To the Flame of Waste Pachinko - A Poem of Rebirth in 1995

To the Flame of Waste Pachinko - A Poem of Rebirth in 1995
In 1995, Japan was in the midst of an economic slump following the collapse of the bubble economy, but interest in waste disposal and resource recycling was growing. In urban areas, the limits of industrial waste disposal capacity were exposed, and illegal dumping and improper disposal of waste became social problems. In particular, hundreds of thousands of large amusement machines (pachinko machines) used in the pachinko industry and other industries are renewed every year, and these machines have become a "negative legacy" for which it is difficult to secure a disposal site.

In the midst of this chaos, Chichibu Onoda and Heiwa began an innovative experiment. The company crushes and molds discarded pachinko machines and reuses them as solid fuel for cement baking furnaces. The system is capable of processing 400,000 units per year, which is equivalent to about 4,500 tons of coal equivalent fuel. The system has attracted attention from the perspective of effective resource utilization and waste reduction. The initiative aims to address the shortage of disposal sites and illegal dumping by having Heiwa, a machine manufacturer, pay for the collection and costs.

Furthermore, the 1990s was a period in which recycling legislation was being developed, and the concept of manufacturer responsibility (EPR: extended producer responsibility) was gradually beginning to permeate society. In anticipation of this legal trend, the establishment of a system for the collection and recycling of end-of-life equipment by pachinko/pachislot machine manufacturers had the potential to serve as a model case. In the future, the concept of expanding the target areas and expanding the system to other companies was discussed.

This case can be seen as symbolic of the contradictions of the "era of mass disposal" that Japan was facing in the mid-1990s and the desire to shift to a "recycling-oriented society. It is a memory of a challenge in which technology, institutions, corporate responsibility, and social needs came together to open the possibility that waste could once again generate value like a flame.