Contributing to a Recycling-Oriented Society

• Waste initiatives

• Recycled materials initiatives

• Water resource initiatives

Last updated: October 2026

Basic Approach

The transition to a recycling-oriented society represents both a business risk and a significant growth opportunity for the Group. Nifco is working to curb the generation of waste from its business operations and to develop technologies for realizing a recycling-oriented society in which used resources are again put to use as valuable resources. Nifco believes that these efforts are its contribution to a sustainable society and constitute its growth strategy.
In recent years, as regulations on resource recycling have been tightened, mainly in Europe, and customer demand for the expanded use of recycled materials has grown, the stable procurement of high-quality recycled plastics has become an important issue. Given the expanding demand for recycled plastics, it is expected to become difficult to secure sufficient volumes from plastics recovered from end-of-life vehicles and used automotive parts alone, and used plastics from other sources, such as containers and packaging and construction materials, will also need to be utilized as recycled materials for automotive parts. The material development know-how and the molding technologies for shaping a wide variety of resin materials that we have cultivated over many years are expanding the areas in which we can make full use of diverse recycled materials and build circular supply chains.

What Nifco Aims For

The Group sets out “Promoting Resource Circulation toward Zero Plastic Waste” as one of its materiality issues, and promotes three sub-issues under it: “Reduction of waste plastic,” “Establishing quality and safety standards for recycled materials” and “Procuring recycled materials in the key categories of raw materials.”
Based on these sub-issues, Nifco on a non-consolidated basis and its domestic subsidiaries engaged in the Industrial plastic parts & components business have set the following targets: reducing waste plastic volume by 55% from the FY2020 level by FY2028; establishing a quality control system for products that use recycled materials and maintaining zero violations of laws and regulations by FY2030; and securing, at all times, at least 120% of the required volume of recycled plastic materials in the key categories of raw materials.
At the same time, in preparation for compliance with the EU End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV) Regulation and the carbon neutrality / circular economy (CN/CE) guidelines of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), we are securing recycled materials and building circular supply chains. Through the development of products that use recycled materials, we also aim to contribute to resource recycling across society as a whole and to capture the resulting growth in demand as an opportunity for business growth.

Initiatives to Reduce Waste Plastic and Trends in Waste Plastic Volume

• For details, please refer to “Future Roadmap.”

Establishing Quality and Safety Standards for Recycled Materials and Developing Products and Technologies that Contribute to Resource Recycling

We use recycled plastics and materials derived from natural resources (biomass), and work on material and processing method development to ensure quality and safety equal to or better than that of conventional materials. Through these initiatives, we seek to achieve both the expanded use of recycled materials and high product performance and quality, and aim to expand our range of products that contribute to resource recycling. From the development and design stages onward, we also promote designs that reduce environmental impact across the entire product life cycle. By advancing monomaterial design (the use of a single material) for fastening parts and designs for easy disassembly and reuse based on one-touch fastening that requires no power tools, we are working to promote material recycling and improve recyclability.

■ Main Areas of Contribution

• Use of recycled and biomass materials:
  Adopting recycled plastics and biomass-derived materials to meet requirements for the use of recycled materials, such as those of the EU ELV Regulation

• Ensuring the quality and safety of recycled materials:
  Ensuring the quality and safety required of automotive parts through technologies for working with recycled materials and through quality assurance

• Recyclability and design for easy disassembly:
  Improving the ease of disassembly and reusability of products through monomaterial design and one-touch fastening structures that require no power tools, thereby contributing to improved vehicle recyclability

• Building circular supply chains:
  Expanding networks that recycle a wide variety of waste plastics into automotive parts through cross-industry collaboration and traceability (chain of custody), thereby contributing to resource recycling across society as a whole

■ Representative Initiatives and Product Examples

* X to Car: A new recycling system for converting waste plastic from non-automotive sources into automotive parts.

Procuring Recycled Materials in the Key Categories of Raw Materials

In FY2025, based on the “X to Car” concept of recycling waste plastic generated by industries other than the automotive industry into automotive parts, Nifco worked on building two resource recycling schemes in Japan.
As the first initiative, we advanced the “X to Car Project,” which received a grant from the Japan Foundation for Advanced Auto Recycling (J-FAR). Working with recycling companies, material manufacturers, universities, IT companies and others, we have been building a supply base for recycled plastics for automotive use, and evaluated the applicability to automotive uses of plastics from containers and packaging, plastic products collected as waste, and plastics derived from construction materials, among others. We are also building a supply chain that spans collection and sorting, recycling, material production and parts manufacturing, and developing a digital platform for quality control of recycled materials and for ensuring traceability. In FY2025, we selected one type of waste plastic that can be applied to automotive uses, and in FY2026 we are continuing our studies with the aim of applying it to medium-sized products and further expanding the types of plastic that can be handled.
As the second initiative, we launched joint research in the Kyushu region aimed at recycling waste plastic generated by the semiconductor industry into automotive parts. Focusing on the concentration of the semiconductor industry centered on Kumamoto, we have begun building a new resource recycling model that circulates resources across different industries, with the aim of securing a new source of supply for recycled plastics and realizing a regional recycling model. Nifco will continue to expand its resource recycling networks through cross-industry collaboration and to promote the expanded use and stable procurement of recycled plastics, thereby contributing to the realization of a sustainable mobility society.

Structures and Collaboration Supporting Resource Recycling

We are working to reduce waste generation, promote resource recovery and advance recycling not only within the Company but across the entire supply chain in collaboration with our business partners. We also participate in public-private-academic partnerships (with the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and collaborate with the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association (JAPIA), and we have endorsed the Sustainable Plastics Initiative, working toward the transition to a circular economy across the entire industry.
As for our promotion framework (governance), the Risk Management Committee manages risks related to waste plastic reduction and the use of recycled materials, while the Sustainability Committee manages opportunities such as product development using recycled materials. Both report on the status of their initiatives and make recommendations to the Management Committee.

Effective Use of Water Resources and Prevention of Pollution

Use of a Rainwater Utilization System

Future Roadmap

The Group has set the following key targets relating to its contribution to a recycling-oriented society and is working to achieve them. Unless otherwise noted, the scope of coverage is Nifco on a non-consolidated basis and its domestic subsidiaries engaged in the Industrial plastic parts & components business.

■ Reduction of Waste Plastic

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■ Establishing Quality and Safety Standards for Recycled Materials and Procuring Recycled Materials in the Key Categories of Raw Materials

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