Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") announced today that it has acquired an airbag recycling technology license from recycle material manufacturer Refinverse, Inc. ("Refinverse") and will commence a business in Vietnam for the recycling of nylon scraps generated during the manufacturing of airbags.

Most nylon fabric used as material for airbags installed in vehicles are made from composite fibers coated with silicon and other materials. They are therefore difficult to recycle, and a majority is disposed and incinerated. At the airbag plant operated by Toyotsu Safety & Automotive Components (Vietnam) Co., Ltd., a Toyota Tsusho Group company in Vietnam, 560 tons of scraps are generated each year.

Refinverse has developed and possesses its own mass production technology that separates and removes contaminants from nylon airbags to a high degree and carries out material recycling^* to turn them into high-quality nylon resin.

* Material recycling: Recycling that uses waste as raw material and reuses goods as goods

Toyota Tsusho has reached a basic agreement to acquire technology license from Refinverse and plans to commence a recycling business at the airbag plant in Vietnam from April 2023. Collaborating with Toyota Group companies in Vietnam, Toyota Tsusho will collect materials and develop applications for recycled materials to achieve a car-to-car circular economy. If this recycling process is established, it can reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 80% compared to the usual nylon pallet manufacturing process and enables the operation of a low-carbon nylon airbag manufacturing business.

In the future, Toyota Tsusho and Refinverse will plan to explore business opportunities in overseas manufacturing sites of Toyota Tsusho Group other than Vietnam.

Toyota Tsusho will contribute to the transition to a carbon neutral society by promoting circular economy businesses which recycle wastes and accelerating businesses that contribute toward reducing greenhouse gases through the industrial lifecycle, all for passing on a better global environment to our children of the future.