Nagoya City (Aichi Prefecture) - Building a Business Model through Increased Demand for Wood Chips 2003

Nagoya City (Aichi Prefecture) - Building a Business Model through Increased Demand for Wood Chips 2003
Around 2003, in response to the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-Oriented Society (enacted in 2000), Japanese industry was seeking to create a system that would allow both the recycling of waste as a resource and the reduction of greenhouse gases. FURUHASHI KOGYO CO., LTD. of Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, anticipated this trend and expanded its wood chip production business using construction demolition materials and wood residues as raw materials. The idea of converting the large amount of waste wood generated by the demolition boom into a resource was a symbol of the urban recycling business.

There were two main uses for wood chips. One was as a raw material for pulp in the paper industry, which attracted attention as a domestically produced supply source to supplement the dependence on imported wood chips. The other was as fuel for biomass power generation, and its use was expanding in mixed firing with coal-fired power generation and in dedicated firing boilers. Especially after the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, woody biomass was increasingly recognized as a renewable energy source, and the introduction and expansion of woody biomass was encouraged in the national government's new energy introduction guidelines.

In terms of related technologies, the introduction of large chippers and shredders for efficiently crushing construction demolition materials has progressed, and specific gravity and magnetic sorting technologies for separating foreign substances such as metals and plastics have been improved. In the biomass power generation field, fluidized bed boilers and gasification power generation systems were being researched and developed to increase the efficiency of wood fuel use. In addition, wood pelletizing technology began to be introduced, and there were moves to foster the market for small-scale district heating and home boilers.

FURUHASHI KOGYO's efforts in the Nagoya metropolitan area converted urban waste into recycled resources and functioned as a "recycling hub" connecting multiple industrial sectors such as energy, paper manufacturing, and construction. This case is a pioneering example of a business model that integrates waste treatment and energy supply, and has played an important role in expanding the use of biomass in Japan.