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Osaka-Gunze Limited (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President: Toshiyasu Saguchi) [TOKYO:3002] is pleased to announce that Gunze has been granted the 2024 Resource Circulation Technology and System Award by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in recognition of its contribution to society through its efforts to reduce and reuse plastic waste generated in the production process of its plastic film business.
The award ceremony was held on October 16, 2024, and Yuji Hanaoka, Executive Officer and General Manager of the Plastics Company, attended the ceremony and received a certificate of commendation. After the ceremony, Mr. Hanaoka introduced the company's efforts to reduce plastic waste and its product lineup using recycled raw materials at the "3R (reduction, reuse and recycling) Advanced Case Study Presentation" by the award winners.

Award for 2024 Resource Circulation Technology and System

■About Our Award Details
Plastic film is difficult to control in terms of elongation and heat shrinkage, and it is difficult to maintain quality due to the effects of impurities. Therefore, Gunze has established a production technology for high-quality film by controlling the "displacement" caused by mixing virgin and recycled materials using its own technology. Using this technology, we have also released products that use recycled materials.
In addition, it has been difficult to reuse multilayer films of different types, and most waste plastic has been disposed of as industrial waste, but the company has developed a separation method that uses the solubility of solvents to recover and reuse the resin. This method has created a system that promotes the reduction and reuse of waste plastic.

■About Resource Circulation Technology and System Awards
This award has been presented since 1975 to encourage and promote the development of new businesses by publicly soliciting and recognizing projects and efforts by companies and other business organizations that are unique in contributing to the reduction of waste generation, reuse, and promotion of recycling. The organizer is the Japan Industrial Environment Association. The awards are organized by the Japan Environmental Management Association for Industry (JEMAI) and supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

■About GEOPLAS® HCX1 Type, the Lightest Weight Hybrid Shrinkable Film Made from Recycled Raw Materials (GEOPLAS® HCX1)
By establishing production technology, Gunze has developed the lightest shrink film in Japan using more than 5% high quality recycled materials and compatible with automatic label applicators.

(Left)Luxury Fragrant Iced Black Tea　　(Right)Luxury Fragrant Iced Green Tea
Image courtesy of Daido Drinko