Tomoyo MatsudaIn recent years, the idea of circular economy has been gradually attracting attention in Japan. Circular economy refers to the closed circuit of consumption, where waste is not produced and additional resources are not introduced. To realize circular economy, we need to consider how to circulate waste.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the annual emission of industrial waste amounted to 379,753,000 tons in Japan in 2019. The recycling rate of industrial waste is 53%, and the rest is subjected to intermediate treatment such as incineration and transported to the landfill. This current situation is far from a circular economy model.
Ishizaka Sangyo is a unique company with a vision of “Zero Waste Design” and reduces or recycles 98% of waste by thoroughly sorting it. Visitors constantly come from overseas to see its technology. Why can Ishizaka Sangyo achieve a reduction and recycling rate of 98%? Why is Ishizaka Sangyo, a waste disposal company, aiming for zero waste? What can we do to realize circular economy? We interviewed the president, Noriko Ishizaka, about her thoughts.
Profile: Noriko Ishizaka
After graduating from high school, she studied abroad at a university in the United States to become a designer. After returning to Japan, she joined Ishizaka Sangyo, founded by her father. She decided to take over the company since she sympathized with the founder’s strong desire to create a society with zero waste. She has been a president since 2002. To dispel the bad image of the waste disposal industry, such as dirty, dangerous and demeaning, and to make a company loved by the region, she has implemented many reforms such as all-weather planting, the introduction of ISO7 integrated management system, and acceptance of inspections and tours from all around the world. Today, more than 40,000 visitors visit Ishizaka Sangyo every year. From 2020, she set up a new vision, “Zero Waste Design,” and aim for a recycling rate of 100% and a society that does not leave waste as waste. She also offers an environmental education program at the sustainable field “Santome Konjakumura,” which boasts a site equivalent to four Tokyo Domes. She received “KAIKA Grand Prize” and “Japan Management Quality Award” in 2020.
Seeking a society that does not leave waste as waste
Ishizaka Sangyo is located in Iruma-gun, Saitama Prefecture, about an hour’s drive or train ride away from Tokyo. Of the approximately 200,000 m2 site, the factory occupies about 20%, and the rest is covered with woodland and farms.
At the factory, they recycle the industrial waste that industries brought in. At first, they roughly sort waste by using heavy machinery and human hands. After that, they sort mixed waste by material very finely, by using human hands, wind power, heavy machinery, sensors, magnets, etc. Finally, thoroughly separated waste is shipped as recycled material and reborn into various products.
Ishizaka Sangyo was founded in 1967 by Yoshio Ishizaka, the father of President Noriko Ishizaka.
“My father was initially engaged in the construction and civil engineering business. At that time, it was just after the Tokyo Olympics and was in the midst of a period of high economic growth. The town lined with one-story houses was transformed into a town lined with skyscrapers, and the destroyed waste materials were buried in the sea of Odaiba, Tokyo. About 100 dump trucks lined up from the early morning and dumped waste into the sea. Witnessing the reality that many things that can still be used are thrown into the sea, he thought that he had to create a society that does not leave waste as waste by recycling and reusing waste. That was why he founded Ishizaka Sangyo.”
However, when the company was founded, few manufacturers and businesses were willing to use recycled material, even though Ishizaka Sangyo recycled waste.
“The consciousness of the maker was only aimed at improving quality. The materials produced from the natural world are not mixed with impure things, and they look very beautiful. Therefore, no one used recycled materials that were a mixture of various things such as chemicals.”
While Ishizaka Sangyo grew its business as an intermediate treatment company for construction waste in this difficult situation, Noriko Ishizaka, the current president, did not intend to take over her father’s business at the beginning.
“When I was young, I wanted to work in nail design, and I wasn’t very interested in the environment. However, when I joined Ishizaka Sangyo to save money for opening a nail salon and heard about his father’s founding thoughts, I thought it was a fantastic idea. I believed that the concept of ‘a society that does not leave waste as waste’ would be essential from now on and valuable to society. I thought we needed someone to connect my father’s ideas to society, so when I was 30, I offered to take over the business.”
Why Ishizaka Sangyo can reduce and recycle 98% of waste
Ishizaka Sangyo has achieved a reduction and recycling rate of 98% by taking over the idea of “a society that does not turn garbage into garbage” and thoroughly separating the industrial waste . Why can they achieve such a high recycling rate?
“The waste we receive are roughly divided into three different categories for processing: by burning, by landfilling, or for recycling. The more they are divided finely, the more costly it becomes, so if we only consider the cost aspect, rationally, the best way is to burn or bury waste as it is. Since our purpose is to recycle resources, we continually research and install equipment to improve recycling rate, no matter the costs. Therefore, we are able to sort and classify using a more thorough process.”
