INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

N E W S L E T T E R

29

2021
Vol.
En

g lis h V e r.

Research and Analysis

Purpose of Establishment
The International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer(ICETT) was established through industry-government-academia
cooperation for the purpose of transferring environmental conservation
technology possessed by Japan and other countries to other regions inorder to alleviate environmental problems on a global scale.
By implementing various projects in diﬀerent countries withconsideration given to their characteristics and proceeding with smoothtechnology transfer, ICETT strives to achieve conservation of the global
environment and sustainable development of the global economy.

● MOE-funded FY2020 Model Project for Improvement of Water

5● Regional Enterprise Innovation Support Project (Providing

5● Providing Support for Plastic-Recycling SMEs to Operate Abroad

6

Environment in Asia
commissioned by the business sector

Support for Establishment of a New Supply Chain toward
Promoting CFRP Recycling)commissioned by the Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade andIndustry

Table of Contents
Training and GuidanceInternational Exchange and Partnership● The Global Environmental Seminar

2● Planning and Operation of the Tianjin Environmental Interaction Program

2● The Project on Working Together with the Government and3commissioned by Mie Prefecture for FY2020
commissioned by Yokkaichi City for FY2020

Citizens for Zero Waste Society Promotion in Ibobang, Ngatpang and Mongami, Aimeliik, Republic of Palau, under JICA
Partnership Program (Local Government Type)commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)● JICA Online Knowledge Co-Creation Program (ASEAN

Focus) Waste Management towards Marine Littercommissioned by JICA

● Planning and Operation of the Global Environmental Summit

6● ICETT Online Seminar: Promotion of Plastic Resource Recycling

7● ICETT 30th Anniversary Commemorative Project8

for High School Students ‒ Online Interaction Workshop
commissioned by Yokkaichi City
through Industry-Government-Academia Collaboration
Independent Project
Independent Project4

The SDGs icons associated with each project featured in this newsletterare displayed above the related project articles.

Training andGuidance
Mie Prefecture

The Global Environmental Seminar
Overview
Intended for high school and university students in Mie Prefecture, this seminar was held online, consisting of
lectures on the theme of International Environmental Issues with a Focus on Paciﬁc Island Countries , interaction withparticipants from the Republic of Palau, group discussions and presentations.

Background and Purposes
Following the Ise-Shima Summit and Junior Summit inMie (2016), it was decided the Paciﬁc Islands Leaders Meeting shall be held in Mie Prefecture (2021)1), giving momentum for the youth in the prefecture to be active on the
global stage. Taking this as a perfect opportunity to nurture leaders of the next generation and with a view todeveloping globally-minded talent, we organized an online
seminar targeting the youth, including high school and university students, who will shape the age to come so thatthey can learn about international environmental issues inEnglish. Due to the spread of coronavirus infections, theparticipants met online, instead of in person at a meetingvenue as initially planned.

Contents
The seminar was held on February 20, 2021 with 76
participants: from Mie Prefecture, 33 high school students,
two university students, eight ALTs (Assistant Language
Teachers), and six international students at Mie University; and from the Republic of Palau（ Palau ）, 27 highschool students and school oﬃcials.
During the seminar, international students at Mie University provided lectures on environmental issues in
Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands; ICETT staﬀ
presented the Centerʼ s waste reduction initiatives in Palauand the history of pollution in Yokkaichi; and high school
students from Palau and their counterparts in Mie Prefecture introduced their respective schools and spoke about
waste treatment in their respective countries, followed bygroup discussions.

Results and Outlook

Online Interaction at the Global Environmental Seminar1)

As announced later on April 1, 2021, the form of the meeting changed tovideoconferencing.

Lectures on environmental issues faced by the world,group discussions and presentations were all conducted in
English. We hope that this seminar encouraged greaterinterest of the participants in mastering foreign languages
and in environmental issues and will prove helpful to theirfurther learning.

