Residents collect waste that had drifted ashore on Hatoma Island

A project begun by the Japan Association of Marine Safety, with support from the Nippon Foundation, is currently working to realize the dream of producing energy from waste that drifts ashore on Japan's beaches. At present, the massive volume of such garbage damaging Japan's ecosystems, ruining her coastal scenery, and creating a burden for residents and local governments.

The project is known as the Takaranoshima (“Treasure Island”) Project, and has already installed the first specialized plant for converting waste into oil on Okinawa's Hatoma Island, an island with a population of approximately 40. On November 7th, an experiment was conducted under which electricity was generated from such from waste.

The oil plant

According to the Japan Association of Marine Safety, even a conservative estimate of waste washing ashore on Japan’s coasts places the annual volume at 1 million cubic meters. This is cleaned up by local governments and volunteer. However, the areas most susceptible to damage from such refuse are remote islands and depopulated areas, which are therefore faced with substantial cleanup burdens. Since Hatoma Island cannot dispose of the waste on the island, it must transport it by ship to Ishigaki Island, costing more than 3 million yen per year.

Mayor Kawamitsu holds expanded polystyrene waste that drifted ashore, and the newly produced oil

This project converts expanded polystyrene, which accounts for 40% of the garbage that washes up on Japan's shores, into burnable styrene oil. One liter of styrene oil can be produced from one kilogram of waste. 40% of this output will used as fuel for the oil-production plant, while the remaining 60% can be used externally. Hatoma Island hopes to use the recycled resource to power boat engines and to service tourists on the island.

Kaneo Urasaki, an island resident and chair of the nonprofit Protecting our Home, the Southern Islands”), says, “Today, when I go out to sea in a fishing boat, if I see something white floating on the water, I eagerly go out to get it. This has changed my negative image of waste.” Mayor Eicho Kawamitsu of the town of Taketomi, who took part in this public test, is highly excited, saying, “We want to communicate information about this attempt, the world’s first, throughout Japan and around the world.”

A light lit by a generator powered by refined styrene oil

The expansion of this project to other regions, using Hatoma Island as a model, is under consideration. Lead researcher Shin Onuki of the Japan Association of Marine Safety says of his expectations for the project, “I hope this will not only resolve the problem of waste drifting ashore, but also revitalize the town and the island.