Takashi Sayama (President of Marshall Plant) - With the historical background of the 1990s

Takashi Sayama (President of Marshall Plant) - With the historical background of the 1990s

In the mid-1990s, Japan was in the midst of an economic recession following the bursting of the bubble economy, while environmental issues emerged at the forefront of society. In urban areas and local governments in particular, final disposal sites were becoming increasingly tight, and even the construction of new waste incineration plants faced opposition from residents. In addition, the dioxin problem was coming under close scrutiny, and there was a desperate need for technology to break away from dependence on conventional incineration and to recycle waste as a resource.

Under these circumstances, the efforts of the Marshall Plant, led by Takasi Sayama, a business owner in Bungotakada City, Oita Prefecture, were innovative. He developed a device that can convert 10 tons of food waste into high-quality fertilizer in just 48 hours, significantly shortening the processing time that previously took several weeks. This technology was highly acclaimed as a world-leading, groundbreaking recycling model that links municipal waste disposal measures and agricultural compost use.

In the 1990s, Japanese society was beginning to discuss the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-Oriented Society (enacted in 2000), and Sayama's achievement is a pioneering example of such a law. In addition, while environmental businesses at the time were often thought to be centered on metropolitan areas and large corporations, the case of Sayama showed that "environmental technologies originating in local regions" were attracting attention in Japan and abroad, and proved that there could be a direct link between local industries and international issues.

The efforts of Takashi Sayama are not merely a technological development, but a symbol of "environmental solutions from the local region to the world" that simultaneously solve local waste disposal and promote agriculture, and have given a clear path to later discussions of a recycling-based society.