Thinking about Plastic Recycling with Kawasaki Brave Thunders!
January 1, 2026
At Resonac’s Kawasaki Plant, we have launched a new initiative in collaboration with the Kawasaki Brave Thunders to contribute to the local community and the next generation: “Let’s Learn the Importance of Recycling! Factory Tour.” The purpose of this program is to provide children with an opportunity to visit Resonac’s plastic chemical recycling facilities at the Kawasaki Plant together with Kawasaki Brave Thunders players and learn about the importance of recycling. This report covers the first event held in June 2025.
■Social Issues: Resource circulation, next-generation education
■Value Creation (Solving Social Issues): Raising awareness among children and local communities about the importance of recycling and the joy of sports
■Activity Name: “Let’s Learn the Importance of Recycling! Plant Tour with Kawasaki Brave Thunders”
■Date: June 7, 2025
■Organizer: Resonac Corporation, Kawasaki Plant
Resonac promotes its Plastic Chemical Recycling business. Used plastics account for approximately 60% of general waste and are highly diverse in type and material, making disposal a long-standing social challenge. Plastic Chemical Recycling is a process that uses chemical technology to recycle used plastics into ammonia and carbon dioxide.
■Co-organizer: Kawasaki Brave Thunders (a professional basketball team in Japan’s B.LEAGUE)
Through basketball and home games, the team provides opportunities for “health” and “meaningful work” for everyone, and is committed to making Kawasaki “a city where people are happy to live.” Under this commitment, they promote the SDGs project “&One.” Resonac shares this vision and has been an official partner of “&One” since the 2023–2024 season.
－Understanding the Chemical Recycling Process for Household Plastics and Realizing the Importance of Proper Sorting
The tour began with a visit to the plastic chemical recycling site. Participants observed two key processes: the crushing and molding process, where plastic waste collected from households is shredded and molded, and the gasification process, where the molded plastics are chemically decomposed and converted into gas at the plant.
In the crushing and molding process, participants observed machines that shred household plastic waste into small pieces, equipment that uses magnets to remove metals such as iron mixed in with the waste, and machines that mold the plastic. Household plastic waste often contains non-plastic materials, including metals. Recently, a common issue has been lithium-ion batteries embedded in plastic products. If such batteries are mixed in, there is a risk of fire in the worst-case scenario. During the tour, we emphasized the importance of proper sorting to prevent these hazards.
Next, participants visited the gasification process at the chemical plant, which stands 60 meters high. The gasification facility features two types of reactors: a low-temperature gasifier operating at around 600°C and a high-temperature gasifier operating at approximately 1,400°C. These reactors break down plastic waste and convert it into hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen is used to produce ammonia, a key raw material for various chemical products, while the carbon dioxide is utilized for beverage carbonation and dry ice. During the Q&A session, participants learned how plastic waste is transformed into new products commonly seen in daily life. Questions included: “From which regions is the plastic waste collected?”, “How long does the recycling process take?”, and “How can high-temperature decomposition be achieved without using fossil fuels?”
－Thinking About What We Can Do Through the SDGs Workshop
We held an exchange event with Kawasaki Brave Thunders players Hasegawa and Iida. The children asked their admired basketball players questions such as “How can I grow taller?” and “What kind of practice should I do to improve my dribbling?” The venue was filled with excitement.
In the SDGs workshop, as a wrap-up of today’s tour, each participant wrote down and posted ideas on “What we can do to expand recycling.” Suggestions included: “Separate waste properly at school and at home,” “Share what we learned today with family and classmates,” “The first step in recycling starts with me,” and “Think of waste as a resource.” Everyone shared their own thoughts. Finally, we held up the sheet we created together and took a commemorative photo.
Participants’ Comments
- I was able to learn about recycling. I learned that sorting waste is important and that we can also play a role in making a difference. 【Elementary school student】
- “I was surprised to learn that plastic breaks down at 600°C and 1,400°C. I want to write about this in my school essay.” 【Elementary school student】
- “My fourth-grade child had just learned about waste management in social studies and visited a waste treatment plant last month on a field trip, so this was very timely.” 【Parent】
- “It was wonderful that through this interaction with the players, my child became motivated and said, ‘I want to go to a game.’” 【Parent】
- “I learned a lot of new things today. It was a great opportunity to rethink that recycling starts with our own sorting. Since spreading recycling is something we can do, I want to make sure to share this message.” 【Player Hasegawa】
- “I had never thought about how the waste we produce is processed. I learned that it is recycled in various ways. As a club, we are also engaged in SDGs activities, so I believe that encouraging everyone involved with the club—including players and staff—to adopt this mindset is the first step we can take.” 【Player Iida】
“I think it’s wonderful if the technologies we at Resonac have developed can contribute to the community and be shared globally through co-creation with Kawasaki Brave Thunders in a visible way. To make that happen, we want to continue initiatives like today’s event and make next season’s re-run even more enjoyable for everyone.” 【Organizer】
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