The Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union (JCCU) announced its participation in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's (METI) FY2025 Resource-Autonomous Economy Establishment Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration Acceleration Project (Demonstration Project for the Construction of Resource Circulation System in Wide-Area Local Governments).

　The objective of this demonstration project is to increase the supply of recycled materials, particularly recycled plastic. The project aims to establish an integrated system covering the entire process from collection to recycling tailored to the characteristics of different regions, including metropolitan areas, regional cities, and smaller communities. By collaborating with local businesses to verify the effectiveness of these processes, the initiative seeks to build a sustainable and efficient resource circulation system.

　JCCU will participate in the demonstration project in metropolitan areas by providing plastic waste generated from its headquarters building (Co-op Plaza).

　This waste will be combined with plastic waste collected from other companies and processed using Near-Infrared (NIR) optical sorting technology.  Through this process, plastics suitable for chemical recycling, such as polyolefin resins, are extracted. The recovered plastic will then be used to verify plastic-to-oil chemical recycling technology. This process involves thermally decomposing plastics to produce hydrocarbon oil, which can subsequently be reused as a raw material for chemical products.

　JCCU will continue to give due consideration to environmental and social issues as it works toward the realization of a sustainable society.