A hub of green circulation - Regional recycling base in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture (since 1997)

A hub of green circulation - Regional recycling base in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture (since 1997)

In the late 1990s, Japan was entering a period of low growth following the collapse of the bubble economy, and at the same time, the transition to a "recycling-oriented society" was beginning to be formulated as a policy. The following year, in 1998, the Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources was revised, and the reduction and recycling of waste was established as a system in earnest. Local governments also saw an urgent need to promote the reduction and recycling of municipal solid waste, and a number of advanced initiatives in cooperation with private companies began to emerge.

Minami Osaka Landscaping, based in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, was a pioneer of this era. The company redefined the large amount of pruning branches generated by its landscaping business as a "resource" rather than waste, and composted them into a product called "Recycled Taizumi Izumi," which was distributed locally. The compost is not just for gardening, but is blended with cattle manure supplied by local livestock farmers to enhance its quality as a soil conditioner. This kind of collaboration with livestock farmers also attracted attention as a way to create a mechanism to recycle local resources.

Furthermore, in response to the growing demand for greening in urban areas, the company had begun developing lightweight soil for rooftop greening. This was an important initiative at the intersection of the building and environmental fields as a measure to mitigate the heat island effect. At the time, rooftop greening was considered a symbolic means of environmental consideration in large cities, and subsidy programs were beginning to be introduced, so the company's project was timely.

The recycling base at Minami-Osaka Landscaping was a model case that embodied these three principles, and was a budding example of the "local production for local consumption" type of environmental business in Japan since 1997.