Yokkaichi City

Planning and Operation of the Tianjin Environmental Interaction Program
Overview
Commissioned by Yokkaichi City since 1993, ICETT has continuously conducted training sessions, aiming to help
Tianjin City alleviate its environmental problems. In FY2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, preventing face-to-faceinteraction between the two cities, a seminar was held in Tianjin City based on lecture videos produced and provided by
Yokkaichi City focusing on the themes of oﬀensive odor and noise controls.

Background and Purposes
While achieving remarkable economic progress, Tianjin
City is experiencing many environmental problems, requiring the city to alleviate them immediately. To this end,
ICETT implemented this program to help the city improve
its environment by enabling oﬃcials of the city's Ecology
and Environment Bureau to learn Japanese environmental
technology and management methods. As requested by
Tianjin, this year's seminar featured the themes of oﬀensive
odor and noise controls.

Contents
Using lecture videos produced by Yokka ichi City,a seminar was held in Tianjin as follows.
（1）March 5, 2021 regarding oﬀensive odor control and
Yokkaichi pollution
Participants: 26 (including six who participated in person at
the venue)

2（2）March 12, 2021

regarding noise control
and Yokkaichi pollution

Participants: 38 (including
18 who pa r t ic ipat ed i n
person at the venue)
The seminar allowed online
participation as well.
A seminar in Tianjin based on lecture videos

Results and Outlook
We have received the following feedback from theseminar participants.
・The seminar helped me gain a good understanding of theenvironmental conservation policies and measures implemented in Japan.
・A seminar in the form of lecture videos is helpful in thatit allows repeated learning.
We will continue addressing themes in line with Tianjin
City's problems and strive to help the city improve its
environment.

2021 Vol.29

Training andGuidance
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

The Project on Working Together with the Government and Citizens for
Zero Waste Society Promotion in Ibobang, Ngatpang and Mongami, Aimeliik,
Republic of Palau, under JICA Partnership Program (Local Government Type)
Overview
Together with the Republic of Palau ( Palau ), Bureau of Public Works (BPW) of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure,
Industries and Commerce, high schools, and other cooperating organizations, Mie Prefecture and ICETT have been
implementing The Project on Working Together with the Government and Citizens for Zero Waste Society Promotion.
(Local Government Type) as a JICA Partnership Program for three years from August 2018 to August 2021.

Background and Purposes
Palau is a small island country with an area of approximately 488 km 2 and with a population of approximately
20,000. Surrounded by beautiful seas, the country attracts
many tourists, reaching up to 85,000 visitors annually,making waste reduction a consequential issue.
For this project, ICETT together with the BPW haveselected the two regions of Ibobang in Ngatpang and Mongami in Aimeliik, and have been encouraging local residents to engage in recycling eﬀorts. We are striving to
reduce the amount of waste ending up in the landﬁll sitethat was newly constructed in Aimeliik and started its
operation in February 2021.

Available only in Japanese＊

JICA PR video In a heaven on earth now ‒ Environmental conservation activities in Palau [The bond between
Japan and Palau]
Under this project, we organize poster contests, aiming
to promote the 3Rs (Reducing, Reusing and Recycling), aspart of awareness-raising activities for elementary and highschool students in the targeted regions. Selected posters
are published in waste separation calendars for distribution
to residents in the regions. The year 2020 marked thesecond contest, for which a commendation ceremony washeld for the award winners at the newly opened landﬁll sitewith the presence of H. E. Mr. Charles Obichang, Ministerof Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce of Palau,
the Chief Representative of the JICA Palau oﬃce, the BPW
Director, and the Governor of Aimeliik State.

