Chemicals
ISCC+ Certification for four ZEON Plants in Japan
ZEON Established “monozukuri” Transformation for Carbon Neutrality and Circular Economy
Duesseldorf (Germany) June 26, 2024 – ZEON Europe GmbH – European subsidiary of ZEON Corporation, Japan, a leading and globally operating producer of specialty polymers – proudly congratulates the ZEON Corporation for obtaining the ISCC+ certification (*1), an international certification for sustainable products, for the products listed below, at four of its production bases in Japan (the Takaoka, Kawasaki, Tokuyama, and Mizushima plants).
“We’re gratified to constantly improve the service for our customers and industries according to the Japanese ‘monozukuri’ transformation working towards carbon neutrality and circular economy,” stated Hubert Thimm, Commercial Director of ZEON Europe. “The ISCC+ certification ensures that recycled, biomass, and other raw materials are properly managed throughout its global supply chain, including the manufacturing process.” Obtaining the certification has enabled ZEON to handle ISCC+ certified products for which sustainable raw materials are allocated through the mass balance approach (*2).
ISCC+ Certified Products
Butadiene, synthetic latex, HNBR (hydrogenated nitrile rubber), BR (polybutadiene rubber), IR (polyisoprene rubber), NBR (acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber), E-SBR (emulsion polymerization styrene-butadiene rubber), S-SBR (solution-polymerization styrene-butadiene rubber)
Note: ZEON is planning to obtain ISCC+ certification for products not included in this list.
As a company-wide strategy in its medium-term business plan, ZEON has set the goal of achieving a 50 % reduction (*3) in CO2 emissions by 2030 by promoting a transformation of “monozukuri” to realize carbon neutrality and a circular economy. Since 2022, it has been actively promoting the reduction of CO2 emissions through energy conversion (*4) at its domestic production bases in Japan, and it obtained the certificate as a result of the strengthening of its initiatives to include the conversion of raw materials, the first step toward realizing a sustainable society through the provision of bio-based products. The company will continue to actively work toward carbon neutrality while ensuring stable and safe operations, contributing to a sustainable Earth and a safe and comfortable life for people.
ZEON Europe will introduce its product portfolio and several new specialty rubber highlights from July 1 to 4, 2024 at the Deutsche Kautschuk-Tagung (DKT; German Rubber Conference) in Nuremberg, Germany, at Stand 524 in Hall 9.
Notes
*1 ISCC PLUS certification of International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is a globally applicable system that manages and guarantees throughout the supply chain of products manufactured with sustainable raw materials including biomass.
*2 A method in the processing and distribution process that allocates a target characteristic to a portion of the finished product that reflects the ratio of the raw material that possesses that characteristic that is mixed with those that do not. Applying this approach enables companies to contribute to carbon neutrality in an economical and effective way.
*3 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030, compared to FY2019. Targets are Scopes 1 and 2 of Zeon alone.
*4 Conversion to renewable energy and fuels with certificates. Zeon Corporation commits and declares its compliance with the ISCC PLUS requirements in accordance with the latest ISCC regulations.
About ZEON
ZEON Corporation is the world leader in specialty elastomers, polymers, and specialty chemicals. ZEON is one of the top producers of polymers in the world, operating a global network of plants in Asia and North America, and research and development laboratories in Japan, USA, China, and Singapore. With more than 70 years in business and consolidated sales of ca. US$ 2.5 billion, ZEON has both the experience and the expertise in C4 and C5 chemistry to offer a wide range of world class products. ZEON employs over 4,300 people worldwide, with global headquarters in Tokyo and regional sales offices all over Europe, America and Asia. “We realize the importance of having a close partnership with (potential) customers worldwide. Therefore, our resources in sales and technical service always put great effort into technical cooperation to bring positive momentum to our customers. Then, together we will find the optimum solution,” Hubert Thimm, ZEON Europe Commercial Director explained.
While ZEON is continuously settled in the traditional global elastomer business (60% of total business), the specialty material business has been progressively built up and has been growing significantly. ZEON specialty materials will provide material solutions for the future world in terms of sustainable energy sources, electromobility, digitalisation and media, as well as modern lifestyle and health care.
