The materials used for raw materials are finely ground wood powder from cedar, cypress, and other woods, and sap from lacquer trees.

Since SUSTIMO® uses wood chips and unused thinned wood that cannot be used for building materials or furniture as raw materials, forest resources can be effectively utilized. In the process of growth, trees can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and fix it in their bodies. But a fully grown tree cannot fix carbon dioxide in its body, so it must be cut down and planted a new one to reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. SUSTIMO® is made from wood which has fixed carbon dioxide, so the more we use it, the more we reduce the total amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere..

The sap of the lacquer tree is the milky white sap that exudes when the bark is damaged. It is a natural resin that becomes available for collection when the tree is 10 to 15 years old. URUSHI has been used by humans as a paint and adhesive for more than 9,000 years, but now it is not used much anymore. “URUSHI” lacquer is a material which can be cultivated and harvested continuously on a sustainable basis like natural rubber, so it will be a natural resin material with little impact on the environment. After the “URUSHI” trees are cut down, they can be used as raw materials for SUSTIMO® and then they can be planted again to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The amount of carbon dioxide absorbed in the raw material of 1 kg of SUSTIMO® is about 1kg-CO2/kg. (Note 1) Estimates based on the use of 1,000 cedars/ha aged 36 to 40 years (by Japanese Forestry Agency)

(Note 2) Calculated based on data from the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry and the Forestry Agency.