Menicon & Toyota develop advanced composting process

Menicon Co., Ltd., Japan's largest manufacturer of contact lenses, and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced joint development of an efficient and environmentally-friendly manure composting process for the livestock industry called "resQ45". The new process uses a new enzymatic agent and a thermophilic bacteria created based on Menicon's degradation enzymes and microorganisms. Ingredients used in the process will be manufactured and sold by Toyota Roof Garden Co., Ltd., a TMC subsidiary. Sales to limited areas will begin on July 1 through the livestock feed sales channels of Toyota Tsusho Corporation (Toyota Tsusho).

Eighty-nine million tons of livestock manure are produced annually in Japan. "resQ45" will help reduce the burden on livestock farmers, who, under the Law Concerning the Appropriate Treatment and Promotion of the Utilization of Livestock Manure, which went into full effect in November 2004, are prohibited from leaving livestock manure in open-air mounds or within insufficiently lined pits.

Initially, the "resQ45" will be marketed to cattle farmers, with sales expected to be 1 billion yen after three years. Sales after five years are estimated at 2 billion yen, once "resQ45" has been adapted for use by pig and poultry farmers.

Menicon, TMC and Toyota Tsusho share the belief that positioning the "resQ45" manure composting process as a new environmental business will contribute to the reduction of global warming and farmland improvement, and to the realization of a resource-recycling-oriented society.

This is one of Menicon's activities to expand the company's core competencies to new business areas based on the strengths and expertise already exhibited by Menicon.