Japanese Organics Recycling Association Formed

From BioCycle Magazine
October 2000, Page 62

Japan
Japanese Organics Recycling Association Formed
Team members of JORA explain goals of new organization — and current waste management methods in Japan — at a meeting with BioCycle editors.
Jerome Goldstein

WE MUST THINK in terms of recycling the organic residuals that are generated in our large metropolitan areas and not continue to incinerate 94 percent of the waste,” said Dr. Toshiaki Tadano, vice chairman of the newly-formed Japan Organics Recycling Association (JORA). The national organization was formally established on August 1, 2000 in Tokyo to “provide a central organization to promote organics recycling in Japan.” Its first official action was a self-paid mission to the United States, which included a meeting with the U.S. Composting Council’s Board of Directors and attendance at the BioCycle Northeast Conference on Food Residuals Management which took place in Burlington, Vermont August 28-30. Editors of BioCycle met with JORA Team Members at a special pre-Conference meeting August 26 to discuss the group’s goals and how BioCycle could help to achieve them.

The JORA team includes representatives from some of Japan’s leading industrial corporations as well as researchers from such institutions as Hokkaido University, and Tokyo University of Agriculture. Members of the U.S. Grains Council, Dennis Kitch (who also did a masterful job as translator) and Eiichi Takeshita, also serve on the team. (See accompanying list of JORA members and their affiliations who attended the BioCycle conference as well as a subsequent one, Orbit 2000, in Wolfsburg, Germany.)

In the discussions between JORA members and BioCycle, there was a major emphasis on critical steps that needed to be taken in Japan to link food production to sustainable waste management. “We can no longer pay $150 to $200/ton to burn millions of tons of solid wastes that could be used to build soils on five million hectares of our farmland,” the members stressed. Japan’s Parliament has passed legislation to become a “Recycling Society,” and JORA sees as its mission to fulfill that vision. Whether they presented numbers on annual tonnages for animal manures, mixed MSW, sewage sludge, seafood processing residuals or restaurant scraps, their voices spoke of closing the loop, self-sufficiency, manifest systems for generated wastes, new attitudes, and viewing compost as a “tradable, processed product.” But they also are very realistic about the challenges of creating sustainable change in such a heavily urbanized, heavily industrialized society that relies on nutrient inputs.

“In Pursuit Of A Fertile Earth”

JORA team leader Tadano provided us with an outline of the Association’s philosophy entitled “In Pursuit of A Fertile “Earth” which began as follows:

“A great variety of wastes including kitchen garbage, residual waste from the food industry, human sewage, animal excrement, residual waste from the farming and forestry industries, livestock waste and various types of sludge are all unused organic resources that can be reused or recycled. It is our duty to solve such issues as the reduction and utilization of wastes as resources and food security, in order to preserve the global environment and ensure the prosperity of mankind. All of these wastes must therefore be combined and utilized as fertilizers or feeds in respective areas, according to their characteristics and regional suitability.

“The utilization of unused organic resources must start with voluntary efforts of people, and the final objective can only be achieved when individual entities throughout the country recognize what must be done and work together in partnership.

“Waste utilization will become a major private sector industry in the 21st century. Private sector companies will turn unused waste matter into organic resources, and will also collect, process and recycle such matter, thus playing a key role in the development of a sustainable, recycling-oriented society.”

The JORA mission statement focuses on working with national and local governments and related scientific organizations in order to make technological, business and “moral improvements.” They intend to promote regional plans to recycle organic resources, ranging from basic surveys to establishing regional organic resource recycling centers as well as provide a basis for promoting members’ products “that conform with laws and public standards.”

Research and study topics cover regional organics recycling models, technologies, and quality standards developed by “related foreign organizations.” International exchanges are to be pursued — such as the creation of Asian networks, holding international symposiums, and acceptance of trainees from overseas.
Different “manufacturing methods” to be targeted by JORA include: Aerobic fermentation — compost; Anaerobic fermentation — fodder, biogas; Dehydration and drying — fodder, fuels; and Carbonization — absorbents, soil conditioners, etc.

Attention would be given to preparation of manufacturing manuals in areas like: Preconditioning, blending, removal of foreign matter, hazardous ingredients and harmful microorganisms; Facility structure requirements — open horizontal-type, closed vertical-type, stack-type, etc.; Operating conditions — work environment, ventilation/agitation/processing; Clear definition of quality requirements — conformity with domestic and international quality standards.

Interagency Meeting On Biomaterials

After the BioCycle Northeast Conference on Food Residuals in Vermont and before they left to attend the Orbit Conference on Biodegradable Polymers in Germany, the JORA team — plus additional representatives of the U.S. Grains Council — held meetings in Washington, D.C. Sessions included an information exchange with representatives of the USDA, U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of Energy on federal and state regulations concerning composting, recycling biowaste, biomass energy and dioxin pollution. An afternoon meeting was concerned with biomaterial utilization for the following: animal waste; retail and home generated organic residuals; sludge and sewage; food waste and biofuels. The final topic included a discussion of “how U.S. federal agencies, along with individual states, interact with each other and administer their programs, policies and regulations concerning environmental issues.”

Special Report For February, 2001 BioCycle International

JORA is off to a rousing start to achieve its impressive list of organics recycling goals. To continue reporting on its strategic initiatives — and to provide readers with a better understanding of current projects operated by private companies and public agencies — the February, 2001 BioCycle International will focus on organics recycling facilities and policies, technologies and research in Japan. Dr. Tadano will assist in gathering information, and we also invite all BioCycle readers with knowledge of composting and organics recycling related developments in Japan to forward information to our editors. (Email editor1@jgpress.com, or write BioCycle International, 419 State Ave., Emmaus, PA 18049 USA. Editorial deadline for the February, 2001 issue is December 15, 2000.)

The editors of BioCycle were most pleased to have detailed discussions with JORA members. We wish each of them — and the Japan Organics Recycling Association — much success in achieving the objectives set forth.

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