2023.01.05
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Special Feature : Using the Power of Technology to Create the Future Vol.4
Connecting the Arteries and Veins of Industry to Realize a Recycling-Oriented Society
Professor at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Tohoku University since 2005. He has served in a number of important positions, including President of the Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management, technical committee member of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), and advisor to the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), etc.
Kohinata
We are conducting joint research with your laboratory to realize a resource- and material-recycling society. Could we start by reviewing your research goals?
Yoshioka
My laboratory aims to realize a resource- and material-recycling society through research on chemical recycling of waste materials. When conducting joint research, we ask our partners to provide us with knowledge from their production sites so that we can use the results of our academic research for the business development of companies. To create a recycling-oriented society, we must connect the arteries that create new products with the veins that recycle them.
Kohinata
Our company has been involved in the recycling of copper and other nonferrous metals for a long time. In recent years, due to the depletion of mining resources and environmental issues, we have focused on urban mines and are increasing the ratio of E-Scrap utilization. You are working on resource recycling of waste plastic, correct?
Yoshioka
Many things in the world, including E-Scrap, are composed of metal and plastic. It is difficult to recycle plastics when metals are contained, so in collaboration with Mitsubishi Materials and several other companies, we are researching plastic recycling technology with a view to applying it to the technology for recovering useful metals and other materials. Technologically, this is feasible, but the issue is creating a system for resource circulation. A circular economy is not possible with our society’s long ingrained linear economy criteria. We will have to change our way of thinking.
Kohinata
The Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Tohoku University blends a wide range of disciplines, incorporating social sciences such as environmental policy studies. Environmental issues are complicated and entangled, so we cannot achieve a recycling-oriented society with technology alone. Dialogue between academia and companies is also essential. What are your expectations of Mitsubishi Materials as a joint research partner?
Yoshioka
I think your strength is that you are active in a wide range of fields and have various points of contact with society. On the other hand, there also may be drawbacks associated with being such a large organization, such as a lack of speed and a lack of deep understanding of each other’s research in different fields, even within the same company. I think that improving internal collaboration would enhance the effects of industry-academia collaboration even more.
Kohinata
You’re quite right. That is precisely why we are working to reform our R&D culture, changing our organizational structure, and using IT tools to revitalize communication. Do you have any suggestions for industry?
Yoshioka
Thinking back on the past, I think that many projects and studies on recycling were abandoned because they were not profitable to the industry. However, those projects may be more feasible now. Unlike the world of manufacturing, I believe resource recycling is a field where past research results can be utilized, so please do your research carefully.
Kohinata
Yes, we need to get rid of this idea that old research is old technology. I would be glad to reuse the knowledge of resource recycling that our predecessors accumulated over the years.
Yoshioka
People have been saying that Japanese companies are lackluster for a while now, but our research is not lagging behind, and we have a sound technological foundation.
Let’s incorporate our capabilities into the circular economy.
I believe that Mitsubishi Materials possesses many excellent technologies, and I hope that you will actively promote them to the world from the concept stage, before they take shape, to get a head start on the market.
Kohinata
We will strive to meet your expectations, commercialize the university’s cutting-edge research results, and contribute to the realization of a recycling-oriented society.
