Ito En Ltd., a major supplier of tea leaves and beverage products in Japan, announced that it has developed a plastic that incorporates used tea leaves left over from making canned and bottled tea products. The discovery was made jointly with NOF Corporation, a world renowned manufacturer of organic peroxides. Ito En presently shoulders huge costs for burning and drying used tea leaves, which contain a lot of moisture and spoil easily if left untreated.<br><br>Ito En successfully produced the compound resin without drying the used tea leaves by combining two technologies: one developed by Ito En itself to transport and store the moisture-rich used tea leaves for several days at room temperature while curbing their decay and another additive technology developed exclusively by NOF. The new technology will help the company reduce the cost of drying used tea leaves as well as reduce its consumption of resources.<br><br>Furthermore, the newly developed molded plastic has a significant antibacterial effect due to the presence of green tea polyphenol, an antibacterial ingredient distinctive of green tea. The scent of tea can also be added to the plastic. Ito En plans to mold the tea-leaf mixed resin into such products as handrails, bath and toilet goods and stationery products, which will be put on the market.<br><br>
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