Green news: Sony/partners to use renewable plastics in electronics; Henkel/Sekab to advance bio-based materials in adhesives

Almost 14 companies have jointly established what they says is the world’s first global supply chain across five countries and regions for the production of renewable plastics that can be used in Sony’s high-performance audio-visual products. The various plastic materials manufactured through this supply chain are slated for use in Sony’s products that will be launched worldwide.

The companies involved are: Sony Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, Adeka Corporation , Chimei Corporation, Eneos Corporation, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, Hanwha Impact Corporation, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Neste Corporation, Qingdao Haier New Material Development Co, SK Geo Centric Co., Toray Industries, Inc and Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc.

High-performance products such as audio-visual equipment involve a wide variety of plastics, resulting in a complex supply chain that makes it difficult to visualise and manage the entire flow from raw materials. Additionally, plastic components that require high performance in terms of flame resistance and optical properties cannot be fully replaced with plastics produced through material recycling, hindering the further reduction of virgin fossil-based plastics in such products.

To address these challenges, the 14 companies collaborated to visualise the existing supply chain for Sony’s products, and created a new supply chain that enables the production of multiple types of renewable plastics from biomass resources with a mass balance approach.

This allows Sony to proactively source raw materials for its products with the quality and properties equivalent to virgin fossil-based plastics. Defining the supply chain helps the companies track and document GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions data over the supply chain in a verifiable way, allowing participating companies to leverage the data to advance efforts to reduce their carbon footprint going forward.

This initiative involving wide-ranging partners is part of the ‘Creating NEW from reNEWable materials’ project, jointly launched by Sony, which aims to achieve zero usage of virgin fossil-based plastics through the introduction of renewable plastics, and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Sony, Mitsubishi Corporation, and the supply chain partners will continue to actively promote the introduction of renewable plastics for high-performance products such as audio-visual products.

In other news, Henkel Adhesive Technologies has entered into a collaboration with Swedish chemical company Sekab to accelerate the transition from fossil-based to bio-based raw materials in adhesive production. The partnership focuses on replacing conventional ethyl acetate with a sustainable, bio-based alternative, supporting Henkel’s ambition to lead with innovation and sustainability in advanced industrial adhesive solutions.

This initiative is a key step in enabling Henkel to strengthen its pioneering position by combining sustainability with a future-ready value proposition for customers. By integrating renewable raw materials into product formulations as a drop-in solution, Henkel is helping customers to achieve their climate goals, on top of reducing its own environmental footprint.

“We are proud to collaborate with Sekab on this important journey towards more sustainable raw materials,” says Elodie Picard, Head of Sustainability for the Packaging division at Henkel Adhesive Technologies. “This partnership reflects our commitment to innovation with impact – delivering high-performance solutions that offer benefits for our customers and for the environment.”

Adam Lindholm, Head of Sales and Business Development at Sekab added: “Our collaboration with Henkel demonstrates how fossil-free, bio-based chemicals can be integrated into existing value chains without compromising performance. This accelerates the transition towards a fossil-independent chemical industry. By working together along the value chain, we can bring scalable, sustainable raw materials to market and create tangible climate benefits.”

The collaboration with Sekab represents a key pillar of Henkel’s corporate sustainability strategy, which includes advancing circular solutions, reducing carbon emissions, and enabling customers to meet their own sustainability targets through cutting-edge adhesive technologies.

The announcement is part of a broader series of sustainability activations from Henkel and its partners to highlight innovation and collaboration in climate leadership strategies across regions.

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