As part of the initiatives of "Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896" (hereinafter "GCH")—a public-private-academic consortium led by Hideyuki Kasuga, Representative Director of hide kasuga 1896 Co., Ltd., that aims to build a circular economy—we have visualized and provided a hands-on experience of the benefits of collecting andand recycling, and to foster awareness of a circular society. With the cooperation of [Nagano City Higashi Junior High School], we will begin a demonstration experiment in fiscal year 2023 to upcycle an eco-friendly composite material made from the Mitsui Chemicals Group’s biomass PP and wood flour derived from thinned timber supplied by Toyota Auto Body.

Project Participating Organizations:

  • hide kasuga 1896 Co., Ltd. (Minato Ward, Tokyo; Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)
  • Mitsui Chemicals, Inc./Prime Polymer Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
  • Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. (Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture)
  • Kengo Kuma & Associates (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
  • Shinano Chemical Industries Co., Ltd. (Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)
  • Nagano City Bureau of New Industry Creation and Promotion (Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)
  • Nagano City Higashi Junior High School (Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)
  • Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University (Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)
  • Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Nagano Prefecture Industrial Promotion Organization, Green Innovation Center (Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture)

Nagano Prefecture Industrial Promotion Organization Press Release
https://www.nice-o.or.jp/info/info-15084/

Overview of the Pilot Project:

Architect Kengo Kuma designed products using an environmentally sustainable composite material that combines Mitsui Chemicals/Prime Polymer’s biomass PP with wood flour derived from thinned timber supplied by Toyota Auto Body. Items such as pencil cases, designed for use in everyday school life, will be used for one year starting in April 2023. Afterward, they will be collected and upcycled into items such as benches. This project aims to conduct a demonstration experiment toward the practical implementation of the circular economy.

Product Design:


, born in 1954. Founded Kengo Kuma & Associates in 1990. After serving as a professor at Keio University and the University of Tokyo, he is currently a Special Professor and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo.He currently has projects underway in over 30 countries. He proposes architecture that pioneers new relationships between nature, technology, and people. Furthermore, through the exploration of new materials to replace concrete and steel, he is pursuing the future of architecture in a post-industrial society.In 2021, he became Executive Advisor for Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896. His major publications include *Point, Line, Plane* (Iwanami Shoten), *Human Habitation* (Shincho Shinsho), *Architecture of Defeat* (Iwanami Shoten), *Natural Architecture*, *Small Architecture* (Iwanami Shinsho), and many others.

Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896:

"Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896" (hereinafter GCH) is a circular economy consortium formed through collaboration among industry, academia, and government, where materials, products, consumers, and recycling form a closed-loop system. The Faculty of Textile Science and Technology at Shinshu University has been participating since 2020. In 2021, Mitsui Chemicals, Nagano City, and Ichihara City joined the consortium, and participation from various other companies, academic institutions, and government agencies is planned for the future.

Organizer:

Hideyuki Kasuga
Representative, hide kasuga GROUP
Director, Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896

Doctor of Engineering, born in 1973 in Nagano, Japan. He received his master's degree from Tokyo Institute of Technology. After working as a researcher in Tokyo and Paris, he became the representative of the family business of an industrial parts manufacturer, which has its roots in a linen wholesaler founded in 1896. He discovered the possibility of applying the "sensory value" of PTFE (fluoroplastic), a constant cutting-edge material handled by the family business, to a wide range of lifestyle markets, and founded the luxury consumer brand "BLANC BIJOU PARIS" in Paris in 2009. In 2012, he became independent and founded hide kasuga 1896, a materials think tank based on materials. The company is currently developing the "hide k 1896" brand of environmentally friendly materials based on the concept of "value creation and regeneration" and the "BLANC BIJOU PARIS" brand in the global market. The company provides consultation to chemical and material companies on its unique branding method that links research and development with the market. He also established and presided over the "Green Composite Hills by hide k 1896", a circular economy consortium through industry-academia-government collaboration from 2020, and is promoting the construction of a recycling-oriented society.