Hi there, it's Minami.

Do you remember the 3Rs of resources and garbage that many of you may have learned in school?

Refuse, reuse, recycle.

I think recycling was getting quite a lot of attention even before the current climate change was a major issue in the media.

Today, the emphasis is on not consuming in the first place, such as "zero-waste," but of course it is still important to recycle and circulate the finite resources of the earth.

This time, I participated in the recycling factory tour factory tour of Ishizaka Sangyo, a leader in such recycling in Japan!

　So here you go.

The first thing that surprised me was the size of the facility! The space is very spacious and well designed for noise reduction.

First of all, you will be surprised when you arrive at this place and see the map.

My goodness, the company that does this recycling, the site is the size of 4.5 Tokyo Domes!

In terms of square kilometers, it would be about 2.5㎢. That's very big!

There is really so much to see in the facility that you could spend a whole day there and still have time to kill (by the way, I was there from about 10am to 5pm! The facility closes at 5:00).

Separately, we have written an article introducing facilities other than the recycling plant here.

Zero-waste and circulation-themed facilities

The facility itself is based on the theme of "circulation," with a recycling plant at its center, a restaurant menu that uses vegetables grown on the site, the use of chips from recycled products for animal breeding, the use of renewable energy, and other sustainable activities as much as possible.

It also seems to function as a training site for various schools and other educational institutions and companies.

I think it is a very nice facility that can also contribute to education.

I hope you have the opportunity to learn, and even if you didn't have an interest in an individual at first, I hope you do through your experiences in places like this!

The grounds are a wonderful place to learn about sustainability and the environment in general, and the space is open to everyone, but you must register for a tour to enter the recycling plant.

Specific Ishizaka Sangyo Recycling Methods

So let's get right to the inside of the facility!

The tour I took was one hour long, but there are plans to give a full-day tour.

The journalized items are industrial waste from construction

What is it that we recycle, then?

Industrial waste is the source of waste that is generally considered to be 90 percent of the world's waste that we handle.

Among industrial wastes, they seem to recycle houses, other buildings, and other construction materials, from wood to concrete, plastic, batteries, glass, and so on... The items that come out are various.

Sorting through all of these is going to be a pain in the ass!

(By the way, the remaining 10& is household garbage ≒ waste)

According to the law, the collection of garbage and recycling of resources is limited to 50 kilometers, and items within 50 kilometers of the prefecture are collected here at Ishizaka Sangyo.

Utilization of noise walls

The recycling plant is quite noisy because of the movement of heavy machinery, but there is a barrier as a countermeasure.

In addition to soundproofing, they are also focusing on ecosystem preservation by greening the walls and using plants originally found in the satoyama.

I can see how you are thinking about what the best solution is, working on these things as well as large lots and public roads for noise.

Almost all heavy machinery is powered by renewable electricity.

Most of the heavy machinery seen here is not gasoline powered by petroleum.

And that energy is renewable energy!

As one would expect from a company, there are limits to the amount of power they can generate, no matter how much power they generate on their own.

So, it seems that they are purchasing renewable electricity from other companies for the shortfall.

It is said to be 100% renewable energy. Which is great, because this is not easy to do!

Early introduction of future efficiency improvements by adding AI.

AI robots have been introduced this year for the sorting of resources, which is a key part of the recycling process, and a system has been actively introduced to make the work more efficient and less hazardous for employees.

It may seem that recycling factories generally do not have many companies that have new ideas. However, at least at Ishizaka Sangyo, I got the impression that they are always thinking about what is best based on the latest trends.

These jobs are quite dangerous because some of them may be explosive if done poorly.

It seems that Mr. AI Robot can still only sort trees.

It seems that sorting is quite a hurdle for robots.

This is because garbage is not a specific shape or color, so it is difficult to define it to teach people to recognize it, he said.

It is an AI robot, which means it has a deep learning system and should get better in the future. Amazing! Looking forward to the future. (I wonder what it will be like in a few years)

It's kind of smiling to see the AI robot sorting the garbage. LOL!

We saw them actively investing in equipment for the future.

Sometimes other companies in the same industry ask us to process a level of volume that they can't sort through!

So much so that the facilities here have a certain reputation both inside and outside the industry.

Process what is brought in that day.

The other thing that impressed me quite a bit was that this factory processes what is brought in on the same day.

