Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC; Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Masayuki Waga) has launched a new initiative called the Soalon™ Sustainable Program*1(the Program), which harnesses the environmental benefits of Soalon acetate fiber. Soalon, a semisynthetic fiber made from wood pulp, has been attracting attention in Japan and abroad as a sustainable material.
The Program has been developed to quantify and categorize the environmental burden of different textile products in the Soalon range, in the aim of visualizing the challenges of making improvements.
Specifically, product details, processes, and techniques are verified at each phase of textile production: design, weaving/knitting, and dyeing. Each product is then scored based on evaluation criteria established exclusively for Soalon and categorized into one of three classes (the Soalon Sustainable Program levels). Showing the environmental burden of each product enables customers to consider products from a new sustainability perspective in addition to conventional viewpoints such as feel and quality when they are evaluating products.
MCC has obtained third-party certifications*2to ensure sustainability at every stage of Soalon operations from raw material procurement to textile manufacture, but has not previously been able to objectively show the environmental burden of each product because of their diversified yarn compositions and production processes. The Program is expected to clarify key points for improving individual products, and aims to further enhance the sustainability of the entire Soalon product range.
By collaborating with partner companies in the aim of “realizing KAITEKI*3,” the vision set out by the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group, MCC will promote further enhancement of Soalon’s sustainable value and contribute to the circular economy.
*1Example of third-party certification obtained for Soalon:https://www.m-chemical.co.jp/news/2020/1208426_7469.html
*2Program details: https://www.soalon.jp/
*3KAITEKI is an original concept devised by the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group and denotes “the sustainable well-being of people, society and our planet Earth.”
For further information, please contact:
Public Relations and Investor Relations Office
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation
Tel: [+81] (0)3-6748-6140