UNIQLO Co., a leading Japanese clothing retail chain, introduced an original environment-conscious shopping bag in December 2007. The bag contains nano-hybrid capsule two (NHC2) additives. The company plans to use the bag in all its stores by June 2008.

Adding a three percent component of NHC2, a next-generation environment-conscious solvent additive, improves the shopping bags' strength, allowing reduced use of polyethylene, which results in a CO2 emission reduction of about 20 percent. Adding the solvent also inhibits the bonding of combustible elements and oxygen when the bag is burned, leading to a 40 percent CO2 emission reduction. Thus, using the new bag reduces CO2 emissions by about 40 percent; in one year this will amount to a reduction from 9,839 emitted from the use of the current bag to 4,263 tons in the case of the new bag.

NHC2 is a resin-based additive which is packaged in nano-capsules using a new technique that harnesses the advantages of supercritical carbon dioxide fluid. It has received considerable attention as an environment-conscious solvent. Professor Masahiko Abe of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, researched and developed the technology. The additive is manufactured and sold by e-basic Corp., a Japanese environment-friendly technology company.

http://www.fastretailing.com/eng/csr/news/0711271800%20.html
- UNIQLO to Expand Recycling Program to All Its Clothing Products in Japan (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1552-e
- UNIQLO to Collect Its Products for Recycling Twice a year (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1692-e

Posted: 2008/06/24 12:19:39 AM

TAG Eco-product/Business , Global warming , Manufacturing industry