Resonac Launches “Resonac Pride Products and Services” System Aiming to Visualize Their Contribution to the Welfare of Customers and Society by Adopting Various Stakeholders’ Viewpoints

March 13, 2024
Resonac Holdings Corporation

Resonac Corporation (President: Hidehito Takahashi, hereinafter “Resonac”) has launched “Resonac Pride Products and Services” system, in which a judging committee including external experts evaluates and recognizes products and services practicing Resonac’s Purpose, “Change society through the power of chemistry,” and contributing to the welfare of society and customers. Under this framework, “Kawasaki Plastic Chemical Recycling Business” (hereinafter “KPR”) has been recognized as the first Resonac Pride Service.

 

Resonac has positioned sustainability as its basic management policy, thereby aiming to contribute to sustainable growth of the global society and realization of happiness and wealth of the people and symbiotic relationship between human beings and the earth. To achieve these aims, we believe it is important for Resonac to visualize what kind of and how much value Resonac’s products and services provides for customers and society.

“Resonac Pride Products and Services” system is aimed at evaluating and visualizing, with the help of objective viewpoints provided by external experts, not only how Resonac’s products and services contribute to the movement toward SDGs but also how those products and services realize Resonac Group’s Purpose and Values and how much those products and services contribute to society, namely evaluating and visualizing their social values including concrete results and their impact on society. To be specific, the judging committee examines candidates for Resonac Pride Products and Services on the basis of examination standards including evaluation of the value provided by candidates, judgement on candidates’ conformity to the Purpose and four Values which the Resonac Group regards as important, results of risk evaluation including environmental assessment and reputation risk assessment, judgement on whether the candidates have promising future in terms of their sales plans and impacts on the market or not, and judgement on conformity with the achievement of SDGs which are regarded as common goals throughout the world. In addition, the judging committee adopts viewpoints of various stakeholders including national/local government authorities, business acquaintances, external experts, customers, investors, and younger generations including students. This time, the judging committee invited 17 persons as observers and advisors from various stakeholders, and they provided the panel with valuable opinions. Those invited observers/advisors include an official of Kawasaki City who is in charge of the promotion of carbon neutrality, Resonac’s customers using hydrogen and ammonia produced by the plant of KPR, Dr. Norihiro Itsubo who is a professor of Waseda University, and Dr. Naoya Hasegawa who is a professor of Hosei University.

 

【Examination standards】

Main items of confirmation for certification		Criteria for the recognition
Implementation of Purpose and Values	What is the value provided to customers and society? (quantified as much as possible)	Appropriateness
	What kind of values are demonstrated?
Risk assessment	What kind of risks are there when evaluated from various perspectives such as product environmental assessment and reputation?	Risk perspectives from third party points of view
Sales plans	Sales plans and market share	Future potential and impact
Relevance to SDGs	How does it contribute to the 17 goals and 169 targets, and is it related to the essence of the SDGs?	Relevance to shared global goals (including future potential)

 

KPR, which has been recognized as the first Resonac Pride Service, went into operation in 2003, and is the one and only plastic gasification and chemical recycling plant in the world that has been in stable operation for 20 years. KPR gasifies and chemically recycles 70,000 tons of used plastics per year, which accounts for about 22% of total chemically recycled plastics in Japan. At high temperature, KPR decomposes used plastics into molecules of hydrogen and CO2. (Gasification and chemical recycling of used plastics) Hydrogen extracted from used plastics is to be used as material to produce other chemicals in neighboring plants, delivered to hydrogen stations and used as fuel for fuel-cell vehicles, or used as material to produce environment-friendly ammonia which is sold under the trade name of ECOANNTM. Thus, KPR helps Resonac’s customers to promote green procurement. In addition, CO2 extracted from used plastics is not emitted into the air but recycled and reused as material to produce dry ice, carbonated drinks, and medical CO2. The judging committee placed high value on these facts and their promising future, thereby recognizing KPR as the first Resonac Pride Service.

Resonac will strive to increase the number of products and services recognized as Resonac Pride Services and Products, thereby practicing Purpose and Values and contributing to realization of sustainable society.