Results and Outlook(International Organization Paciﬁc Islands Ceter)

Project implementation sites in Palau

Contents
In March 2020, a survey mission, including Ms. Maika
Utsugi, a JICA-Chubu oﬃcial supporter, was dispatched to
Palau to observe various ongoing JICA projects. Aroundthe same time, ICETT staﬀ visited Palau together with oﬃcials of Mie Prefecture, the joint proponent of this project,
to conduct on-site project activities in Ibobang and Mongami, where we provided residents and students with guidance for their waste separation activities in communities
and schools. The activities were compiled into a JICA PR
v ide o , wh ich ca n be v iewed at t he fol low i ng U R L :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9knYtDGu-Y

2021 Vol.29

Since January 2019, following the establishment of eightrecycling stations in the two regions, local residents havebeen engaged in separation of diﬀerent types of waste, foodcans, butane cans, glass, plastics, and paper, so that thecollected resources can be properly recycled, leading to the
reduction of waste to be dumped into the landﬁll site.
Every week, the BPW collects and weighs recyclables, andrecords the data. By properly recycling collected resources,
it is estimated the reduction of waste will be somewhere
between 25 and 50 percent, and the sustained reduction of
the waste dumped to the landﬁll through this initiative will
extend the usable life of the landﬁll. In Palau, which is stillin the initial stage of separate collection eﬀorts, continued
cooperation of residents in the future will play a vital partin reducing waste. Accordingly, it must be ensured thatwaste will be thoroughly separated at each household.
As in Ibobang, waste separation and recycling eﬀorts areprogressing in Mongami which is located in the state where
the Aimeliik landﬁll is located. While continuing the coopearation with the BPW and also ﬁnding better methods
together with schoolchildren and community residents, wewill strive to ensure that this initiative will ﬁrmly take rootin Palau.

3

Training andGuidance
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

JICA Online Knowledge Co-Creation Program (ASEAN Focus)
Waste Management towards Marine Litter
Overview
We organized an online JICA training course focusing on improvements in measures to control marine plastic litter in
ASEAN region. The representative government oﬃcials in the ﬁeld of waste management participated from Cambodia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as a staﬀ member of the ASEAN Secretariat based in Indonesia, and deepened their insights into eﬀective policy measures and practices to combat marine litter.

Background and Purposes
In recent years, marine plastic litter has become one of
the environmental problems attracting global attention, andvarious eﬀorts are being made to facilitate solutions to the
problem. In ASEAN countries, controlling plastic wastethat ﬂows into the sea from their land areas and strengthening waste management capacity that they have conventionally worked on are regarded as important initiatives inproceeding with resource recycling.
Considering this situation, we organized an online training
course so that the participants can comprehensively learn
about the lifecycle of plastic products and Japanʼs practices
and eﬀorts toward building a recycling-based society, including plastic recycling, as well as eﬀorts to control marine
plastic litter. It also aimed to support the participants topropose actions for solution that could be adopted in theirrespective countries.

Overview〈Training course period〉
February 1 - 8 , 2 021〈Participants〉
Eight participants including;G over nment oﬃcia ls f rom ASEA N count r ies : oneeach from Cambodia , Laos, Malaysia , Myanmar,
and Vietnam, and two from Thailand
ASEAN Secretariat sta ﬀ :one

Contents
The training course provided lectures and discussions
with a focus on plastic resource recycling on lands as apriority issue for controlling marine plastic litter in ASEAN
countries.
Wide range of topics were raised during the training
course, including but not limited to the global trends in themarine plastic litter issue and Japanʼs measures to control
the issue, strategies and policies for the promotion of plastic
resource recycling, voluntary eﬀorts and technological development by businesses, and practical examples of environmental education.

Extensive and practical lectures were delivered byresource persons from a United Nations agency, council
members of the Ministry of the Environment and Ministryof Economy, Trade and Industry, companies and entities
engaged in trailblazing work in Japanʼs ﬁeld of plastic
resource recycling, and universities.

Professor Dr. Eiji Hosoda, Vice-President / Dean of the College of Business
Administration and Information Science, Chubu University, delivering the online
lecture Introduction to Resource Recycling.

