As we consider how to help the Earth today, we have been taking on the challenges of the recycling business for more than half a century since our founding. Calling for expanded recycling to meet the needs of the 21st Century’s recycling-oriented society, we are also fully committed to reducing our own environmental impacts, for example by incorporating solar power in our operations.
Molded materials that are derived from petroleum and other precious resources, plastics are used in home appliances, automobiles, food containers, and other products, and are now firmly rooted both in industry and our daily lives. However, it is also true that there are environmental problems caused by these convenient plastics that enhance our lives. There are already 150 million tons (*1) of plastic waste in the world’s oceans, with an estimated 8 million tons more being added each year (*2). Furthermore, advances in oil field development and mining technology are said to be preventing depletion of oil supplies in the near future. There is no question that effective use of the resources we anticipate having will continue to be a major issue for future generations, just as the mission falls to us living today to take action in countering global warming, soil and air pollution, shortages of resources, deforestation, and other environmental problems worldwide.
