[pageLogInLogOut]

#Research & Development

Toray establishing a new research facility

Toray Industries, Inc., announced that it will set up a new research facility at its Nagoya Plant in Aichi Prefecture to accelerate R&D for a green transformation and advanced mobility.

The facility will leverage the concept of fusing green and nano-based technologies to develop materials by integrating diverse elemental technologies from within and outside the Toray Group. It will also incorporate chemical engineering perspectives from the research stage and reinforce the company’s ability to propose digital solutions in creating a framework to bring together materials development, process design, and customer proposals in a drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.

The Group has always endeavored to provide innovative technological and advanced materials solutions to the world’s challenges in balancing development and sustainability. Its high-performance resins, carbon fiber composite materials, and other innovative offerings have helped cut greenhouse gas emissions amid the world’s mounting environmental challenges. The company recognizes the need to focus on eco-friendly materials while pursuing functionality for the economy to become sustainable.

It is also vital to respond rapidly to the numerous technological mobility advances that the world has witnessed in recent years. They have included electrification and weight savings to cut green house gas emissions. Other noteworthy contributors have been automated driving, urban air mobility, and drone technologies.

The new research facility will be a hub for customer and academia collaboration and global R&D to accelerate Toray’s green transformation and explore advanced materials for myriad advanced mobility applications.

This facility will bolster materials development that helps achieve economic sustainability. It will do so by bringing together polymer, chemicals, and carbon fiber composite materials researchers, as well as digital transformation professionals and developers with chemical engineering expertise to drive nanotechnology advances. Such progress would incorporate materials informatics and computational chemistry in such areas as polymer design, nanostructure control, and composite material design. The facility would integrate nanotechnology with recycling, biorefining, and other green technology and reduce environmental impact from process perspectives.

The facility will be adjacent to the Environment and Mobility Development Center and the Advanced Composites Center, both of which engage in mobility-related development and evaluations. The goal is to generate synergies by integrating R&D and digital solutions proposals. Toray will reinforce open innovation internally and externally by creating an open laboratory for cocreation with customers and academia while deploying a framework to deepen communication among researchers and encourage ideas to emerge.


Since its foundation, Toray has pursued R&D into advanced materials by bolstering basic research and elemental technologies while integrating technologies and pushing their boundaries in the conviction that R&D paves the way to the company’s future. Toray will keep helping to materialize a sustainable economy by innovating advanced materials from long-term perspectives in line with its corporate philosophy of contributing to social progress by delivering new value.


Overview of new research facility

1. Three floors with a total floor area of around 8,600 square meters

2. Located at Nagoya Plant in Aichi Prefecture

3. Scheduled completion in first quarter of FY2026

4. Key features

(1) Technological fusion and open innovation facilities

• Chemical laboratory for wide-ranging of basic and applied research

• Prototyping and processing area to demonstrate technologies

• Open laboratory

(2) Close communication between researchers to foster innovative ideas

• Housing 140 people in office and experimental area on one floor

• Open meeting space

(3) Energy-efficient facilities


Exterior of new research building

© 2023 Toray
© 2023 Toray




More News from Toray Engineering Co. Ltd.

#Man-Made Fibers

Toray develops AURLIST™ polyester filament fiber with luxurious luster and ultra-fine structure

Toray Industries has developed AURLIST™, a new polyester filament fiber designed to combine luxurious luster, soft loft and a subtle fibrillated surface texture. The company primarily targets applications in women’s apparel such as tops, bottoms and dresses.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Toray develops recycling technology that retains carbon fiber strength and surface quality

Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed a recycling technology that can decompose diverse carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) made from thermosetting resins while retaining the strength and surface quality of those fibers. The company drew on this technology to create a nonwoven fabric employing recycled carbon fibers.

