In 2020, the new coronavirus raged around the world, and no one in the world could have been unrelated to this infection. In April 2020, the Japanese government disappeared from the city with the issuance of a state of emergency, and many economic activities, including daily life, changed. There is a need for initiatives that have never been experienced before, such as avoiding the Three Cs and refraining from activities such as school closures, and some of them are still ongoing. Under these circumstances, the curriculum of our students enrolled at Shinshu University was also affected, making it difficult to carry out the planned corporate internship, and we decided to take an online alternative class. Nine students from different academic fields decided to start a company. Innovative corporate internship alternative classes are now taking the initiative in initiatives such as telework, which were difficult to realize in the past.

At the very beginning, we named the company "Green Tech". Do not hurt the earth anymore. With the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection, everyone in the world is becoming more aware of it. I pray for the improvement and recovery of the global environment, and I would like to convey the will of "Green Tech" to the world.

After many discussions, we decided to make the eco bag the main product of "Green Tech". The feature of this eco bag is that the material is made from used materials. Textiles are closely related to our daily lives, but the recycling rate is currently lower than that of PET bottles and aluminum cans. Efforts to reduce the burden on the environment are extremely important in the development of production technology that makes effective use of resources, such as reusing synthetic fibers made from petroleum or using raw materials in place of petroleum, and future development is expected. It is a field to be done. Recycling is to repeat the cycle of "make, use, collect, and make again". ⁽¹⁾

"Chemical recycling"

This is a method in which the recovered synthetic fiber products are sent to a factory, washed, crushed into small pieces, chemically decomposed, returned to the original raw material DMT (dimethyl terephthalate), and used as a raw material for fibers. There is also a plan to chemically recycle nylon and polyester products, mainly uniforms, after collecting them. In the case of polyester, it is returned to DMT (dimethyl terephthalate), and in the case of nylon, it is returned to caprolactam and used as a raw material for fibers. In the case of chemical recycling, it is necessary to collect and process a large amount of clothing made of the same material, so it is necessary to create an efficient collection system.

"Material recycling"

Unlike chemical recycling, which returns the raw materials, this is a recycling method in which the raw materials are used as they are. A method of cutting used clothes into a cloth and using it as a cloth for wiping oil in a rag or a factory (waste) or after cutting used clothes into small pieces, scratch them with countless needles to loosen the fibers from the cloth. There is also a method (anti-hair), and in the case of 100% synthetic fiber, it is used as a raw material for molded products such as plastic after heating and melting (remelting). In the case of synthetic fibers, they are made into felt by anti-hair and are used as soundproofing materials for automobiles. In the case of polyester clothing, it may be used for plastic moldings such as buttons and fasteners, but when it is used as this resin, its use is limited, so development of new applications is required.

"Recycling PET bottles"

PET bottles can also be recycled into polyester fibers. PET bottles are made from the same polyethylene terephthalate as polyester fibers, and polyester fibers can be made from recycled materials from recovered PET bottles.

The above are the characteristics of the product, but how can we spread "Green Tech" to the world? This is not an easy task. It's easy to think or say to be kind to the earth, but very few people can take action. The cost of eco-bags sold as products will be hundreds of times higher than the cost of existing vinyl bags. Obviously, if you think of eco-bags as a business, you won't make a profit. However, the significance behind it is enormous, and I think it is an unavoidable path from the perspective of protecting the global environment. In order to spread "Green Tech" to the world, we have to borrow the power of capital. First, give your products to consumers at a low price, and spend decades instilling the concept of "Green Tech" in everyone. Only large corporations and governments can do this. It's not profitable, but it can be a positive promotion for big companies and a political tool for the government.

Reference

(1)  https://www.jcfa.gr.jp/about_kasen/katsuyaku/22.html