Sumitomo to construct pilot chemical recycling facility in Japan

Sumitomo Chemical, a chemical company based in Tokyo, has announced plans to construct a pilot facility to chemically recycle acrylic resin—polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA)—at its Ehime Works site in Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan.

According to a news release from Sumitomo Chemical, the facility is scheduled to begin pilot tests in the fall of 2022 and to start providing samples in 2023. The company also is working to develop a recycling system for PMMA from collection of used acrylic resin to recycling and reprocessing into products, aiming for commercialization of chemically recycled PMMA.

Sumitomo Chemical says acrylic resins are used in a wide range of applications, such as automotive tail lamp covers, electrical appliances, aquariums, outdoor signboards, liquid crystal displays, building materials and protective partition panels. The company reports that global demand for acrylic resins was at 1.3 million tons in 2020 and is expected to grow in the future.

In response, Sumitomo Chemical wants to develop various chemical recycling technologies in-house as well as in collaboration with other companies and academic institutions. For acrylic resin chemical recycling, the company has pursued development in collaboration with The Japan Steel Works Ltd., Tokyo, combining Japan Steel Work’s continuous plastic decomposition technology using twin-screw extruders with Sumitomo Chemical’s expertise on methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomers and acrylic resins.

Having its own basic technology to pyrolyze acrylic resin and regenerate it as MMA monomer is part of the reason Sumitomo wants to construct this pilot facility. The pilot facility will source used acrylic resin from Japan-based Nippura Co. Ltd., which produces large acrylic panels for aquariums.

To commercialize chemically recycled PMMA, Sumitomo also plans to study the development of a stable raw material procurement system, including the collection of used acrylic resin from scrapped automobiles, electrical appliances and protective partition panels. The recycled MMA monomer and acrylic resin made from it are expected to be used in fields and products such as automobiles and road sound barriers for public highways.