Kaneka Promotes Green Planet™ as Japan’s Cutting-Edge Technology at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 11, 2025--

Kaneka Corporation (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuhiko Fujii) (TOKYO:4118), will engage in various projects using KANEKA Biodegradable Polymer Green Planet ™ (hereinafter, Green Planet) as a supporting and sponsoring company of the Japan Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai (hereinafter, the Japan Pavilion).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250410895147/en/

The Japan Pavilion will express the concept of circulation based on the theme “Between Lives” in three areas: the Plant Area, Farm Area and Factory Area. In the “Farm Area”, vessels made of Green Planet using CO2 in cylinders as a raw material will be displayed(*1), and in the “Plant Area”, an image of the Green Planet-made vessels being biodegraded by microorganisms in an aquarium and returning to CO2 and water will be displayed.

In addition, Green Planet clear folders will be given as a gift(*2) at the Japan Pavilion. Green Planet is a recyclable material that can be produced from biomass materials and CO2, and is broken down by microorganisms living in a variety of environments, including soil and seawater, and returns to nature as CO2 and water. By obtaining materials that can contribute to solving the problem of environmental pollution caused by plastics, you will be helping to pass on the baton of recycling, which we will begin in Japan.

In addition, Green Planet will be introduced at the SDGs exhibition corner of the ORA Gaishoku Pavilion “UTAGE” run by the Osaka Restaurant Management Association (Location: Naniwa-ku, Osaka City, Representative: Kanji Nakai) from June 8 to June 21, as a material that contributes to the recycling of carbon and the problem of marine pollution caused by plastics.

Based on our mission of "KANEKA thinks 'Wellness First'," we provide value globally as a solution provider. By introducing Green Planet, Expo visitors can see and experience this material that is born from nature and returns to nature. We will contribute to the “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” initiative brought about by this resource recycling.

*1. We are cooperating as part of the theme “Development of Polymer Synthesis Technology by Microorganisms using CO2 as Direct Raw Materials” adopted by the “Green Innovation Fund Project” by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization).
News Release March 22, 2022
“Development of Polymer Synthesis Technology by Microorganisms using CO2 as Direct Raw Material” selected as a NEDO Green Innovation Fund Project
https://www.kaneka.co.jp/en/topics/news/2023/ennr2303221.html
*2. Will be given to Japan Pavilion visitors at the “Farm Area” from April 13 to mid-June.

Japan Pavilion (from Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai official website) [Photo by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]

Plant Area: Vessels made from Green Planet being biodegraded by microorganisms [Photo by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]

Farm Area: Vessels made from Green Planet that use CO2 as a raw material [Photo by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]

Green Planet clear folder will be given to 1200 visitors each day at the Japan Pavilion “Farm Area” from April 13 to mid-June. [Photo by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry]

The rock band R.E.M. is putting out a special rerelease of its first single, “Radio Free Europe,” to benefit — wait for it — the actual Radio Free Europe.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is among the U.S. government-funded media services that deliver news in overseas markets. President Donald Trump's administration, claiming they are wasteful and promote a liberal point of view, is trying to choke off their funding.

A federal judge this week ordered the Republican administration to restore $12 million to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that was appropriated by Congress. Lawyers for the service, which has been operating for 75 years, said it would be forced to shut down in June without the money.

In the first line of its song “Radio Free Europe,” R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe sings: "Decide for yourself if radio's going to stay.”

“Whether it's music or a free press — censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere,” Stipe said on Friday. “On World Press Freedom Day, I'm sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe.”

Stephen Capus, RFE/RL president, said R.E.M.'s music has always represented a celebration of freedom to him. He said inspiring and upholding freedom to audiences that might not always experience it is the goal of his organization's journalists.

Released on a tiny independent label, the “Radio Free Europe” single was the first the world had heard from the Athens, Georgia-based band, whose career eventually took it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band called it quits in 2011.

The song was later inducted into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry for setting the pattern for independent rock releases at the time.

The five-song EP will include the original recording of the song and a remix made this year by the band's collaborator Jacknife Lee. It will also contain three other songs made at the same time: the single's B-side, “Sitting Still”; the instrumental “Wh. Tornado”; and a previously unreleased “Radio Free Dub” remix.

The producer of the original recording session, Mitch Easter, is supervising this year's rerelease. It's available for streaming on Friday, and a special vinyl pressing can be bought at independent record stores and R.E.M.'s mail order store. Proceeds from all vinyl sales go to RFE/RL.

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

FILE - Michael Stipe, of the band R.E.M., center, speaks as he accepts the Video Vanguard award during the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sept. 7, 1995. Standing by are fellow band members, from left, Mike Mills, Peter buck and Bill Berry. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)