tie-up will see the partners tap into their stable materials supply chains and leverage the advanced materials manufacturing and development technologies they have cultivated over many years.
The new composite will have the same moldability as plastic. The composite’s use of woody biomass as its main constituent will help to cut greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing the use of fossil-fuel-derived virgin material when compared to ordinary petrochemical resins. This will in turn assist in achieving a zero-carbon society.
Nippon Paper has cultivated cellulose powder manufacturing technology and used it to develop a bio composite with outstanding moldability. Nippon Paper now intends to provide Mitsui Chemicals with a stable supply of high-quality cellulose powder by taking advantage of its powder manufacturing technology, which is in turn underpinned by a diverse array of pulp manufacturing technologies.
Mitsui Chemicals aims to combine cellulose powder from Nippon Paper with the compounding technologies cultivated by the Mitsui Chemicals Group to develop a new strong, readily workable bio composite with a high cellulose powder content.
Plans are to tap into the existing sales network for Mitsui Chemicals’ own compound resins and use this to offer samples to customers.
