In 2023, Kanematsu invested in Samsara Eco, an Australian environmental technology startup.
Samsara Eco is working to commercialize technologies that can revert plastic to its basic building blocks (monomers) using proprietary enzymes that it designs.
One example of a plastic that can be processed using Samsara Eco’s enzyme technology is PET resin, a general-use plastic commonly used in plastic beverage bottles, synthetic fleece fibers, and food packaging. Until now, some recycling of PET resin has been possible using an approach based on the mechanical recycling of sorted and collected PET bottles, but there are problems with this technology: waste PET resin that is colored or unclean cannot be recycled, the quality of the recycled plastic is degraded, and the recycled plastic can be discolored or contain residual impurities. Samsara Eco’s technologies solve these problems, meeting user needs via a new method of recycling.
This technology also helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enabling high-quality plastics to be recycled virtually indefinitely without the input of fossil fuels. In addition to PET resin, Samsara Eco has developed enzymes for breaking down nylon and other plastics and is steadily advancing toward commercialization.
By investing in Samsara Eco, Kanematsu aims to reduce plastic waste, which has become an important social issue in recent years, and to establish circular businesses through the plastic recycling business.