Results and Outlook
The participants gained new knowledge through thelectures and actively exchanged information and opinionswith the resource persons, which helped them to look backat the policies and measures of their respective countries.
Through their learning at this training, they also gained
more insight into potential policies and measures for application to their respective kinds of work, which were thensummarized in their mid-term report (conﬁdential).
We hope to conduct a training course in Japan once thecoronavirus pandemic ends, under the appropriate situation
to allow the participants to travel from the ASEAN countries. To that end, we are pressing forward with our preparations in discussion with the JICA Chubu Center.
Through this online training course and the planned
training course in Japan, the participants are expected to(1) take a birdʼs-eye view of domestic and overseas trends
in the marine plastic litter issue and learn Japanʼs plastic
resource recycling systems and its eﬀorts on waste
management; (2) understand Japanʼs resource-recycling-related policies, legal system, technology and experience
conducive to controlling marine plastic litter, and sort out
challenges in establishing plastic resource recycling systems
in their respective countries; and (3) better understand rolesof stakeholders in the public and private sectors and examples of their collaboration in recycling plastic resources.

Mr. Shunsuke Nakamaru from JICAʼs Global Environment Department
delivering an online lecture on JICAʼs international cooperation activities
All participants and others involved in the online training course

42021 Vol.29

Research andAnalysis
Business sector

MOE-funded FY2020 Model Project for Improvement of Water Environment in Asia
Overview
We conducted a feasibility study jointly with Kassui Plant Co., Ltd., based in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, on theapplication of HARNET water treatment equipment (eﬀective microbial treatment equipment) to help alleviate waterpollution in Thailand and enhance water treatment capacity of small to medium-sized enterprises in the country.

Background and PurposesWith the water pollution issue becoming apparent in Thailand, Kassui Plant Co., Ltd. in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture,
aimed to introduce its HARNET water treatment equipment
to the country, by utilizing the Ministry of the Environment(MOE)ʼ s program for supporting environmental businesses, asa solution for wastewater treatment that is easy in terms of
maintenance and generates less excess sludge. This study waslaunched for the purpose of improving the wastewater treatment capacity of factories in Thailand through the installationof the HARNET system, thereby eventually improving water
quality of rivers and other water sources in the country.

Contents
Targeting Samut Prakarn Province on the outskirts of
Bangkok, document research was conducted by ICETT on

water quality regulations, etc. and for preparations of theintroduction of the wastewater treatment equipment. Kassui
Plant also conducted a survey of candidate factories for ademonstration experiment, and based on the results of thisresearch, the company prepared a demonstration experimentplan and business model for HARNET water treatment
equipment.

Results and Outlook
While the local demand for wastewater treatment was conﬁrmed to remain high, we were unable to ﬁnd an ideal factory for the demonstration experiment, causing this project todiscontinue. COVID-19 pandemic has been making it diﬃcult
for a company to expand its environmental business operations overseas. However, we will continue our positive
involvement in such an endeavor.

Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry,
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

Regional Enterprise Innovation Support Project (Providing Support for
Establishment of a New Supply Chain toward Promoting CFRP Recycling)
Overview
Carbon ﬁber reinforced plastics (CFRP) process scrap and waste are mostly disposed of by landﬁll, with a system for turning them to gooduse by recycling not being adequately in place. In addition, waste materials from used aircraft, etc. are expected to be discharged in large
quantities in future years. With this as a backdrop, we implemented this project, designed to support companies with excellent recycling
technology in cultivating a market, for the purpose of building a CFRP recycling business in the Chubu region ahead of the rest of the world.

Background and Purposes
In May 2020, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(METI) formulated Circular Economy Vision 2020, in which
CFRP is positioned as one of the areas where the development of resource circulation systems is urgently needed.
Given that the Chubu region is home to excellent companies
possessing technology for recovering recycled carbon ﬁber(rCF) from used CFRP (upstream sector), the Project aims to
support the development of a CFRP recycling market so as tofacilitate a smooth recycling ﬂow from the upstream sector tothe midstream sector (intermediate material manufacturer)
and then to the downstream sector (ﬁnal product manufacturer). In implementing this project, this ﬁscal year we
focused eﬀorts on strengthening collaboration between businesses from these sectors.

