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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Zero Waste Academy

Using scrap wood for compost monitoring project — Strategy for the reduction of waste which originated from the Great Eastern Japan earthquake disaster area

Activity grant

Project Description

Debris disposal in areas afflicted by the Great Eastern Japan earthquake is a large problem, and Rikuzentakata City is moving to separate house waste materials, and re-use them. Zero Waste Academy is paying attention to this movement and aims to realize zero waste by eliminating the occurrence of rubbish. In Hayama, a plan was devised by which lumber compost bins are made from waste materials. The project attracted a lot of attention, and after recruiting for monitors of the project within the temporary housing, became very popular. In one month, the waste from over 20 households was buried in the ground and decomposed into bacteria, and we succeeded in reducing waste. The project also spread to other temporary housing facilities. This project aims to explore solutions to use local wood for constructing mechanisms, and propose new support and ways of living for disaster victims.

Fields
Climate change
Grant year
FY2011 Activity Grants
Grant term
1 year and 10 months
June 2011 - March 2013
Grant amount
7,368,000 yen
Activity region
Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan
Carpenters also helped the first people to live in temporary housing with creating the "kiero"

Overview of the Organization

Director Masato Hoshiba
Representative
Director Masato Hoshiba
Establishment
2005
Establishment year
Zero Waste's thought process is to reduce garbage as much as possible, from production status to reforms, designs for manufactured goods should not become garbage, so incineration and landfills are the last resort for rubbish by create a mechanism which gives priority to the 3Rs as much as possible (reduce, reuse, recycle). Zero Waste Academy was established in 2003 with the "Zero Waste Declaration" project based in Kamikatsuchou in Tokushima Prefecture with the aim of proceeding with zero waste.
Main areas of activity
in Kamikatsuchou in Tokushima Prefecture
Staff
3 full-time staff members, 4 part-time staff members, 30 full members
Annual operating budget
30 million yen in 2008, 36 million yen in 2009, 46 million yen in 2010
WEB site
http://www.zwa.jp/
Collaborating organizations
Turukawa Daini Elementary School father's PTA meeting / Kiero, Hayama
Recent activities
Based in Kamikatsuchou, we are entrusted by the town with the administrative operation of bringing in facilities for local residents waste and recyclable garbage, promoting the planning, investigating, and managing of the 3R project. We also conduct public awareness activities through the implementation of collaborative work with local organizations and lectures at various locations, and by accepting trainees from Japan and abroad. In recent years, by cooperating with international cooperation organizations such as JICA, we accept trainees from abroad and provide guidance on site through grassroots cooperation projects.