Itochu Invests in New Materials

In an effort to mitigate the COVID-19 health crisis, the Japanese multinational, ITOCHU has expressed its support for TBM, a Japanese startup company developing new sustainable materials, in producing disposable, more reusable, and environment-friendly face masks.

The masks, launched by TBM and its group company Bioworks, are washable, reusable and can be used for 30 times. Knitted with PLA (polylactic acid) yarn, which is biomass based, the masks also save the use of petroleum-based plastic that is used in many disposable masks.

Like ITOCHU, many of our members, are working to mitigate the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But what comes next? As the COVID-19 lockdown measures continue to ease, there is an urgency for togetherness: for enterprises, industry federations, policymakers, and civil society organisations to collaborate and build back better.

How? By incubating collaborations to develop practical and scalable solutions under the umbrella of the European Pact for Sustainable Industry.