History of the Yatsushiro Eco-Port Project and Current Status in the 2020s - 2003-2023

History of the Yatsushiro Eco-Port Project and Current Status in the 2020s - 2003-2023

The Yatsushiro Eco-Port Initiative in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, has been developed since the early 2000s to promote the recycling of local resources and revitalize the local economy. Yatsushiro Recycle Institute was the first company to be attracted to the port. In the first year, approximately 50,000 tons of waste was processed annually, mainly for the recycling of construction and industrial waste. This allowed concrete waste, wood, scrap metal, plastic, and other materials to be utilized as renewable resources, promoting resource recycling in the region.

In the early years of the project, a number of small and medium-sized recycling-related companies began to cluster around Yatsushiro Port, including the Kumamoto Recycle Center and Kyushu Recycle Co. As a result, Yatsushiro City has grown into a base with an annual waste processing capacity of approximately 100,000 tons, increasing local employment and establishing its position as a model recycling region in the Kyushu region. It has also become the core of a Kyushu-wide waste treatment network, with waste coming from neighboring Kagoshima and Nagasaki prefectures.

In the 2020s, the Yatsushiro Eco-Port concept became even more sophisticated, with annual waste processing volume increasing to 120,000 tons. Construction waste accounts for 60,000 tons, industrial waste for 50,000 tons, and general waste from households for 10,000 tons. In addition to the Yatsushiro Recycling Institute, the Kumamoto Recycle Center's newly introduced precision sorting machines have improved the efficiency of the annual recycling of scrap metal by approximately 8,000 tons and plastic by 2,000 tons. Kyushu Recycle Co., Ltd. has introduced a crushing facility for wood recycling, and 15,000 tons of wood is chipped annually and reused as fuel for biomass power generation.

In addition, Yatsushiro Port also receives waste from Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures and other surrounding areas, with approximately 40,000 tons of waste transported from other prefectures annually. The recycling facility group at the Port of Yatsushiro has invested several hundred million yen to expand its processing capacity, and plans are underway to increase the processing capacity to 150,000 tons by 2025. This will strengthen the recycling use of local resources, and at the same time, it is putting in place a system that can meet the recycling demands of the entire Kyushu region.

The Eco-Port concept has also had a significant impact on the local economy, with the number of jobs in the recycling industry now numbering approximately 300. Kumamoto Prefecture and Yatsushiro City are also promoting the eco-town concept, aiming for sustainable development of the Yatsushiro Port area through energy-efficient facilities and the use of clean energy. In this way, the Yatsushiro Eco-Port concept contributes to the recycling of local resources and the creation of local jobs, and is expected to further develop as an environmental model region in Kyushu in the future.