LIXIL introduces circular material made of plastic waste and waste wood

Leveraging LIXIL’s expertise in pulverizing and molding plastics in combination with waste wood that is typically generated from the demolition of buildings, revia can be made from most household and commercial plastic waste including the composite types or even marine plastics. Utilizing plastic and wood waste to create one tonne of revia that would have otherwise been incinerated after use can result in 82 percent reduction in CO₂ emissions. The material itself can also be recycled – collected to become revia products again.

Therefore, revia contributes to the environment in two key ways: by cutting the amount of CO₂ generated by conventional waste processing and by enabling the responsible re-use of plastics as a raw material.

Plastic waste has more than doubled globally over the last twenty years, largely comprised of single-use plastics, yet only nine percent is recycled. Most plastic waste is incinerated or become landfill, polluting the air and leaking into ecosystems. This represents an urgent and growing environmental issue around the world.

LIXIL President and CEO Kinya Seto commented, "Low recycling rates and pollution caused from plastic consumption is an environmental issue across the world. As a maker of pioneering water and housing products, we are committed to the responsible use of resources, and driving innovation to solve real-life challenges. With revia we aim to create an ecosystem that spans procurement to production, sales, installation and collection, establishing a sustainable business model that can be scaled. By doing so, we want to maximize our positive impact for the environment. Starting in Japan, and with the cooperation of partners and stakeholders including local and national governments, and industry associations, LIXIL believes that revia can accelerate the shift to a circular economy and make better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere."

In Japan, 24 percent of plastic waste is recycled. However, on a per capita basis, Japan is the second largest generator of plastic waste - disposing 8.22 million tonnes, or 22,000 tonnes per day. This April, Japan enacted the Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics, to strengthen its efforts to circulate plastic resources across public and private sector. Japan has progressed from recycling mainly PET bottles, to closing the loop for other plastic resources including plastic containers and packaging used for take-out and groceries. Still, some types of plastics are deemed difficult to sort and recycle by local governments responsible for collecting waste. Composite plastics, or packaging film are one such example, which are made from numerous types of plastics to enhance functionality with several different properties, but continue to be incinerated or landfilled after use.

Starting with “revia pave,” revia will expand its product offering beyond paving materials with series of various applications in the future.