Ogawatec and Hagihara Industries Invent Recyclable Tent
2004-07-16
Ogawatec Corporation has developed a recyclable tent in cooperation with synthetic resin maker Hagihara Industries Inc. It is the world's first recyclable tent. Ogawatec has also established systems for collecting and recycling the tent. These systems will reduce the amount of industrial waste produced by such tents and help to protect the environment. | |  |
Conventional tents used at special events are usually made of different materials, such as polyester coated with vinyl chloride (PVC) and plasticizer coating. The variety of materials in a single tent can make recycling of the tents difficult.
The tent designed by Ogawatec and Hagihara is made of a single material: 100% polypropylene. Both the fabric and the protective resin are composed of this material, making the tent completely recyclable. This innovative new tent is also lighter in weight than conventional tents.
Generally, after a tent has been used for a special event, it is discarded and becomes industrial waste. This tent will be collected after use and converted into plastic pellets. The pellets can be used to produce new tents. They can also be cast into other plastic products, such as ropes, poles, pile, color cones, flooring material, non-woven cloth, etc.
Ogawatec and Hagihara developed this product in response to the increasing amount of industrial waste caused by short term events. Ogawatec is currently seeking authorization from the Ministry of the Environment to collect tents after use. The companies aim to implement this collection system by September 2004, enabling a reduction in industrial waste and making it unnecessary for local authorities to deal with the disposal of tents.
Ogawatec and Hagihara have already won an order for a tent to be used as a pavilion at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi Prefecture.
Ogawatec aims to sell the tent to both public and private sector clients. In the future, the company plans to expand activities to reach overseas customers as well. Target sales in Japan are projected to be 500 million yen in 2004 and 1 billion yen in 2005. Tomen will develop sales channel in both overseas and domestic markets as the exclusive distributor of Ogawatec.
Ogawatec strives to consider the environment in all of its business activities. This is part of its corporate philosophy, to be an environmentally-conscious corporate citizen committed to bringing innovation as well as enjoyment to society.
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