Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. has become the first company in the electronic component manufacturing industry to successfully create a closed-loop recycling system for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film used in the manufacturing process of MLCC multilayer ceramic capacitors* to follow long-term vision to achieve 100% use of sustainable resources.
PET film is normally used in the manufacture of MLCC ceramic capacitors to form dielectric sheets. In the new recycling system, closed-loop recycling has been made possible by working with a partner company to take the PET film used in the sheet-forming process and convert it back into PET film to be used again for the same purpose.
The recycling system will be introduced in stages, starting from May 2022. Currently, the amount of recycled material in the PET film we use is around 25%. However, we are working hard to create a PET film recycling scheme so that in the future we will be using 100% recycled PET film, which will contribute to the reduction of waste and CO2 emissions.
In recent years, the depletion of resources due to global population growth and the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and temperatures, have become far more pressing issues. To solve such social issues, the Murata Manufacturing Group has set “sustainable resource use” as a key issue (materiality) in its growth strategies. Furthermore, our long-term vision is to achieve 100% use of sustainable resources and a 100% resource recycling rate by 2050.
The Murata Manufacturing Group will continue our mission to use sustainable resources in our business activities and contribute to social development in collaboration with our stakeholders.
*Until now, used PET film for MLCCs was thermal-recycled or downcycled, but this is the first time that the closed-loop recycling of PET film for sheet forming in MLCCs, converting it back into PET film to be used again for the same purpose, has been attempted in the electronic component manufacturing industry. (As of May 2022, according to a Murata Manufacturing study)
