Showa Denko (SDK) recently obtained a license to process industrial waste, and started to accept used plastics which were crushed and molded.

Since 2003, SDK’s Kawasaki Plant, which is located in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, has been operating “plastic chemical recycling business,” a business to recycle used plastics as raw materials for chemicals.

SDK gasify used plastics under high temperature, and decompose them to the level of molecules. Then gasified plastics are converted into low-carbon hydrogen and CO2. SDK use low-carbon hydrogen as raw material to produce ammonia (NH3), and CO2 as raw material to produce dry ice and carbonated drinks.

SDK also has been conducting demonstration experiments in which SDK supplies low-carbon hydrogen to fuel cells installed in a hotel located in Kawasaki City and a hydrogen station for fuel-cell vehicles.