In Japan, Toray Industries, Inc., has invested a further $8 million in Cellulosic Biomass Technology Co., Ltd., to lift its stake in that subsidiary from 67%, to 84.4%. Toray established that entity in Bangkok with Mitsui DM Sugar Co., Ltd., in January 2017 to demonstrate membrane-based saccharification process technologies. Toray looks to employ the additional capital to draw on cellulosic sugar production technology to swiftly commercialize key polymer materials derived from inedible biomass. The company will thereby avoid competition with the food chain and shrink its carbon footprint.
Toray looks for recycled resources to account for 20% of the raw materials in key polymer products by 2030. It is developing a range of technologies, including to recycle used plastic products, switch to biomass-derived materials, and tap carbon dioxide as a raw material.
To date, the company has created an energy-saving production technology that uses membrane separation technology to make cellulosic sugar derived from bagasse, an inedible biomass remaining after extracting juice from sugarcane. It has also innovated a technology to co-produce polyphenol, a high value-added product offering from bagasse.
