KANEKA Biodegradable Polymer Green Planet™ molded foam products developed as a solution to the ocean plastics problem

－Adopted for fish boxes by fishery businesses－

Kaneka Corporation
May 25, 2021

Kaneka Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Minoru Tanaka) has been developing technology for turning KANEKA Biodegradable Polymer Green Planet™ (referred to below as “Green Planet™”) into a molded foam material. Recently, Kaneka developed the product “Green Planet™ Molded foam products”, and this has been adopted by fishery businesses for fish boxes^*1 that store fresh fish.

Plastic pollution is a worldwide problem. While measures are being accelerated to help solve the issue of marine microplastics, the adoption by fishery businesses of Green Planet™ Molded foam products for fish boxes opens a door to a solution that deals directly with ocean pollution, and there is growing interest from fisheries industry.

KANEKA Biodegradable Polymer Green Planet™ is a 100% plant-derived biodegradable polymer developed by integrating fermentation and macromolecule technologies. It has excellent biodegradability in a wide range of environments, has the unique characteristic of biodegrading especially well in sea water, and it has previously acquired the “OK Biodegradable MARINE” ^*2 certification from a certifying authority.

By using Kaneka’s expandable plastic technology cultivated over many years, development of “Green Planet™ Molded foam products”, a new use of Green Planet™, has begun to proceed in earnest. It is the result of combining (conjugating) technologies that Kaneka especially excels at. From here on, Kaneka will accelerate the development of products such as containers for shipping perishable foods for the fishing and farming industries, fishing industry materials such as floats for culturing, and cushions that are made of foam beads and shock absorbing materials for home electrical appliances and furniture. The marketing of these products will be reinforced through their environmentally friendly features.

Kaneka has declared its alignment with the recommendations of the TCFD^*3, and one area it plans to tackle is “Contributing to a Recycling-oriented Society”. Adoption of Green Planet™ is progressing in various fields, including straws and cosmetics packages. Kaneka will increasingly broaden the usage of Green Planet™ as a material that helps reduce the impact on the environment and provide solutions to environmental issues.

Containers for storing and transporting fish and of which are normally made from expandable polystyrene beads.
Biodegrades at least 90% in seawater (30℃) within 6 months. The"OK Biodegradable MARINE"certificate was issued to Green Planet™（formerly called 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.
Acronym for the “Task force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures”, which was established by the Financial Stability Board on the request of the G20.