Recycling Project to Transform Waste into Energy Underway on Remote Island

Copyright Japan Association of Marine Safety

The Japan Association of Marine Safety (JAMS) has been working against drift waste on the shore through a project known as the Treasure Island Project since 2009 in its model district, Hatoma Island, in Taketomi-cho, Okinawa. This is a citizen-led project to transform drift waste into energy.

As much as one million cubic meters of drift waste is washed up onto the Japanese shoreline each year, ruining the landscape and destroying ecosystems. Remote islands are often in the direct path of drift waste as a result of monsoons and ocean currents, and are seriously affected.

The Treasure Island Project is an effort to recycle foamed polystyrene, which constitutes about 40 percent of drift waste, into styrene-based liquid using an existing oil plant, and then to use this as an energy source for the island. The oil plant was further developed to be movable, and an open experiment of the world's first movable oil plant was conducted on November 3, 2010, with the island residents.

Utilizing energy from drift waste, the project is also expected to contribute to developing new industries and revitalizing the island economy, thus helping to solve the problems of depopulation and aging communities on the island.

NGO Works to Protect Oceans Through Beach Cleanups, Data Analysis (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/025712.html

Posted: 2011/03/08 06:00:15 AM