Zero Emission Projects Becoming Fully Established throughout the World

Nature Interface editor

Model for Zero Emission is the Food Chain in the Natural World

In the last few years, the phrase 'zero emission' has become commonly heard, and there has been a rapid increase in the number of companies and local authorities implementing zero-emission initiatives.

The concept of zero emission was proposed in 1994 by the United Nations University. Zero emission was the policy advocated in order to realize 'sustainable development' under the Agenda 21 action plan adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The United Nations University's Institute of Advanced Studies under the Zero Emission Research Initiative (ZERI) prompt zero emission through research and educational activities.

According to Masako Unoura - an advocate of the zero emission concept and, as a current project manager in the UN initiative, a central figure in dissemination activities in Japan - the concept of zero emission is modeled on the ecology of the natural world. In nature, through the food chain, the waste products and dead bodies of organisms all become essential sources of nutrients for other organisms, in a cycle where nothing is wasted. Similarly, the zero emission concept is that by combining processes in which waste products and byproducts from one industry are used as resources in other industrial fields, it is possible to aim for zero waste. Another feature of this initiative is the aim of achieving compatibility between industry and the environment. This involves, for example, creating new regional industries by converting waste products to resources for other industries, using waste heat generated in recycling for heating and hot water supply, and converting garbage into solid fuel for electric power generation.

Solving Environmental Problems and Vitalizing Regional Industries Go Hand in Hand

In recent years, many zero emission initiatives have been launched. As Japanese government policy in 1996, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's Eco-Town Initiative began, and the implementation of Zero Emission Industrial Parks by the Japan Environmental Corporation, an extra-departmental body of the Environment Agency, Zero Emission Roads by the Ministry of Construction, and Conceptual Research on Coastal Recycling Chemical Complexes by the Ministry of Transport were announced (ministry names have since been changed). At the regional level, too, 24 companies occupying the Kokubo Industrial Park in Yamanashi Prefecture jointly began a waste reduction initiative, and similar efforts were made in other areas.

Outstanding results began to be achieved by corporations. Asahi Breweries converted malt lees, produced during the brewing process, into fertilizer and animal feed, and re-utilized yeast to manufacture pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs. Comprehensive housing products manufacturer INAX used sludge as a resource for manufacturing cement and tiles, and re-utilized ceramic fragments as road-bed material. By such means, those companies succeeding in reducing the amount of landfill waste generated by all their production facilities to zero. Many other companies are implementing excellent programs, such as Ebara Corporation's Fujisawa Eco-Industrial Park initiative, Taiheiyo Cement's Eco-Cement initiative. Independent initiatives by local residents are also under way. In shopping streets in Waseda, a university area of Tokyo, local authorities, companies, and students are engaged in a joint zero emission initiative, vitalizing the area and achieving major results in terms of urban regeneration.

Unoura says that the nationwide spread of zero emission initiatives received a strong impetus in 1997, with the announcement of the Eco-Town Project through cooperation between the former Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the former Ministry of Health and Welfare (because waste administration has been transferred to the Environment Ministry as a result of this fiscal year's administrative restructuring, the project format has been changed to joint consent by METI and the Environment Ministry), and the establishment of a support system for zero emission efforts. Under this Project, local authorities and government-designated cities drew up Eco-Town Plans, and if these plans were approved, support was provided for key projects based on the plans. Subsidies were provided in the ratio of 50%. Since the start of the Project, 13 areas have received approval: Iida City in Nagano Prefecture, Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kita-Kyushu City, Gifu Prefecture (FY 1997), Ohmuta City in Fukuoka Prefecture, Sapporo City, Chiba City (FY 1998), 18 cities, towns, and villages in northern Akita Prefecture, Uguisuzawa in Miyazaki Prefecture (FY 1999), Hokkaido, Hiroshima Prefecture, Kochi City (FY 2000), and Minamata City in Kumamoto Prefecture (FY 2001).

