Toyo Seikan Group entered into an SDGs partnership agreement with Alvark Tokyo, starting with the 2022–23 basketball season, to promote sustainable arena operations. The company has since engaged in various initiatives to achieve this, including the introduction of recyclable aluminum beverage cups, paper cups, and the Re-CUP WASHER to allow these cups to be recycled. The recycling rate of paper cups in the arena was 23.9% in the 2022–23 season, rising to 38.1% in the 2023–24 season, indicating an increased awareness of paper cup recycling within the arena. A collection trial for food-grade paper cups has also started with the 2024–25 season. The agreement between Toyo Seikan Group and Alvark Tokyo was established with the aim of expanding efforts to improve resource circulation in the future.
At the TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, which will open this fall, the newly developed FF (film forming) cup by our consolidated subsidiary, Tokan Kogyo Co., Ltd. (President: Hironobu Tanabe) will be used for the first time. Traditional and food-grade paper cups are molded after a thin polyethylene film has been adhered to the base paper to protect the interior. In contrast, the base paper of the FF cup is formed into its cup shape before applying the polyethylene film to the interior, making it less likely that liquids and oils will penetrate into the base paper and thus better accommodating a variety of food items. By adjusting the adhesion conditions, it becomes possible to peel off the film after consumption. Thus, unlike traditional food-grade paper cups, which are often incinerated as industrial waste or only recyclable into cardboard, FF cups can be horizontally recycled back into materials for new paper cups.
Toyo Seikan Group and Alvark Tokyo are collaboratively producing the recycling station, including planning and design. The mixing of waste is the biggest challenge in recycling, so we must consider several aspects: providing standardized packaging, designing waste bins that are easy for visitors to use and collection agencies to empty, and the recycling methods after collection. We are making good progress in planning through detailed discussions on the entire process, from packaging procurement to provision, collection, and recycling.
On February 1–2, 2025, a demonstration of the FF cup was conducted at Yoyogi National Stadium 1st Gymnasium as part of games between the Alvark Tokyo basketball team and the Ryukyu Golden Kings. Of 480 cups used, 171 were collected, for a collection rate of 35.6%. This demonstration also confirmed that, by separating the inner film, the cup can be used as a recyclable paper resource, even for food applications.
The demonstration was repeated during games between the Alvark Tokyo team and the Chiba Jets on April 5–6, 2025, again at the Yoyogi National Stadium1st Gymnasium. The number of FF cups provided was increased to 1,040, and the collection points were expanded from one to three. In total, 425 cups were collected, for a collection rate of 40.9%.
Toyo Seikan Group is promoting the washing and collection of paper cups and will continue with various initiatives to realize a society in which paper cups can be horizontally recycled. Together with Alvark Tokyo, we provided fans who visited the arena with the opportunity to wash and separate their cups using the Re-CUP WASHER cup-washing machine, from which we manufactured recycled paper cups. This initiative, in which consumers wash and collect paper cups that are then recycled into new paper cups, is the first of its kind in Japan. The recycled cups were distributed as novelties to participants in the FF cup collection pilot demonstration and to those who responded to a questionnaire about this demonstration.
Packaging containers are an essential aspect of daily life, but once used, they can become waste. At Toyo Seikan Group, we view used containers not as waste but as resources, and we therefore believe we must continuously evolve the quality and technology of the entire process of product creation, use, disposal, and regeneration. Paper cups used in the arena are thus important resources, and I am confident that by promoting the Re-CUP project in collaboration with Alvark Tokyo at the TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, which will open in the fall of 2025, we will help to change many people’s awareness and behavior.
Applying our concept of “Alvark Will,” we have been engaged in numerous social responsibility activities, and at the TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, which will open in the fall of 2025, sustainability is one of our key themes. Together with Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, which has supported us since the 2022–23 basketball season, we aim to further promote recycling and to ultimately achieve complete recycling of all waste generated at the venue. I have also noticed that awareness of recycling among visitors has been improving day-by-day through our ongoing recycling initiatives with Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, which holds a significant market share in packaging materials. We will continue to advance sustainable initiatives, striving to improve awareness of recycling at the TOYOTA ARENA TOKYO, and work toward realizing a resource-circulation society.
Toyo Seikan Group launched the open innovation OPEN UP! PROJECT in 2019 to leverage its container technologies and know-how developed over its 100-year history in order to address social issues faced by individuals and to create a sustainable future. The Toyo Seikan Group will continue to tackle various social issues in collaboration with Alvark Tokyo.