Progress of ecomaterials toward a sustainable society

This review paper provides an overview of research activities in Japan in the field of ecomaterials. Ecomaterials are the materials which are used in the life-cycle design of products aimed at reducing environmental impact. Ecomaterials research includes the fields of ‘materials containing less hazardous substances’, ‘materials with green environmental profiles’, ‘materials with a higher potential for recycling’, and ‘materials with higher resource productivity’. They are evolving from being an idealised concept to produce real solutions for materials selection. As part of this trend, multi-performance capability, as required for usage including processability, is becoming an important problem to be solved by materials scientists and engineers.