Reducing the environmental burden caused by plastics

The Calbee Group is reducing the amount of petroleum-based plastics used by making packaging film thinner and packaging smaller. However, because aluminum vapor deposition film combines multiple materials, it is difficult to separate the individual layers, making closed recycling^* an issue. Based on the milestones outlined in the Resource Circulation Strategy for Plastics announced by the government in May 2019, Calbee set goals in FY2020 to reduce and replace plastic packaging. The Calbee Group will contribute to realizing a resource recycling society by reducing the amount of plastics we use, adopting new materials such as biomass plastics, and working with other companies to develop recycling technologies.

* Refers to recycling in which used packaging film becomes raw material to make the same film

We are continuing our initiatives to reduce plastic use by adjusting film sizes. Efforts are being made with plastic packaging, such as by narrowing the width of packaging film for the medium-sized Frugra product in FY2024. We will continue to collaborate with equipment manufacturers and packaging film suppliers to drive further technological advancements, aiming to reduce the size of packaging and the thickness of packaging film.

Following a customer survey, we introduced a new zipper-less packaging in 2024 for several stand-up pouch products, for which zipper use was less than 50%^*. This initiative is expected to reduce our consumption of petroleum-based plastics by approximately 40 tons per year.
This initiative was well received and selected for the 2024 Food Industry Excellent Company Award, co-hosted by the Japan Food Industry Association and the Organization for Improvement of Food-distribution System, and won the Japan Food Industry Association Chairman’s Award in the Environmental Category for Container and Packaging Recycling Promotion.

* Researched by Calbee in November 2023

Since February 2021, Calbee has invested in R Plus Japan and is collaborating with them on recycling used plastics.
R Plus Japan partners with Anellotech Inc., a U.S. biochemical venture company, to develop an efficient technology for recycling used plastics with a reduced environmental burden.
In Japan, most plastics, except for PET bottles, are burned and disposed of R Plus Japan is working to develop technology capable of producing crude raw materials for plastics, including not only xylene but also ethylene and propylene, from used plastics, such as PET bottles.
This technology, which can complete the process with fewer steps than conventional chemical recycling^*, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption as well as efficiently recycle used plastics.

* A form of closing recycling. Technology in which the molecular composition of the used packaging film is broken down for recycling.