I thought it would be great at this place. I don't know how much garbage is coming in every day, but I would imagine that the building processes quite a bit of it. And if recycling from other companies is part of it, it must be quite a bit.

Safety measures are also in place

Working in a recycling plant is dangerous. They were working with safety first.

For example, they take a minute to put the sediment saved by the heavy equipment into a box to be processed (when it is dropped), and this is to make sure there is nothing that could catch fire. This process seems to be necessary even if it takes a long time because it might cause an accident.

They also seem to reduce hazards by using magnets to suck them up and sort them without the use of human hands.

There are always safety-related statements in various places, and I thought that even employees who have just joined the company can always be aware of safety.

Not that it matters, but what I personally noticed was that Portuguese was being written in quite a few places.

In Gunma Prefecture, Oizumi-cho, which is often referred to as Little Brazil, is famous for having many Japanese-Brazilians living in the area, but are there many Japanese-Brazilians living near Tokorozawa?

As someone who knows a little Portuguese, I was grateful to see an environment where people who are not native Japanese speakers can also work.

Visits that provide an opportunity to reflect on how garbage is disposed of

I was worried that looking at the recycling plant would not be very friendly since it is an industrial waste plant, but I learned a lot since it is a home-related sorting plant.

For example, please separate the dry cell batteries! Even just sticking cellophane tape on them is fine!

When mixed, it becomes garbage; when separated, it becomes a resource.

The sorted resources are either given to the product production company or made ready for reuse as recycled products in the company's own facilities.

The journalized items are consequently either given to the product production company or made ready to be reused as recycled goods as they are by the company itself.

For example, we can convert wood into chips that can be sold and used within Ishizaka Sangyo.

On the other hand, those that are called ecomore chips or used for bedding are used as they are.

It appears that the chips will be used as flooring material for the goats and chickens living on the property. (Flooring material, or rather, something to put on the ground.)

As for the raw materials for paper and cardboard, they are sent to paper mills or to cardboard companies, and cleaning is not done here.

After some sorting is done in the recycling process, it is sent to an outside paper company, where it is reborn as recycled cardboard boxes and paper!

Difficulty in turning "garbage" into recyclable resources

Even with just metals, journaling is very complicated.

For example, the parts of a water tap that you introduced in the previous section are made of six types of metal just for the twist part of the tap that you usually see, and it seems that resources cannot be reused as recycled products unless all of them are separated.

But the fact that they're sorting it out here is amazing!

(Especially with regard to metals, which are easily monetizable as resources, it is very meaningful to do so.)

You can feel the passion of the president and the pride of the employees in their work.

Ishizaka Sangyo is not just a recycling plant, but is truly rooted in the community and aspires to be a model for everyone.

The company has acquired ISO certification, an international standard that had not been adopted by the company until he became president.

That's just a badge of honor.

The story of how the company has made it this far in the midst of such tumultuous times is very moving.

(In fact, it is very important to obtain an international standard such as ISO, as it is part of the external evaluation criteria and is important for stakeholders to be able to make more secure decisions in their business dealings!)

You have already sold several books and if you are interested you may want to read them.

A future classroom where any negative can become a positive.（どんなマイナスもプラスにできる未来教室） 

Five Senses Management Daughter of Industrial Waste Company Talks Reversal(五感経営 産廃会社の娘、逆転を語る)

Turning a company into the most beloved company in the world, even if it is in desperate straits! -The second generation female president's sobbing war story(絶体絶命でも世界一愛される会社に変える! ―2代目女性社長の号泣戦記)

I also got the impression that the employees and everyone working in the area are very enthusiastic about their work.

During the recycling plant tour, there was a question and answer period, and when I was asked to write this article, I was kindly told that if I had any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Other lessons learned

The facility offers a real variety of experiences.

If you join the tour, you can get a ticket for a ride on the cute miniature train called the "Yamayuri Railway" in the facility, as shown in the photo above, and you can also get a pass that allows you to enter places that are only accessible to those who have taken the tour.

When we did the tour of the recycling plant, I felt that an hour was a bit rushed.

As I mentioned in the first half of the article, the tour I took was one hour, but there are plans that give you a full day tour.

The tour is open to everyone, so if you are interested, please check out the official website!

Please click here to read about the facility as a whole.