#Composites

HEAD launches more sustainable(1) BOOM RAW racquet on Earth Day by using Toray’s bio-circular carbon fibers

HEAD continues to innovate with the launch of the BOOM RAW tennis racquet, an encouraging development in the search for a more sustainable future for racquet sports. All of the carbon fibers are bio-circular carbon fibers in the limited-edition and highly innovative BOOM RAW racquet, which offers the same explosive power - along with the same fun, feel and easy playability - as the regular, in-line BOOM racquet. The bio-circular carbon fibers are manufactured by Toray and its subsidiary Toray Carbon Fibers Europe.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Companies in Japan initiate demonstration to expand the automotive recycling process

DENSO CORPORATION and other partners have been chosen by an industry-government-academia collaborative project aiming to expand the recycle content for automobile in the fiscal year 2023 supported by Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

More News on Research & Development

#Research & Development

Elastic yarns to become more recyclable and environmentally friendly in future

On 29 April 2026, ITA student Tobias Dickmeiß was awarded a sponsorship prize by the Wilhelm Lorch-Stiftung for his innovative approach, to replacing conventional elastane with elastic yarns made from thermoplastic copolyester elastomers (TPC). Thanks to their thermoplastic nature and compatibility with typical polyesters used in the textile industry, elastic TPC yarns offer improved recyclability. Furthermore, the use of the melt-spinning process in yarn production eliminates the need for solvents that are harmful to the environment and human health.

#Research & Development

Walter Reiners Foundation Prize awarded to three ITA graduates

Sabina Dann, Lukas Balon and Annegret Storm from the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen University were awarded the Walter Reiners Foundation Prize by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) for their master’s and bachelor’s theses. Peter Dornier, Chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation, presented the awards during Techtextil at the VDMA stand in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

#Techtextil 2026

Young talents honoured – 60 years Walter Reiners Foundation

At the Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt at the end of April, Peter D. Dornier, chairman of the VDMA’s Walter Reiners Foundation, presented awards to five successful young engineers. Promotion and sustainability awards were presented in the categories of bachelor’s/project theses and diploma/master’s theses. Academic theses are eligible for the sustainability awards if, for example, they develop solutions for resource-efficient products and technologies.

#Research & Development

Regional hemp bast for lightweight construction profiles

The cultivation of fibre hemp for the production of ropes and clothing has a long tradition in Saxony. Due to its excellent fibre properties, it is also suitable as a renewable raw material for reinforcement in fibre composites. At the STFI and IWU in Chemnitz, the CannaPul project is cur- rently investigating how a regional value chain for hemp-based lightweight construction profiles can be established. To this end, the technical processing of hemp fibres into continuous fibre strands and their embedding in a suitable bio-based matrix are being investigated.

Latest News

#INDEX 2026

ANDRITZ at INDEX ’26: Driving sustainability with next-generation nonwoven technologies

From May 19-22, ANDRITZ Nonwoven & Textile is presenting its innovative solutions for the nonwoven & textile industry in Geneva, Switzerland. ANDRITZ will focus on technologies for sustainable and durable nonwovens, converting, sustainable fiber processes, textile recycling, and life-cycle services on booth 2114 in hall 02.

#INDEX 2026

INDEX™26: World’s leading nonwovens exhibition presents groundbreaking product launches, exclusive seminars and immersive experiences

From 19 to 22 May 2026, 620 exhibitors from 44 countries will gather in Geneva at Palexpo for INDEX™26. The exhibition aims to demonstrate how the future of technical materials will increasingly be shaped by collaborative supply chains and integrated innovation across the nonwovens industry. This year’s edition focuses not only on individual technological advances, but also on how cooperation throughout the value chain can enhance the performance, sustainability and value of nonwoven solutions.

#INDEX 2026

The LYCRA Company launches LYCRA® ADAPTIV fiber for nonwovens, advancing comfort and fit in disposable hygiene at INDEX™ 26

The LYCRA Company, a leader in innovative and sustainable fibers for apparel and personal care, today announced the official global launch of LYCRA® ADAPTIV fiber for nonwovens at INDEX™ 26, in Geneva, Switzerland, May 19–22. This breakthrough stretch fiber, already trusted by leading global apparel brands, now ushers in a new era of comfort, fit, and performance for baby diapers, disposable hygiene products, adult incontinence, and feminine care.

#INDEX 2026

Innovations for today – solutions for tomorrow: Trützschler Nonwovens at INDEX™ 2026

From 19 to 22 May, Trützschler Nonwovens will present itself at booth 1641 as a long-term partner to its customers. The focus will be on new products for all nonwoven processes, further developments of the digital working environment T‑ONE, and an expanded service portfolio.

TOP