Japanese fashion company Comme des Garcons Co. Ltd. has adopted shopping bags and wrapping bags made using BioPBS, a biodegradable, biomass-derived plastic owned by Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. As of August, these bags are already being used at 19 official Comme des Garcons stores around the world. BioPBS is a biodegradable plastic developed and patented by Mitsubishi Chemical and produced by...
U.S.-based Dow Chemical Co. has been selected for the 2019 Change the World list organized by Fortune magazine. For this year’s edition, the Change the World list has selected 52 companies that have made a major positive impact on society or the environment by way of their profit-earning strategies and businesses. Dow Chemical was selected as number 26 on the...
The Japan Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association (CEMA) has put together a demand forecast for construction equipment over fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020. Looking first at domestic shipments for the first half of fiscal 2019, there is an expectation that figures will rise for all product types, with a particular increase for excavators. This then stands to bring a 10 percent...
Ube Industries Ltd (TYO:4208) and Kyocera Corp. (TYO:6971) have agreed to form a JV with the aim of expanding their operations around ceramic filters for 5G base stations. To initiate this, Kyocera will acquire a 51 percent share in Ube Electronics Ltd. (UEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ube Industries. Kyocera and Ube Industries will then establish a JV under...
The Japanese rubber industry, and tire companies in particular, are carrying out a flurry of activities with regard to sustainable natural rubber. This saw a recent research seminar held to think about natural rubber from the perspective of biomaterial engineering, with backers for the seminar including the Riken Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS), the Kyoto University Research Institute for...
Toyo Tire Corp. (TYO:5105) is aiming to strengthen its relationship with Mitsubishi Corp. (TYO:8058) on a comprehensive level. By pursuing this while also capitalizing on its own strengths, the tire manufacturer plans for the resulting synergies to provide a positive effect of 10 billion yen ($94.64 million) in operating profit by 2023. Expectations here are that carrying out policies alongside...
