Teijin to produce ISCC PLUS certified carbon fiber and PAN by 2024

Teijin Limited’s Tenax Carbon Fiber and the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor fiber produced at Teijin’s Mishima Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan have received ISCC PLUS certification.

According to the company, this is the world’s first achievement that carbon fiber and PAN to simultaneously earn this certification.

The PAN precursor fiber is made from sustainable acrylonitrile (AN) using waste and residue from biomass-derived products or recycled raw materials, and produced by using the mass balance approach method. With this method, materials are verifiably tracked through complex value chains.

Sustainable AN has the same physical properties as petroleum-derived AN, Tenax Carbon Fiber and PAN based on this material deliver the same physical properties as equivalent fossil-based products.

Tenax Carbon Fiber. 

Commercial production to begin by H1 of 2024

Teijin expects to begin commercial production of Tenax and PAN using the mass balance approach method at the Mishima plant by the first half of 2024. The company will also pursue ISCC PLUS certification for its carbon fiber and related products produced in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Teijin has switched the fuel for in-house power generation equipment at manufacturing sites to natural gas and adopted lifecycle assessment (LCA) to calculate the environmental footprint of its carbon fiber and intermediate materials.