Toyobo Co., Ltd. and 11 other companies forming a plastic value chain have jointly established a new company called R Plus Japan, Ltd. ("R Plus Japan", hereafter), which will facilitate the recycling of used plastics to help solve plastics-associated problems and create a more sustainable society. R Plus Japan, which started operating in June, is headed by President Tsunehiko Yokoi and located in Minato Ward, Tokyo. The 11 companies are: Suntory MONOZUKURI Expert Ltd.; Rengo Co., Ltd.; Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Ltd.; J&T Recycling Corporation; Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.; Iwatani Corporation; Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.; Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.; Fuji Seal International, Inc.; Hokkai Can Co., Ltd.; Yoshino Kogyosho Co., Ltd. R Plus Japan will continue seeking additional investors, and companies such as Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd. are currently considering joining.

Toyobo Group has provided many products and technologies to help solve social problems since its inception, based on its corporate philosophy "Jun-Ri-Soku-Yu" (Adhering to reason leads to prosperity) that embodied the spirit advocated by its founder Eiichi Shibusawa. The group is determined to create a more sustainable society by developing products and technologies that reduce society's impact on the environment. For example, Toyobo has raised the proportion of recycled resin and plant-derived raw materials in its main plastic products and manufactured and sold highly functional bioplastics.

Toyobo has long admired a technology U.S. biochemical venture company Anellotech, Inc. developed to make raw materials for polyester from wood. Since 2017, Toyobo has been involved in a project in which Anellotech, the Suntory Group and other companies in Japan and elsewhere are developing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles made entirely of plant-derived materials. Application of this technology likely will pave the way for effectively recycling used plastics and the increased cyclical use of plastics.