Contents
1）Building a network between companies fromthe upstream, midstream, and downstream
sectors related to CFRP recycling
On January 21, 2021, we organized the
CFRP Recycling Online Expo on the themeof carbon ﬁber recycling. The Expo consists of some lectures by experts and apanel discussion for information sharing,
technology exhibitions by participating
businesses in the form of a video presentation, etc., and online business matching
meetings. The event announcement wasdisseminated to other relevant committee
2021 Vol.29

members such as domestic researchers involved in survey
projects separately implemented by METI, aiming to facilitate information sharing among those concerned. In addition, individual hearing and online business matching meetings were held mainly for business operators in the midstream sector.
2）Conducting a survey on domestic and overseas trends
conducive to capturing a CFRP recycling market
We conducted a survey on the situation involving the useof rCF in Europe that could serve as a reference for popularizing and establishing rCF products in Japan. In addition, we worked to forge relationships with research institutions in Europe by exchanging opinions with a view to
conducting joint research or strengthening partnerships
with them in the future.
3）Working with Global Network Council Japan (GNCJ)
In organizing online meetings with major general contractors as potential users of rCF, we used the service ofthe one-stop consultation desk at GNCJ.

Results and Outlook

Event guide of the
CFRP Recycling
Online Expo

The CFRP Recycling Online Expo provided a businessmatching opportunities for business operators, where somepotential business opportunities were generated from individual business negotiations. Fulﬁlling such potential and building a supply chain in the future show great promise. Furthermore, our exchange of opinions with research institutions in
Europe helped clarify the present situations and challenges
commonly faced by Japan and Europe, which we will reﬂect
in our future eﬀorts.

5Research andAnalysis
Independent Project

Providing Support for Plastic-Recycling SMEs to Operate Abroad
Overview
As part of our eﬀorts to promote the recycling of plastic resources, we work to support companies with excellent
environmental conservation technology to develop their businesses in Paciﬁc Island countries. To this end, we are
striving to ensure that our proposal will be actualized in the framework of JICA s SDGs Business Supporting Surveys
In FY2020, we organized a workshop in Nagoya City to report on the results of the preliminary research conducted in
the Republic of Fiji in the preceding ﬁscal year.

Background and Purposes
In May 2019, the Japanese government formulated the Plastic
Resource Recycling Strategy. Based on this strategy, we positioned
initiatives for the promotion of plastic resource recycling as the
new core of our activities. Thus we are committed to contributing
to solving these challenges related to the global environment andwaste through transfer of environmental technology.
In particular, Paciﬁc Island countries have problems with processing waste, including waste plastic, because of their small areasand isolated, remote, and oceanic locations. To solve the problems,much expectation is placed on technological capabilities of Japanese companies by JICA, which has been engaged in the technology cooperation projects for Paciﬁc Island countries regarding
waste management for years.

Contents
On August 4, 2020, we held the second workshop for considering potentials of environment businesses in Paciﬁc Island
countries in Nagoya City. Session 1 featured a report on the
results of our research conducted in Fiji, followed by locally
based information shared by Ms. Masumi Oi, a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer of JICA, regarding the waste
management situation and environmental education in Palau.
In Session 2, we presented a plan for the second researchplan in Fiji and a call for participating companies. For the prevention of the spread of COVID-19, the workshop also accommodated online participation via web delivery.

Results and Outlook
This time, we were able to provide participants with moredetailed and speciﬁc local information regarding waste management in Paciﬁc Island countries. We will proceed with preparations, aiming to ensure that our proposal will be actualized in
the framework of JICAʼs SDGs Business Supporting Surveys .

