Kaneka Biodegradable Polymer PHBH™ applied to straws for Seven Café's new lineup

—Gradual introduction into 20,938 Seven Eleven stores across Japan—

Kaneka Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Minoru Tanaka), in aiming to realize a more sustainable society, has since last year partnered with Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. to work on developing products that use Kaneka Biodegradable Polymer PHBH™ (referred to below as "PHBH™"). 8 mm diameter straws made from PHBH™ will be newly adopted for use in Seven Café’s new lineup "CAFÉ LATTE SWEETS"^*1 and introduced gradually into 20,938 stores*2 (as of the end of April 2020) across Japan starting from June ^2nd, Tuesday.

From November last year, straws made from PHBH™ were introduced to around 10,000 stores in Hokkaido, Hokuriku, Kansai, Chubu, Shikoku and Kyushu in the form of 6 mm diameter straws for Seven Café’s Ice Coffee. This time, with the country-wide release of the new "CAFÉ LATTE SWEETS", straws with a larger diameter of 8 mm have been adopted to suit the distinctive bead-shaped ice cream included in Café Latte Sweets.

PHBH™ is a 100% plant-based biodegradable polymer developed by Kaneka. With its superior biodegradability under a wide range of environments, it has attained the "OK Biodegradable MARINE"^*3 certificate that recognizes biodegradability in seawater and will contribute to reducing marine pollution. PHBH™ is also on the positive lists of the US’s Food and Drug Administration*4 (FDA), the Japan Hygienic Olefin and Styrene Plastics Association^*5 and the European Commission^*6, and the number of countries and regions where it’s usable for contact with food is growing.

Kaneka will continue to develop a variety of products that use PHBH™ with Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. to provide solutions to environmental pollution problems.

1. A new type of t dessert hat blends ice cream, café latte and ice and that will be released as a new Seven Café product.
2. Some stores may not have it available.
3. Biodegrades at least 90% in seawater (30℃) within 6 months. The"OK Biodegradable MARINE"certificate was issued to PHBH™ in September 2017 by Vincotte, an international certifying body headquartered in Belgium. TÜV AUSTRIA Belgium NV took over the certification work from Vincotte in December 2017.
4. A governmental organization of U.S. in charge of approval or conformity control of products which consumers have contact within daily life, such as food or medicine in addition to cosmetics, clinical instrument, animal drug or toy.
5. An industry group in Japan that aims to realize the supply of safe and hygienic plastic utensils, containers and packaging for use with food.
6. It is an institution of the European Union (EU), responsible for management of the EU including proposal of the legislation and implementation of decisions.