ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Yoshihisa Suzuki, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has decided to conclude capital investment and has entered into business alliance with TBM Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Nobuyoshi Yamasaki, Chief Executive Officer; hereinafter “TBM”) to collaborate for the aim of expanding the LIMEX business of TBM.
TBM currently develops, manufactures and sells products made from a limestone-based material known as “LIMEX”, enabling to reduce plastic use leading to a lesser dependence on petroleum-derived materials.

In recent years, microplastics have been gaining extensive attention as major cause of marine pollution as well as other environmental concerns. There are movements in various countries to introduce bans and regulations on single use plastic products with expectation of further enforcement in future. Companies around the world are expected to take actions against environmental issues, enhancing the reduction of the use of limited natural resources and replacing them with alternative materials with lower environmental impacts.

As for LIMEX, international patent applications have been approved or currently await approval in more than 40 countries around the world, of which 20 countries have already been registered including Japan, China, Europe and the U.S.
ITOCHU, which positions ESG as a top priority issue in business operations, has executed a business alliance with TBM for operations in raw material procurement and sales of LIMEX products overseas, carrying out application development in various fields by fully utilizing its competitive global network.
ITOCHU will also provide support for the license business to offer manufacturing expertise on LIMEX in a variety of countries around the world enhancing the expansion of the LIMEX business of TBM.