=?UTF-8?B?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 gcmVjeWNsaW5nIHN5c3RlbS4g4pagIEtTUCBKb2ludCBMYWIgQ28uLCBMdGQuIGhhcyBmb2N1c2VkIG9uIHRoaXMgcHJlLXByb2Nlc3Npbmcgc3RhZ2UsIHdoaWNoIGhvbGRzIHRoZSBrZXkgdG8gdGhlIHN1Y2Nlc3Mgb2YgcmVjeWNsaW5nIHN5c3RlbXMuIFRoZSBjb21wYW55IGlzIHBsYW5uaW5nIGFuZCBkZXZlbG9waW5nIGEgcmFuZ2Ugb2YgcHJvZHVjdHMgdW5saWtlIGFueXRoaW5nIHNlZW4gYmVmb3JlLiBXZSBzcG9rZSB3aXRoIFByZXNpZGVudCBUYWtlc2hpIE1pa2FzYSAoMjcpLg==?=

1. ■ Development and business launches related to recycling equipment are gaining momentum. In particular, research and development efforts are being focused on downstream sectors of the recycling process—such as the conversion of PET into fibers and the reprocessing of waste plastics into new materials. However, as recycling initiatives gain traction across various sectors and efforts begin to focus on building cost-effective systems, organizations often encounter obstacles in areas such as sorting and cleaning. These pre-processing steps in recycling are labor-intensive, but without thorough sorting and removal of foreign matter, the quality of recycled products declines, making it difficult to establish a viable recycling system. ■ KSP Joint Lab Co., Ltd. has focused on this pre-processing stage, which holds the key to the success of recycling systems. The company is planning and developing a range of products unlike anything seen before. We spoke with President Take
shi Mikasa (27).

2. ■ Planning and developing recycling-related equipment through outsourcing. President Misumi's decision to begin developing recycling equipment—specifically pre-treatment equipment—stemmed from a chance encounter. After graduating from high school, he moved to the United States and worked for a security company. There, he met Mr. Wada (currently a director at KSP Joint Lab), who had recently retired from a manufacturer of waste glass recycling equipment and was working at the same security firm. From Mr. Wada, he learned that there were large quantities of bottled food and beverages sitting unused in manufacturers' warehouses—due to expired shelf lives, model changes, or production adjustments—and that even major manufacturers were separating the containers from their contents by hand when recycling them. While it is possible to crush containers with liquid contents as-is, juice and other liquids seep out through the cut surfaces, degrading the quality of the
recycled product. Moreover, with solid contents like jam, crushing and recycling them directly is impossible. He explained that, as things stood, manual labor was the only option for recycling such items. ■ "I intuitively felt this could be a business opportunity. Technologically speaking, since we have the technology for automated bottling, I was convinced it was absolutely possible." Immediately, Mr. Wada and I launched the business in late December 1999 and established the company in February 2000. Although we started from scratch, we focused on planning and developing recycling-related equipment from the outset, aiming to expand our business by outsourcing design, manufacturing, and sales. They set out to develop an automatic washing machine for food and beverage bottles. When they approached a mid-sized trading company specializing in environmental equipment regarding sales, the company was enthusiastic—precisely because they understood the industry's reality
of manual labor. They responded that if a fully automatic machine could be developed at a reasonable cost, it would definitely sell, and their intuition turned into conviction. Development was completed quickly. Targeting an exhibition at the Food Industry Show in May, they finished development in just four months. We achieved rapid development by outsourcing everything from design to manufacturing. ■ A product lineup focused on pre-treatment. Here's how the "Bottom Upper"—developed by applying bottling technology—works. Containers filled with contents, fed into the machine via a conveyor, are sent one by one through a turntable and a separate indexer. A container catcher then grips them and sends them to the lid-opening device. The container is secured by a cam roller for lid removal; the lid is sent to a lid collection chute, while the container is sent to a washing tank. Once in the washing tank, the container is rotated 180 degrees to face downward, and the c
ontents are flushed out via a cleaning process involving the first through third jet showers. The discharged contents can be sent to a purification tank along with the wash water. The daily processing capacity is 5,000 units, and the price is 15 million yen. Since it is fully automated, a single operator can handle the entire process. The response to the machine at the Food Industry Exhibition was very positive.

3. ■ Over 300 inquiries were received during the four-day exhibition. "Choosing the Food Industry Exhibition was the right decision. Since other exhibits were all production line equipment, our product stood out," says President Misumi. This suggests that the issue had become a pressing concern within the industry. As a first step, a cosmetic cleaning plant is scheduled to begin operations at a major cosmetics manufacturer in April 2001, and the company reports having "about 10 promising projects in the pipeline." The company has also developed the "Label Peeler," which uses a heater to cut and peel off external labels from filled PET bottles and other containers; the "Wrap Peeler," which separates candy wrappers from the contents; and the "Trash Packer," an automatic compression packaging machine that performs the entire process, including stringing, automatically. All of these were developed in response to requests from the field. Regarding the "Poto
m Abber," the company is also proceeding with the development of equipment for all types of containers—not just bottles, but also milk cartons, PET bottles, and margarine containers—in response to inquiries. ■ Not Just Single-Unit Production, but Mass Production as Well The equipment developed to date is inevitably custom-made to fit specific recycling sites and containers. Consultations alone can sometimes take up to six months. Conversely, while this is a niche market that major equipment manufacturers find difficult to follow or compete in, there are limits to business expansion. Therefore, the company is also entering the highly competitive food waste processor market. Scheduled for release in August 2001, the "ZANPAN" was jointly developed with Nippon Denka Kogyo. It uses a pyrolytic heater as its heat source and employs a mechanism that gradually raises the temperature to 1,000°C to reduce and decompose food waste into odorless charcoal powder, reducing it
s volume to one-two-hundredth of its original size. The standard model measures 100 cm × 80 cm × 150 cm and can process 500 liters per day with continuous feeding and 24-hour operation. The price is expected to range from 5 to 7 million yen, and the company plans to launch the product once a method for reusing the charcoal has been established. Key differentiating factors include its size, which allows it to be installed inside a kitchen like a refrigerator, and its ability to reach 1,000°C using a direct-fired heater.

4. ■ President Misumi states that the market launch of this device will enable the company to propose an integrated system that automatically separates and processes food contents and containers, while also achieving a dramatic expansion of business scale. In terms of sales volume, the company expects the ratio of made-to-order products to mass-produced items to be approximately 1 to 7. The company aims for annual sales of 3 billion yen and an operating profit margin of 30% by its fifth year of operation (three years from now), and is also considering an over-the-counter stock offering around the same time. That said, the company has no intention of expanding indiscriminately. While the company plans to handle design and sales in-house in the future, manufacturing will be managed through outsourcing and the franchising of contract factories. The company aims to firmly establish its position as a planning and development firm specializing in recycling-related equipment. Addi
tionally, the company is considering offering consulting services to provide information on waste materials in general. For now, since this is a completely new market featuring highly innovative equipment, there are no competitors. Furthermore, it is unlikely that major companies will enter this labor-intensive field anytime soon. We have effectively established a unique position in the market early on. Precisely because the equipment is so innovative, many clients—while showing interest—are hesitant to adopt it, wondering if the benefits will justify the cost. However, we have already received orders, and as we gradually gather data from these clients, our case will become much more persuasive. With the tailwind of the Container and Packaging Recycling Act and the Food Recycling Act, we expect to steadily expand our business.