Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. held a completion ceremony for a new research facility, the Innovation Center MEGURU, at its Chiba site on June 26. The new research center located in Sodegaura City in Chiba Prefecture, Japan started operations on the same day.

This opening of the research facility aims to consolidate and strengthen the Company’s research groups, which develop technologies for reducing environmental impact, at its Chiba site.

Further, the Company will accelerate the development of technologies and materials that contribute to environmental impact reduction. Also, it will seek to create new value through these solutions.

Core of Environmental Efforts

As the global movement towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 gains momentum, the Sumitomo Chemical Group is making a major pivot in its petrochemicals business. Primarily, it directs its resources to value creation through environmental impact reduction technology.

Research and development at the Chiba site is at the core of this effort. In relation, its transformation is the objective behind its opening of MEGURU and the consolidation of the research groups.

Mainly, the Chiba site has been the research and manufacturing center of Sumitomo Chemical’s petrochemicals business. It has offered polymer design, catalyst, process, compound and processing technologies. At the same time, it provides pilot facilities to scale new technologies for commercialization.

Building on the technological resources and infrastructure at the site, Sumitomo Chemical will strive to create innovative technologies at MEGURU that help lessen environmental impact. Among them include chemical recycling and material recycling technologies. The company aims to establish these technologies not only in Japan, but also globally.

Additionally, Sumitomo Chemical will transfer and consolidate the personnel for polymer research, super engineering plastics, functional chemicals and other products located in the Tsukuba and Osaka sites to MEGURU in the Chiba site, the hub of the Company’s polymer materials research and development. Through this reorganization, the Company will establish a system that can further strengthen internal and external collaboration. Thereby, it can speed up the development of innovative new materials. Among them are for next-generation mobility applications and high-speed mobile communication systems.

Promotes Circular Economy

The name of the new research facility “MEGURU,” means “circulate” in Japanese. It represents Sumitomo Chemical’s reaffirmation of its founding spirit of resolving society’s major issues through business, a return to basics. Also, it signifies the determination to advance next-generation technology innovation to contribute to a circular economy.

Based on this commitment, the Company designed the space in MEGURU to promote interaction among researchers. Meanwhile, it utilizes an environmentally friendly design for the new facility, which has been ranked highest in the Building-Housing Energy-efficiency Labeling System and certified as ZEB Ready*.

Mainly, the Sumitomo Chemical Group will create new value by making the most use of the resources that it has cultivated related to environmental impact reduction technology. Also, it will accelerate the transformation of its business portfolio to one focused on solution-providing businesses.

* A building that meets the criteria of reducing primary energy consumption by more than 50% from the standard primary energy consumption, excluding renewable energy.

-02 July 2024-