6-Party Collaboration 'Plastic Relay Project' Recycles Collected Caps! Limited Sale of 3 Dressings Using Recycled Caps at Kasumi Kashima Stadium Store
The 'Plastic Relay Project,' a collaboration between Kewpie, Kashima City, and four other partners, has successfully chemically recycled collected plastic caps. Three Kewpie dressings featuring these recycled caps will be sold in limited quantities at the Kasumi Kashima Stadium store starting April 22, 2026.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 00:30
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 00:02
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 02:51 (2h 49m after Collected)
Kewpie Corporation (Representative Director, President and Executive Officer: Mitsuru Takamiya; Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture (Mayor: Shinichi Taguchi), Refinverse, Inc. (Representative Director and President: Akira Ochi; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Representative Director and President: Manabu Tsukumoto; Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Ltd. (Representative Director and President: Takuji Nakamura; Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo), and Kasumi Co., Ltd. (Representative Director and President: Fumitaka Oromoto; Headquarters: Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture)—these six parties, under the "Plastic Relay Project" aimed at circulating plastic containers, will sell a limited quantity of dressing products. These products feature caps molded from recycled materials that underwent crushing, liquefaction, and resinification (*1) from dressing caps and PET bottle caps collected in Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture between September 2025 and November 2025. This has realized a circular cycle from collection to commercialization and sales. (*2)
The target products featuring the newly recycled caps are three types of Kewpie dressings: "Deep-Roasted Sesame Dressing," "Caesar Salad Dressing," and "Tasty Dressing Black Vinegar Onion," limited to 100 bottles each. Sales will begin on Wednesday, April 22, at the "Plastic Relay Special Shelf" next to the service counter at the Kasumi Kashima Stadium store. (*3)
Plastic Relay Special Shelf with Kashima Mayor Taguchi (Left) and Kasumi Executive Officer Igami (Right)
*1: Resinified into PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene) at Japan Polypropylene Corporation and Japan Polyethylene Corporation of the Mitsubishi Chemical Group.
*2: This initiative adopts the mass balance approach. The mass balance approach is a method where, when manufacturing products by mixing petroleum-derived raw materials and chemically recycled raw materials, the properties are allocated to a portion of the products according to the amount of recycled material input.
*3: The target products with Plastic Relay stickers will be displayed on the special shelf (they will not be displayed on the regular shelves). Please note that the number of items sold, period, and sales location are subject to change without notice.
■ Target Products:
1. Kewpie Deep-Roasted Sesame Dressing 180ml
2. Kewpie Caesar Salad Dressing 180ml
3. Kewpie Tasty Dressing Black Vinegar Onion 210ml
(Recycled materials are used for the inner plug of the cap for 1 and 2, and the outer cap for 3)
■ Suggested Retail Price, Best Before Period:
Same as standard products
■ Sales Start Date / Location:
Limited quantity sales (100 bottles each) starting Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Plastic Relay Special Shelf next to the service counter at the Kasumi Kashima Stadium store
About the Plastic Relay Project
This project is a demonstration experiment aimed at the circulation of plastic containers within Ibaraki Prefecture. Based on a comprehensive partnership agreement concluded in February 2025 among six parties, including Kashima City, each of the six parties connects the plastic in a relay format. For used plastics (dressing caps, PET bottle caps) that were previously mostly incinerated or discarded, the adoption of recycled materials in food containers has been realized using a new solution, chemical recycling (*4). By completing the cycle from collection to remanufacturing within the prefecture, it aims to become a model case for regional resource circulation.
*4: A recycling method that returns plastics to oil, gas, and raw materials through a chemical decomposition process. Used plastics such as dressing caps and PET bottle caps can be converted back into chemical raw materials like oil, gas, and monomers for recycling.
Project Initiatives and Results So Far
Since the project was launched in February 2025, the six parties have been discussing challenges and countermeasures for plastic resource circulation. Specifically, each company has implemented the following initiatives regarding the "collection challenge" of how to enlighten and encourage citizens to properly sort and collect, and the "recycling challenge" of verifying the suitability of the condition and requirements of collected items when remanufacturing the collected resources.
