Resonac Receives the “Minister of the Environment Award” at the 25th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Awards
— Recognition for a Resource-Circulation Business Producing Basic Chemicals from Used Plastics —
June 26, 2026
Resonac Holdings Corporation
Resonac Corporation (President and CEO: Hidehito Takahashi, hereinafter referred to as “Resonac”) has received the “Minister of the Environment Award” at the 25th Green and Sustainable Chemistry Awards (GSC Awards) *, organized by the Japan Association for Chemical Innovation (JACI).
The award recognizes Resonac’s initiative, “Building a Resource-Circulation Business Utilizing Diverse Types of Used Plastics,” particularly for the following achievement:
Key Reason for the Award
-A pioneering initiative that promotes the wider implementation of a resource-circulation business built on chemistry-based technologies that help reduce dependence on finite resources such as fossil feedstocks.
Award Ceremony
At its Kawasaki Plant (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture), Resonac has manufactured and sold basic chemical products, including hydrogen, ammonia, and carbon dioxide, through gasification chemical recycling of used plastics since 2003.
Long-term stable commercial operation is generally considered difficult in the chemical and waste-treatment industries due to fluctuations in feedstock quality and supply volumes as well as operational challenges. Nevertheless, Resonac has continuously operated its commercial plant for more than 20 years. This achievement reflects the company’s ability to refine technologies through actual operation under uncertain conditions and accumulate valuable know-how, demonstrating both the practicality and reliability of the technology. Furthermore, calculations conducted by Resonac confirmed the low-carbon characteristics of the manufacturing process used in this business. These results were independently verified by the Japan LCA Facilitation Centre (LCAF) as being compliant with ISO standards.
In 2025, Resonac launched “CirculaC,” a circular business model and brand initiative for used plastics and textiles. Through this initiative, the company is strengthening collaboration and co-creation with partners both inside and outside the company, with the aim of enhancing the value of recycled products and increasing social acceptance of resource-circulation solutions.
Conceptual diagram of CirculaC
CirculaC is built on Resonac’s gasification chemical recycling business. The model represents a comprehensive circular system in which used plastics collected from companies and local governments are gasified and converted back into basic chemical products for society. Rather than limiting recycling to returning plastics to the same plastic products, CirculaC uses the power of chemistry to break materials down into molecular components and transform them into a variety of basic chemicals. Through this open-loop approach, the initiative expands the potential applications of recycled resources into fields where conventional recycling has been difficult.
Interest in these efforts continues to grow both in Japan and internationally. Resonac will further promote the adoption of CirculaC through business expansion and technology licensing while contributing to both a circular economy and decarbonization. Through these initiatives, the company aims to help realize a sustainable society.
[References]
Resonac Receives the “President’s Award” at the 22nd LCA Society of Japan Awards Ceremony
https://www.resonac.com/news/2026/01/20/3710.html
Showadenko Receives Award for Used-Plastic Chemical Recycling Business
https://www.resonac.com/news/2020/02/28/1195.html
Showadenko’s Chemical Recycling Business for Used Plastics Wins the Grand Prize and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at the 21st Green Purchasing Awards
https://www.resonac.com/jp/news/2020/11/25/272.html (Japanese page only)
[About Resonac’s Gasification Chemical Recycling Business]
Using used plastics and other waste materials as feedstock, Resonac gasifies these materials at high temperatures and decomposes them into molecular-level components to recover hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The process enables continuous operation using used plastics as feedstock rather than fossil-based feedstocks. The recovered hydrogen is primarily used within Resonac as a feedstock for ammonia production. The resulting ammonia is used in synthetic fibers, synthetic resins, chemical fertilizers, and as a reducing agent for NOx removal from thermal power plant exhaust gases. The recovered carbon dioxide is utilized by Resonac Gas Products Inc., a group company, as a raw material for dry ice and carbonated beverages rather than being released into the atmosphere. Resonac is the only company in the world that has continuously operated a gasification chemical recycling plant for more than 20 years. To date, the company has processed a cumulative total of more than 1.2 million tons of used plastics.
Toward further decarbonization of ammonia production, Resonac has also decided to switch the hydrogen feedstock used in its ammonia business from a combination of city-gas-derived and used-plastic-derived hydrogen to 100% used-plastic-derived hydrogen by 2030.
*The Green and Sustainable Chemistry (GSC) Awards
are presented annually by the Japan Association for Chemical Innovation (JACI) to recognize technologies and products that contribute to reducing environmental impact and promoting the social implementation of innovative chemical technologies for the realization of a sustainable society.
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