Workshop at Nagoya Innovatorʼs Garage

International Exchange andPartnership
Yokkaichi City

Planning and Operation of Global Environmental Summitfor High School Students‒Online interaction Workshop
Overview
Commissioned by Yokkaichi City, we held Global Environmental Summit for High School Students ‒ Online interaction Workshop.

Background and Purposes
Every summer vacation season, we invite to Japan highschool students from Yokkaichi City s friendship city Tianjin,
China, and Yokkaichi City s sister city Long Beach, the U.S.,
to organize Global Environmental Summit for High SchoolStudents, where they can participate in training sessions andexchange opinions regarding environmental issues with theircounterparts in Yokkaichi City. This ﬁscal year, however, wewere unable to do so in the usual manner due to the coronavirus pandemic. Accordingly, we hosted an online interaction
workshop intended for alumni who have participated in thisprogram in the past with the aim of providing them with anopportunity to consider environmental issues from a global
perspective and to look back on their learning at the Global
Environmental Summit.

Contents
On November 15, 2020, the online interaction workshop washeld in two separate sessions: (1) interaction between the Yokkaichi team and Long Beach team; and (2) interaction between the
Yokkaichi team and Tianjin team. The participants exchanged
views on solutions to pre-set environmental problems faced by a

6

ﬁctitious country (city),
fol lowed by a s e s s ion
where they looked backon their learning at the
Globa l Env ironment a l
Summit t hat t hey had
participated.

Global Environmental Summit forHigh School Students ‒ Online
interaction Workshop

Results and Outlook
Although the coronavirus pandemic forced the Summit to beheld in the form of an online interaction, it still allowed participants to actively discuss solutions to environmental problems.
Above all, we realized again that what they had experienced at
the Summit have had a signiﬁcant inﬂuence, even extending totheir respective career courses and how they view the world.
We hope that the friendships forged through the Global
Environmental Summit for High School Students will lead tocontinued interaction among the students, who will play central
roles in the future of their respective cities. We look forward toseeing them prosper and serve the communities addressing theenvironmental problems in Yokkaichi City s friendship city
Tianjin, sister city Long Beach, and Yokkaichi in the near
future, and act as bridges of friendship among the three cities.
2021 Vol.29

International Exchange
andPartnership

Independent Project

ICETT Online Seminar: Promotion of Plastic Resource Recycling throughIndustry-Government-Academia Collaboration
Overview
In recent years, plastic resource recycling has been attracting more attention as an global issue which requires
urgent actions. Under these circumstances, we organized an environment online seminar featuring plastic resource
recycling with the aim of providing the latest information on Japanʼs relevant policies and progress in the development ofmaterials alternative to petroleum-based plastics.

Background and Purposes
Recent yea rs have witnessed act ive eﬀorts being
deployed on a global scale in promoting less plastic society
and establishing plastic resource recycling. Along with thistrend, Japan has established the Plastic Resource Recycling
Strategy and various sectors are working together or independently to create new value. The Chubu region is home
to companies manufacturing high-quality materials andthose with excellent plastic processing and recycling technology, and those companies are expected to play a more
active role in the future in reducing plastic consumption
and resource recycling.
In the context of these circumstances, we planned andconducted a seminar to deepen insight from various angles
into promotion of plastic resource recycling and development and spread of alternative materials to plastics, withinvited resource persons from industry, government andacademia.

Contents
On November 27, 2020, we organized ICETT Online
Seminar: Promotion of Plastic Resource Recycling throughIndustry-Government-Academia Collaboration. Althoughoriginally planned in May of the same year at a hall in
Nagoya, the seminar was changed to online delivery inconsideration of the prevention of the spread of coronavirus
infections.
The seminar started with an honorable guest address by
the Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry of the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), introducing eﬀorts implemented in the Chubu region for plastic
resource recycling and also expressing its expectations of
ICETT in this area. An expert from METI explained, in
relation to the Circular Economy Vision and Plastic
Resource Recycling Strategy promoted by the Japanese
government, about the governmentʼ s policies and speciﬁc
initiatives while taking the global trends into account. An
expert from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology spoke about international standards that are important in developing and disseminating
biomass plastics and biodegradable plastics, highlighting
the basic concept of formulating the standards and progress of establishing the system for standardization. Representing the private sector, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
and Oji F-Tex Co., Ltd. each presented the progress of theirdevelopment of materials alternative to petroleum-based
plastics and their eﬀorts on the promotion of plastic
resource recycling.

