Toyota Gosei has developed a cellulose nanofiber (CNF) reinforced plastic designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions throughout the life cycle of auto parts, from raw material procurement, production to recycling and disposal.

In the process of moving towards decarbonization and circular economy, Toyota Gosei has developed materials with high environmental performance using CNF. The specific advantages of CNF are as follows. First, CNF is a fifth as heavy and five times as strong as steel. When used as a reinforcer in plastic or rubber, the product can be made thinner and foam can be formed more easily, thus reducing weight and helping to reduce co2 emissions on the road. Second, when scrap vehicle materials are reused, there is little loss of strength in heating and melting, so more car parts can be recycled. Third, the material will not increase the total amount of CO2. Even if the CNF is incinerated, its only carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by plants as they grow.
The newly developed CNF reinforced plastic combines 20% CNF in the general purpose plastic (polypropylene) used for automotive interior and exterior components. Initially, materials containing CNF would reduce impact resistance in practical applications. But Toyota Gosei has overcome this problem by combining its material mix design and kneading technology to improve impact resistance to levels suitable for car parts. Going forward, Toyoda Gosei will continue to work with CNF material manufacturers to reduce costs.