Packaging

Coca-Cola Japan and Teijin Produce “Green Carpet” for 21st Tokyo International Film Festival Opening Ceremony

Friday 17. October 2008 - Made Completely from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, Limited (Head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President: Daniel H. Sayre) and Teijin Limited (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Osaka; President: Shigeo Ohyagi) announced that the two companies have produced a “Green Carpet” for the opening ceremony of the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival. The Green Carpet, made completely from approximately 18,000 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles, will take the place of the traditional red carpet at the ceremony. By offering this environmentally friendly carpet, which symbolizes the environment, the theme of the film festival this year, the two companies intend to raise eco-awareness among a broad audience.

Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, which has been sponsoring the film festival for four years, strongly supports this year’s environmental theme. The company proposed using recycled plastic bottles as the material for the carpet in the opening ceremony, which was achieved in collaboration with Teijin Limited.

At the film festival’s opening event on Saturday, October 18, the 1,418-meter Green Carpet will be laid along Keyakizaka Street in Roppongi Hills, the venue of the festival. The carpet is made completely from ECOPET(1), a material manufactured by Teijin Fibers Limited using recycled plastic bottles. The volume of material used for the carpet is equivalent to approximately 18,000 half-liter plastic bottles.

Coca-Cola (Japan) Company will organize exhibitions at the festival to further raise eco-awareness, including an energy-saving vending machine called the e-40(2), easy-to-understand panels illustrating the processes of recycling bottles and cans, and bins used for the dedicated collection of empty bottles and cans at the “Recycle Station,” which will be operated at Roppongi Hills during the film festival from October 18th through 25th.

Green Ties, Greenchiefs and Green Ribbons, items made exclusively for film festival personnel during the event, were made from polyester fibers produced with “ECO CIRCLE”(3), a closed-loop recycling system developed by Teijin Fibers. After the film festival, the items will be collected and recycled once again into polyester fibers.

(1) Developed by Teijin Fibers, ECOPET is the name of the polyester fiber reproduced with technology that recycles used PET bottles, which are crushed, cleaned, and melted.
(2) The e-40 vending machine uses a CFC-free heat pump and a sophisticated vacuum-insulation material to reduce heat leaks. In 2007, the insulation material won the Energy Conservation Grand Prize co-sponsored by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. The vending machine also uses LED lights to significantly reduce electricity consumption compared to fluorescent lights. Use of these materials and components enables the machine to reduce total energy consumption by 40% compared to conventional vending machines produced by the company in the same year.
(3) Developed by Teijin Fibers, ECO CIRCLE is a closed-loop recycling system for used polyester products. The system employs the world’s first technology for chemical recycling, which chemically decomposes polyester for conversion into new polyester raw materials that offer purity comparable to those derived from petroleum. Teijin Fibers cooperates with over 100 registered apparel and sportswear manufacturers worldwide for the development and manufacture of products made from recyclable materials, as well as to collect and recycle these products at the end of their useful lives. Compared to developing polyester materials from petroleum, this repeatable recycling system reduces energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 80% each.