However, society and consumers do not always appreciate the cost of recycling, even when the environmental awareness is so high these days. Why is this happening? It involves the price awareness of the industry and society as a whole, including consumers.
“Though the customer have to pay the cost of recycling as a disposal cost, the waste disposal company is a company that takes over unnecessary things for customers. They focus on the cost and choose the waste company that offers the lowest price, because they don’t know what kind of distortion is behind the low cost. I don’t want to say that the lowest price is bad, but the problem is lack of transparency behind the cheapness. At the extreme, it could lead to illegal waste dumping, or even unfair wages for workers.
That is why we clarify that we are investing so much in these places by opening the factory and offering the tour. It is crutial to make the invisible visible.”
We cannot realize Zero waste without changing the way to make
The reduction and recycling rate is 98%, but President Ishizaka does not intend to recycle the remaining 2% only by her company’s efforts.
“The remaining 2% is the result of the pursuit of convenience and longevity. You layer and mix different materials to make strong parts. When a house with high seismic resistance, durability, and fire resistance is required, a construction method such as mixing plastic in wood or mixing iron and wood chips is born. If you want to live in a clean and insect-free house, a company use insect repellent building materials containing agents. Such complex materials cannot be disassembled or separated when disposed of and may no longer be regenerated. If you make something out of natural things, it will be naturally corrode. By using technology to stop natural corrosion, it costs a lot to disassemble and separate when disposing of them. I think that making things without considering the disposal cost is accelerating.
Of course, we have a choice to spend more on research and capital investment to get closer to 100%. But I don’t think it’s good. Even if we can achieve 100%, we cannot handle all the waste in the world. So it is more essential to know why we make such things and to change from how to make things instead.
When considering our economy and life, it is impossible to create a society that never generates wastes. It is necessary to design in anticipation of disposal. You can say the same thing for clothes and other things. To make something that can be easily recycled in the end, we should change the consciousness and social structure of society.”
Truly rich life without throwing away waste
The consciousness and behavior of each consumer influences the behavior of the person who makes things. If we just want cheap and convenient things and don’t look at what’s behind them, the companies won’t change.
“There are always reasons for cheap things to be cheap. It is important to pay attention to them. At the same time, companies have responsibility to communicate with society.”
From the consumer’s point of view, it is also important to change how you hold things.
“We cannot regenerate any material absolutely forever, and we need to add virgin material little by little even in circular economy. I think it’s difficult to reuse everything completely. Therefore, it is more important for consumers to generate as little garbage as possible. Instead of buying it for the time being and throwing it away, buy something that can last for a long time, even if it is expensive. Use it for a long time while repairing the one with your favorite design. Change from PET bottles to a personal bottle. I think that doing so creates wealth in your heart. By doing so, I think we will move away from a society where wastes continue to come out. I believe that zero waste also means living a rich lifestyle that produces as little waste as possible.”
Ishizaka Sangyo want to be an entity that connects the circulation
In addition to waste disposal, Ishizaka Sangyo also operates a village, “Santome Konjyakumura,” which has an organic farm and a place where you can experience nature. The village was regenerated from the woodland damaged by the illegal dumping of waste. In 2012, the village acquired JHEP certification “AAA,” a system to evaluate efforts that contribute to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, and publicly acknowledged that it restored a high biodiversity woodland. Thus, Ishizaka Sangyo designs circulation of not only waste but nature. This activity have various impact on the company and society.
“Our resource recycling work is difficult for the general public to understand. Therefore, by taking a walk in the satoyama and seeing the natural circulation of flowers, I want you to know that it is important for the earth and people to circulate without stagnant. The village is also an opportunity to get to know us with the keyword ‘circulation.'”
Employees’ awareness has changed from the past since the company began to use “circulation” as a keyword.
“Employees of Ishizaka Sangyo recognize that their company is not simply an industrial waste treatment company, but a company that circulates resources. The staff who manages the conservation of the village recognizes he or she works preserving the circulation of the village. Even though the work is far from each other, they all share the keyword ‘circulation.’ And recently, more and more new employees are entering by being attracted to the keyword ‘circulation’. Currently, considering the circulation of human health, we are about to start a hot bath business in the village.”
“Even if ‘Zero Waste Design’ is realized, our work will not be gone. We believe that we will become the bearer of ‘circulation’ more than now if all materials are made from reusable materials.”
[Website]Ishizaka Sangyo[Reference]Circular Economy in Japan