(1) Initiatives regarding the "Collection Challenge":
In chemical recycling, it is important to sort and collect resources. Among plastics, while there are materials suitable for recycling such as PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene), there are also products that are difficult to sort just by appearance, such as polyvinyl chloride, composite materials where different resins and films are laminated, and those containing materials other than plastic such as metal and glass, which are not suitable. If these materials are mixed, it becomes difficult to recycle the plastic. Furthermore, plastics with significant dirt attached have a higher risk of contamination by mold, bacteria, and insects. Sorting and washing these during intermediate processing also leads to increased costs, so it is desirable to sort them at the stage of collection from homes and businesses as much as possible.
The target products featuring the newly recycled caps are three types of Kewpie dressings: "Deep-Roasted Sesame Dressing," "Caesar Salad Dressing," and "Tasty Dressing Black Vinegar Onion," limited to 100 bottles each. Sales will begin on Wednesday, April 22, at the "Plastic Relay Special Shelf" next to the service counter at the Kasumi Kashima Stadium store. (*3)
Plastic Relay Special Shelf with Kashima Mayor Taguchi (Left) and Kasumi Executive Officer Igami (Right)
*1: Resinified into PP (polypropylene) and PE (polyethylene) at Japan Polypropylene Corporation and Japan Polyethylene Corporation of the Mitsubishi Chemical Group.
*2: This initiative adopts the mass balance approach. The mass balance approach is a method where, when manufacturing products by mixing petroleum-derived raw materials and chemically recycled raw materials, the properties are allocated to a portion of the products according to the amount of recycled material input.
*3: The target products with Plastic Relay stickers will be displayed on the special shelf (they will not be displayed on the regular shelves). Please note that the number of items sold, period, and sales location are subject to change without notice.
■ Target Products:
1. Kewpie Deep-Roasted Sesame Dressing 180ml
2. Kewpie Caesar Salad Dressing 180ml
3. Kewpie Tasty Dressing Black Vinegar Onion 210ml
(Recycled materials are used for the inner plug of the cap for 1 and 2, and the outer cap for 3)
■ Suggested Retail Price, Best Before Period:
Same as standard products
■ Sales Start Date / Location:
Limited quantity sales (100 bottles each) starting Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at the Plastic Relay Special Shelf next to the service counter at the Kasumi Kashima Stadium store
About the Plastic Relay Project
This project is a demonstration experiment aimed at the circulation of plastic containers within Ibaraki Prefecture. Based on a comprehensive partnership agreement concluded in February 2025 among six parties, including Kashima City, each of the six parties connects the plastic in a relay format. For used plastics (dressing caps, PET bottle caps) that were previously mostly incinerated or discarded, the adoption of recycled materials in food containers has been realized using a new solution, chemical recycling (*4). By completing the cycle from collection to remanufacturing within the prefecture, it aims to become a model case for regional resource circulation.
*4: A recycling method that returns plastics to oil, gas, and raw materials through a chemical decomposition process. Used plastics such as dressing caps and PET bottle caps can be converted back into chemical raw materials like oil, gas, and monomers for recycling.
Project Initiatives and Results So Far
Since the project was launched in February 2025, the six parties have been discussing challenges and countermeasures for plastic resource circulation. Specifically, each company has implemented the following initiatives regarding the "collection challenge" of how to enlighten and encourage citizens to properly sort and collect, and the "recycling challenge" of verifying the suitability of the condition and requirements of collected items when remanufacturing the collected resources.
(1) Initiatives regarding the "Collection Challenge":
In chemical recycling, it is important to sort and collect resources. Among plastics, while there are materials suitable for recycling such as PE (polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene), there are also products that are difficult to sort just by appearance, such as polyvinyl chloride, composite materials where different resins and films are laminated, and those containing materials other than plastic such as metal and glass, which are not suitable. If these materials are mixed, it becomes difficult to recycle the plastic. Furthermore, plastics with significant dirt attached have a higher risk of contamination by mold, bacteria, and insects. Sorting and washing these during intermediate processing also leads to increased costs, so it is desirable to sort them at the stage of collection from homes and businesses as much as possible.