News

Kuraray Co., Ltd.

Kuraray Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Hitoshi Kawahara) hereby announces that as of October 2024, six vinyl acetate-related products at four Group companies across four production bases in Europe and the United States have been certified under ISCC PLUS^*1, an internationally recognized certification program for sustainable products. This marks the establishment of a certified supply chain in Europe and the United States starting with vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) produced at the U.S. La Porte Plant.

In the United States, certification was acquired for all products from VAM through PVOH resin to water soluble films. In Europe, Kuraray Europe GmbH acquired trader certification and major plants that produce all three types of resin under the Vinyl Acetate Company of Kuraray (PVOH resin, PVB resin, and ethylene vinyl alcohol polymer (EVOH) resin) acquired certification.

With this certification, Kuraray will start selling ISCC PLUS certified vinyl acetate-related products, which are allocated sustainable raw materials using the mass balance method^*2. Moving forward, Kuraray will continue advancing efforts to acquire certification for PVB film products and products manufactured at bases in Japan, aiming to achieve ISCC PLUS certification across a wider global supply chain.

Reference: Company Profile
Kuraray America, Inc.
          100% owned subsidiary of Kuraray Holdings U.S.A., Inc.
          Headquarters: Houston, Texas, U.S.A., President: Takaharu Kawahara
MonoSol, LLC
          100% owned subsidiary of MonoSol Holdings, Inc.
          Headquarters: Merrillville, Indiana, U.S.A., President: Christian Herrmanns
Kuraray Europe GmbH
          100% owned subsidiary of Kuraray Co., Ltd.
          Headquarters: Hattersheim am Main Germany, President: Dr. Matthias Gutweiler
EVAL Europe N.V.
          100% owned subsidiary of Kuraray Europe GmbH
          Headquarters: Beveren (Melsele), Belgium, President: Berend Bootsma

Kuraray is implementing its medium-term management plan “PASSION 2026” as a five-year plan leading up to the centennial of its founding in 2026. The Company will continue to expand its lineup of products that contribute to the natural and living environments, with the aim of realizing the long-term “Kuraray Vision 2026,” namely, being a “Specialty Chemical Company growing sustainably by incorporating new foundational platforms into its own technologies and contributing to customers, society, and the planet.”

*1 ISCC PLUS:
International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is an internationally recognized certification program for sustainability and carbon emissions. ISCC PLUS is especially designed to ensure that certified items, which are bio-based or recycled raw materials and products marketed in the EU and elsewhere in the world, are properly managed throughout their supply chains in terms of sustainability and CO₂ emissions.

*2 Mass-balance approach:
A method for assessing the sustainability of products made using multiple types of raw materials, including biomass and recycled raw materials as well as fossil-based raw materials. In this method, characteristics of sustainable raw materials (e.g., biomass and recycled raw materials) included in finished products are taken into account in a manner that reflects the proportional volume of such raw materials.

We pledge our commitment to comply with the ISCC PLUS requirements, in accordance with the latest ISCC regulations, and to avoid the practice of double counting our environmental contributions.