Japanese chemical maker Showa Denko K.K. said July 1 that it has opened an expanded facility for turning waste plastic into feedstock for ammonia at its factory in Kawasaki, Japan.
Tokyo-based Showa Denko said it uses waste plastic to manufacture hydrogen, which it uses to produce ammonia. This latest expansion means that 65 percent of the hydrogen used at Kawasaki facility now comes from used plastics.
In a news release, the company said the process has a “significantly lower environmental burden compared to the conventional methods to produce hydrogen from petroleum-derived materials.”
Publicly listed Showa said it received a subsidized loan in January from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to help pay for the expansion, under a program to promote more effective use of resources.
Showa said demand for liquefied ammonia has been increasing for removing nitrogen oxides in exhaust gas from power plants, and it said its ammonia has been rated as an eco-friendly product by major electric power companies partly because it is made from waste plastic.