The Consumer Co-operative Kobe (Co-op Kobe), a major Japanese consumer cooperative with 1.45 million members, announced on December 12, 2003 that it has started operation of an industrial waste disposal facility that treats bean-curd refuse, discarded cooking oil and other food processing waste from their Rokko Island plant in Kobe. Methane gas emitted from the waste treatment process will be reused to generate electricity. The Co-op claims that the facility will reduce the plant's daily waste volume from 20.8 tons to approximately 1 ton. This will raise its recycling rate from 67 percent to 96 percent, and result in a 90 percent reduction of disposal costs.

The construction of the five required processing devices has been completed, including a biomass power generator that uses methane gas recovered from biodegradable waste, a machine that separates and pulverizes packaging materials of food products that do not meet quality control standards, and a bean curd refuse dryer. The Rokko Island Food Processing Plant manufactures more than 500 Co-op original food products including tofu, bread and noodles, but has been required to treat more than 20 tons of food refuse.

The dried bean curd refuse is now recycled as animal feed, while other food processing residues are fermented together with waste oil and sludge. The resulting methane gas is recovered to generate about 60 kW of electricity per hour, which is then used as a power source for the facility.

As the first food recycling model project in Hyogo Prefecture that has been approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Co-op received a 114 million yen grant (about U.S. $1.07 million). The construction of the facility began in April 2003, with a total cost of about 300 million yen (U.S. $2.80 million).




Posted: 2004/05/12 02:38:08 PM
Japanese version

TAG Energy , Food/Water , Government , Material reduction , NGO/Citizen , Non-manufacturing industry , System/Law