Results and Outlook
The seminar attracted 137 online participants from various ﬁelds of industry, government and academia. After eachpresentation, participants actively asked questions, to which
the responsible resource person answered sincerely.
Though held online, the seminar engaged participants interactively. Much favorable feedback was also received fromthe participants via a questionnaire, such as one comment
saying that the seminar was very informative with presentations from many diﬀerent ﬁelds and another saying that
presentations were very technical and helpful in theirformulating policies in the future. The feedback also included requests and suggestions for future ICETT seminars.
We would like to take this opportunity to express ourappreciation to all the participants from industry, government, and academia, as well as our gratitude to the Central
Japan Economic Federation, the Chubu Bureau of Economy,
Trade and Industry of METI, Mie Prefecture, Yokkaichi
City, Aichi Prefecture, Nagoya City, Gifu Prefecture, and all
the other relevant organizations who supported and cooperated with us.
Resource person and Presentation title
Honorable guest address（Job Title at that time）

Mr. Kimito Shindo, Director, Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Department,
Chubu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry of METI

The present situation and outlook of plastic resource recycling

Mr. Tomokazu Mori, Specialist, Resource Eﬃciency and Circular Economy Division,
Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau, METI

Plastic materials that provide solutions to resource andenvironmental problems‒ bio-based and marine biodegradable,
and international standards related to them ‒Dr. Masao Kunioka, Standardization Oﬃcer, Standardization Promotion Center,Research and Innovation Promotion Headquarters, National Institute ofAdvanced Industrial Science and Technology

Bioplastics‒ideal materials to utilize in establishing circulative
economy and society

Dr. Hiroshi Sano, Advisor to General Manager, Advanced Polymers Planning
Department and Advisor to General Manager, Circular Economy Department,
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

The development of pulp material for reducing plastic‒ Introduction toenvironmentally conscious material SILBIO series
Mr. Toshikazu Onishi, Group Manager, Marketing and Development Department,
Sales Division, Oji F-Tex Co., Ltd.

Venue for delivering the online seminar (Nagoya Innovatorʼs Garage)
The seminar was conducted online with attendees at thevenue limited only to a small number of invited guests.

2021 Vol.29

7International Exchange
andPartnership

Independent Project

ICETT 30th Anniversary Commemorative Project
Overview
The International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer (ICETT) was established in 1990 by the businesscircles of the Chubu central region of Japan, Mie Prefectural Government and Yokkaichi Municipal Government with theaim of contributing to conservation of the global environment and sustainable development of the global economy. In
FY2020, which marks its 30th anniversary, we produced the 30th anniversary commemorative newsletter, and organized
the 30th anniversary commemorative ceremony and seminar with the cooperation of the Mie Satellite Oﬃce of the Collaborative Research Organization for Future Regional Society, the University of Tokyo. At the seminar, Dr. Masahiko Hirao,
Professor at the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo was invited as a resource person with a profound knowledgeof plastic resource recycling, and delivered a presentation on the theme of the present situation, challenges and future
course of action involving plastic resource recycling ‒ from the perspective of sustainable consumption and production.

