Asahi Kasei Medical has plans to double the production capacity of its hydrophilic PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) hollow-fiber membranes at its spinning facility in Oita, Japan. The membranes are in high demand in the background of the Covid-19 pandemic as they are used in the production of Planova Bioex filters which are essential to mass-produce anti-coronavirus agents.

Asahi Kasei has plans to expand production capacity for Hipore Li-ion battery (LIB) separator at its plant in Japan. The start-up of the expansion is scheduled for the first half of fiscal 2023.

The aim of the Align-CCUS project is to utilize CO2 in order to reduce CO2 emissions. As a part of this project, a water electrolysis plant has been established by Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz who was responsible for planning, procurement, assembly and commissioning of the unit.

Asahi Kasei's Specialty Solutions SBU has plans to build a second microcrystalline cellulose plant at its Mizushima Works in Kurashiki, Japan. The groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for September 2021 and is expected to be complete in the spring of 2023.

Anellotech’s unique plastic recycling technology ‘Plas-Tcat’ has the potential to convert single-use plastics directly into basic chemicals. The technology has been funded by R Plus Japan which has been recently established by 12 cross-industry partners within the Japanese plastics supply chain.

With the acquisition of the US subsidiary of the Danish pharmaceutical group Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Asahi Kasei has secured a strong business platform in the US pharmaceutical industry.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2019 to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for the development of lithium-ion batteries.

Asahi Kasei has plans to increase production capacity of Lamous artificial suede at its Nobeoka facility in Japan. With this move, the firm aims to increase its total production capacity to 14 million sq m/year.

With the inclusion of the new line which is capable of producing15,000 tonnes per year , Asahi Kasei aims to increase the total capacity for spunbond at its subsidiary AKST to 50,000 tonnes annually.

Asahi Kasei has developed an original forward osmosis (FO) membrane system for the high-level concentration of liquids by dehydration without heating or pressurization. The company is currently fabricating small and medium-sized equipment to be loaned to food and pharmaceutical manufacturers for introduction on a trial basis, with commercialization targeted in 2020.