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Teijin Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) announced on Dec. 15 that it has started to carry out a life cycle assessment (LCA) of its carbon fibers to calculate their total carbon emissions. The company contends that this is an industry first.

Teijin previously calculated the carbon footprint of its carbon fibers used in sports, recreational and industrial applications, and more recently, its carbon fiber filaments used in aircraft applications, which will make it possible to now calculate emissions for all of its carbon fiber filament applications.

Teijin’s LCA methodology has been certified by an independent third-party organization in accordance with ISO14040 and ISO14044 standards and will provide customers with reliable emission data on Teijin’s carbon fiber filaments to help them evaluate their own footprints. The company says its LCA is useful in identifying carbon hotspots in manufacturing processes and evaluating options for emissions reduction.

Looking ahead, Teijin expects to expand its LCA scope beyond carbon fiber filaments to also include intermediate products such as short fibers and prepregs. Furthermore, in cooperation with customers such as final product manufacturers, Teijin eventually plans to evaluate the entire life cycle of its carbon fiber products.

Moreover, the Teijin Group has set climate change mitigation and adaptation as one of the five materialities that it prioritizes as important societal issues. Accordingly, Teijin is striving to reduce its energy consumption and introduce renewable energy and recycling methods, among other initiatives. By further positioning its business to help realize a sustainable circular society, the Teijin Group aims to reduce its group-wide in-house carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.