ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that it has formed a capital and business alliance (hereinafter "the alliance") with LOOP JAPAN Godo Kaisha (headquartered in Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa; Eric Kawabata, Representative; hereinafter "LOOP JAPAN").With the conclusion of the alliance, ITOCHU will strengthen the collaborative relationship to expand the sustainable, circular shopping platform business using reusable containers, which is operated by LOOP JAPAN.

Recently, trends related to disposable plastic have attracted attention both in Japan and abroad. This has led to a heightened momentum to review the habit of disposing of plastics after a single use and to shift to reducing waste and reusing things repeatedly. This service enables consumers to introduce eco-friendly activities to everyday life while continuing to use containers for food and everyday items.

LOOP is a circular shopping platform developed by TerraCycle, Inc., a U.S. company that has been recycling hard-to-recycle materials in more than 20 countries. In the LOOP system, food and everyday items are sold in reusable containers made of stainless steel, glass, and other highly durable materials, instead of single-use containers. This system permits LOOP users to cut their environmental impact or achieve zero waste, without changing their lifestyles greatly. A pilot project began in Japan in late May, 2021.

ITOCHU signed a capital and business alliance agreement with TerraCycle, Inc. in September 2019 to enter a sustainable recycling business. Later, while operating the business, ITOCHU and TerraCycle agreed to introduce and expand LOOP in Japan, and that resulted in the conclusion of the alliance.Through the alliance, ITOCHU will work together with LOOP JAPAN to expand this service as the official distributor in Japan.

ITOCHU has set "Business transformation by shifting to a market-oriented perspective" and "Enhancing our contribution to and engagement with the SDGs through business activities" as the basic policy of the medium-term management plan "Brand-new Deal 2023". ITOCHU will use this alliance as an opportunity to introduce LOOP's distribution service in the re-use domain, in addition to its existing services of supplying packages for daily and food items, and developing new products, for retailers and e-commerce companies. ITOCHU will hone its retail business from a market-oriented perspective and build a platform with new functions that help achieve the SDGs, thereby providing solutions to a wider range of customer needs. Working in this way, ITOCHU will contribute to building a recycling-oriented society for global sustainability.