Session I : Commemorative Ceremony①Address by the organizer; ②Introduction of ICETT activities
Session II : Commemorative Lecture①Presentation The present situation, challenges and future
course of action involving plastic resource recycling ‒ fromthe perspective of sustainable consumption and production
Dr. Mahiko Hirao, Professor, Department of Chemical
System Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, theUniversity of Tokyo②Closing Address
Mr. Junji Tanehashi, Foundation Vice Chairman, ICETT

Background and Purposes
Since its founding, ICETT has been contributing to facilitating solution to a wide range of environmental problems,
including industrial pollution, the waste management, andclimate change by transferring the technology and know-how
to government oﬃcials, business operators, technical experts,
researchers , and many others in developing countries
through training courses and technical guidance. In recent
years, capitalizing on our deep connection with the petrochemical industry in Yokkaichi City, we positioned the promotion of plastic resource recycling as the core of our activities, thereby pursuing to broaden the scope of our projects.
This 30 th Anniversary Commemorative Project was implemented to express our appreciation for all the support
extended to our activities to date and to share our recent
initiatives and their expected future development.

(Chairman, Yokkaichi Chamber of Commerce and Industry)

Contents
1）The 30th anniversary commemorative
newsletter
ICETT Newsletter Vol. 69 was publishedas the special30th Anniversary Commemorative Volume in December 2 02 0. This
volume consists of three parts, with theﬁrst part featuring our eﬀorts toward thepromotion of plastic resource recycling, atheme presently constituting the core of ouractivities. The second part covers the performance of our projects during the last ﬁve years and messages from people involved overseas, while the third part, acompilation of materials, looks back upon the last thirty
years since our establishment.
This volume is available on our website:
https://www.icett.or.jp/shuppam/kikanshi.html
It can also be viewed by scanning the QR codeon the right.

Dr. Masahiko Hirao, Professor at the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo

Available only inJapanese＊2）ICETT 30th anniversary commemorative ceremony and seminar
Date: January 23, 2021
Venue: Humanitec Plaza as the main venue, connected online
with Nagoya Innovatorʼ s Garage, the Mie Prefectural Government s oﬃce and Tokyo

Professor Hirao delivered a presentation, focusing mainly onsustainable consumption and production patterns, the present
situation of and challenges for plastic resource recycling, andthe future course of action for plastic resource recycling.
In the ﬁrst part of his presentation, Professor Hirao indicatedthe necessity of linking supply, consumption, circulation, andproduction processes, which are presently separated from eachother, thereby creating a sustainable society through cooperation, collaboration, and co-creation. In the second part, he emphasized the importance, in promoting resource recycling, ofevaluating recycling technology in terms of the prevention of
global warming, the prevention of fossil resource depletion andeconomic feasibility; and for making such evaluation, theimportance of adopting the approach of Lifecycle Assessment(LCA), whose scope of evaluation covers a product s entire
lifespan, from raw material extraction to eventual disposal.
Professor Hirao expressed his commitment to spreading theapproach of LCA in recycling plastic resources as well throughscientiﬁc discussions from the perspectives of technology, systems and challenges.
A summary of his presentation can be found on:
https://www.icett.or.jp/jouhou/r02/
30syuunen̲houkoku.html＊

Results and Outlook

Right: Mr. Akihisa Mizuno, Foundation Chairman, ICETT(Chairman, Chubu Economic Federation)
Left: Mr. Eikei Suzuki, Chairman of the Board of Directors, ICETT(Governor of Mie Prefecture)
Bottom: Mr. Tomohiro Mori, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, ICETT(Mayor of Yokkaichi City)

2021 Vol.29
Back numbers of Newsletters can also be found on the ICETT website.

Issuedby:

Available only inJapaneseIn this project, ICETT declared once again its determination to contribute to identifying and solving environmental
problems in developing countries with extensive and appropriate utilization of the technology possessed by industrial
circles in Japan, especially in the Chubu region, and knowledge and proven practices obtained by experts in governmental and academic circles in the country.
We count on your continued support and cooperation inthis endeavor.
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
3684-11, Sakura-cho, Yokkaichi, Mie 512-1211, Japan
TEL.+81-59-329-3500 FAX.+81-59-329-8115 https://www.icett.or.jp
For protection of the environment, recycled paper andvegetable-based ink are used for printing.