Until now, the center of the world's economic development has been the "linear economy," in which products are mass-produced and discarded. As a result, climate change, depletion of natural resources, environmental destruction due to mass disposal of used products, abnormal weather and rising prices of general consumer goods have become familiar issues for many people. In the future, it is predicted that these problems will become even more serious as the world's population increases and economic activities throughout the world, including those in developing countries, become more active, causing serious damage to our living environment and economic growth.

Therefore, a new concept called "circular economy", which is like a natural ecosystem cycle without the concept of throwing away, is attracting attention. In addition to realizing and maintaining a "recycling-oriented society" that reduces the burden on the environment through the circulation of resources and products, the idea is to maximize the use of existing resources to create further added value and achieve economic growth at the same time.

*Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan, "White Paper on the Environment, the Sound Material-Cycle Society and Biodiversity in Japan", 2022

In order to ensure that oxygen concentrators can be used in good condition for a long time, we continue to make design changes to make them “more convenient and easier to use” to meet the needs of patients, in addition to maintenance. According to the “Home Respiratory Care White Paper 2010” published by the Japanese Respiratory Society, "about 20% of patients do not go out unless they go to the hospital", and the main reason is "the weight of the oxygen cylinder (about 4 kg including a portable carry bag)". (approximately 68%) and “anxiety about lack of oxygen while going out” (approximately 46%).

Therefore, as an oxygen concentrator that can be carried when going out, we worked on reducing the weight of the device and saving energy by enabling battery operation and launched a portable device. As a result, we were able to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions by reducing raw material usage and power consumption. It can be said that Teijin Pharma's patient-focused design is also an initiative that leads to a circular economy.