Such positive moves by local authorities reflect not only heightened concern for the environment, but also a serious garbage disposal problem. Increasing concern among local residents regarding dioxins has made it difficult to obtain new locations for garbage and industrial waste disposal facilities, and in many areas, final disposal sites will become filled to capacity within in a few years. Also, regarding the illegal disposal of industrial waste, while the implementation of monitoring systems using GPS is likely to reduce such occurrences considerably, it now appears that garbage that cannot be thrown away will no longer have any place to go.

Expectations and issues

As a case study that has attracted attention among Eco-Town projects, consider development in Ohmuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture.

In Ohmuta, an Eco-Town project was launched in 1998. Ohmuta formerly possessed the Miike coal mine, and is well known as one of Japan's leading coal mining areas. In 1997, however, the mine was closed, ending a history that spanned more than a century, and city development in the absence of mining became a serious issue among local people. Under those circumstances, it appears that an initiative to address environmental problems and the generation of local industries by establishing an Eco-Town Plan was the optimal direction. As reasons, it may be noted that the city had (1) a history of chemical complexes, which could be utilized for environmental technology, (2) numerous vocational schools and ample human resources in the technological field, (3) experience in overcoming pollution and a high level of environmental concern among residents, and (4) a central location in Kyushu, with the further advantages of railway and sea-port access.

Ohmuta's plan designates unused land in the coastal areas Kenromachi and Shinkaimachi as planning zones. The plan is centered round an RDF power plant, where burnable garbage from households is converted into RDF (refuse-derived fuel) and used for electricity generation. The plan also includes a 'general waste recycling facility' for outsize and non-burnable garbage, cans, PET bottles, and wastepaper. In addition, the plan comprises a 'central support facility' that serves as an environmental technology research facility and a place for the public to learn about the environment, and an 'industrial waste recycling facility' for other types of household waste as well as industrial, agricultural, and fishery waste. The policy of the industrial waste recycling facility, while aiming to vitalize the city by attracting companies, is not to introduce facilities whose only purpose is disposal without recycling or those with unproven technology whose safety was in doubt.

The RDF power generation is managed by Ohmuta Recycling Electric Power Company Ltd., which is centered round Fukuoka Prefecture, Ohmuta City, and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. Burnable garbage from households in 28 cities, towns, and villages in Fukuoka and Kumamoto Prefectures is converted into RDF, collected, and used for thermal power generation (20,000 kW). The electricity generated in this way is sold to the Kyushu Electric Power Company. Because large amounts of RDF are burned at high temperatures, virtually no dioxins are generated.

As of the end of July 2001, work had begun on key support facilities, including the RDF conversion facility, the power plant, a technology center that conducts R&D concerning environmental problems, and a community interchange and environmental study center. The power plant will be operational from next financial year, and all construction work is scheduled for completion by FY 2004.

As well as environmental initiatives, the process of planning itself has been the subject of attention, and in addition to interchange with the Nordrhein-Westfalen coal-producing region of Germany, where environmental initiatives are advanced - including on-site observation, as well as events such as the Environment and Recycling Techno Fair with invited lecturers from Germany (supported by an industrial communication program of the Japan External Trade Organization) - over 100 explanatory meetings for residents have been held, and residents' understanding of the plans has progressed.

This experiment in Ohmuta has got off to a smooth start and is the subject of substantial expectations. Considering that zero emission and Eco-Town projects are spreading throughout Japan, there is no denying the possibility that similar methods and technologies may spread consistently. For example, in the case of RDF power generation, because large amounts of RDF must be burned at high temperatures, large-scale, concentrated systems are required. However, because the method assumes large amounts of burnable household waste, it has been pointed out that RDF power generation is difficult to balance with garbage reduction efforts. In some regions, such as Sweden's Gotland Island (population: 50,000; in summer, ten times that many tourists visit), in view of safety and economy, incinerators have not been introduced. Instead, kitchen waste is disposed of at compaction facilities built with cooperation from ZERI, and garbage reduction and recycling efforts are combined to achieve incinerator-free, landfill-free disposal.

Ultimately, creative thinking and flexible initiatives are required to select technologies and systems in such regions. Consequently, it appears that development and proposal of practical technologies - through participation by local people and organizations, including NPOs, release of information, and fundamental research by universities and other organizations - will become even more important from now on.