Developed by YKK Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director and President: Hiraki Otani, hereinafter referred to as “YKK”), it greatly removes cyanide and chromium without using conventional electroplating chemicals. The new plating technology AcroPlating® (hereinafter referred to as AcroPlating®) is used for brass materials with hazardous substances such as selenium and selenium. The life cycle assessment (※2, hereinafter referred to as “ In the LCA”) survey, the result was“mainly has the advantages of reducing the burden on the environment in terms of heat energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and sludge emissions”(※3).
In the past, electroplating has long been a problem in dealing with environmental loads, such as the use of chemicals containing cyanide, chromium and other environmentally hazardous substances in the manufacturing process, and the use of large amounts of water and electricity (*4). AcroPlating® developed by YKK does not use conventional electroplating chemicals, and successfully eliminates harmful substances such as cyanide, chromium, and selenium from the manufacturing process. In this way, not only the environmental load caused by harmful substances is eliminated, but also the reduction in the manufacturing process is achieved, including a 96% reduction in greenhouse gas, a 66% reduction in water consumption, and a 69% reduction in power consumption (*5) .
YKK developed AcroPlating® in 2019 and started selling zippers (sliders) and snap buttons using this technology in the same year. In April 2020, Peterson Projects B.V. conducted an LCA survey on button buttons. This time, another LCA survey was conducted on zippers, and the results showed that AcroPlating® significantly reduced the environmental impact of zippers and snap buttons.
In addition, since cyanide, chromium, and selenium also have adverse effects on human and biological health, the use of AcroPlating, which greatly removes these harmful substances, will also help improve the operating environment of the manufacturing process.
