[Feature: Toward a Circular Economy and Society] Hiroya Tanaka: On the Launch of the "Digital-Driven Circular Economy Participatory Society Co-creation Hub"

2022/12/05

The "Digital-Driven Circular Economy Participatory Society Co-creation Hub" is an industry-academia-government-citizen collaboration project that began at the end of 2021. It was launched after a research proposal submitted through the co-creation of Keio University as the lead institution, Kamakura City as the managing municipality, 24 participating companies (managing company: KAYAC Inc.), and other participating universities was selected for the Regional Co-creation Field/Nurturing Type project of the "Program on Open Innovation Platform for University-Associated Venture Ecosystem (COI-NEXT)" by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

The "Mixed-Recycle Large-Scale 3D Printer," developed through research and development in the predecessor JST Center of Innovation Program (COI, 2013–2021), was used to manufacture 98 podiums for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At that time, we were able to material-recycle (upcycle) approximately 24.5 tons of used detergent containers collected from all over the country. Afterward, I felt that this technology should be further refined into something that takes root in the "local community."

The podium project revealed several challenges alongside its achievements. One was that because it was a nationwide initiative, the transport distances from collection points to factories and warehouses were long and complex, resulting in losses from the perspective of CO2 emissions. In recent years, in the field of resource circulation, there has been a growing shift in perspective from "simply circulating" to "what kind of 'better circulation' should be designed." For example, Nancy Bocken, a researcher in sustainable business model innovation, has published a framework for "(1) closing, (2) slowing, and (3) narrowing resource loops."* For a "better circulation" that also contributes to decarbonization, it is necessary not only to "close the loop" but also to reduce transport distances as much as possible by circulating resources within the region and reincarnating them into long-life products that are used for longer periods.

Collaboration with local governments is indispensable for resource circulation initiatives set in the local community. In Japan, waste and resource collection are under the responsibility of local governments and have been operated according to rules tailored to regional characteristics and populations. The "Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics" came into effect in April 2022, and to promote it, high-level collaboration between industry and local governments is necessary. University knowledge is increasing in importance as a foundation for connecting the two.

Kamakura City in Kanagawa Prefecture, the managing municipality for this project, is a "medium-sized city" with a population of approximately 170,000. It is known as the birthplace of Japan's national trust movement and as an area with high environmental awareness. It has reduced waste by 60% over the past 30 years, and since more than 20 types of detailed separate collection are currently implemented, the recycling rate is 52.7% (the national average is around 20%). This is the highest figure in the country among municipalities with populations between 100,000 and 500,000. However, some municipalities, such as Kamikatsu Town in Tokushima Prefecture and Osaki Town in Kagoshima Prefecture, already have recycling rates exceeding 80%. Kamakura City is also facing new challenges, such as the decision to shut down aging waste incineration facilities, and is in a situation where a new approach is needed to transition to a structure that "reduces waste and increases resources."

In the "Comprehensive Partnership Agreement on the Realization of a Creative Future City" signed between the Keio Research Institute at SFC and Kamakura City in 2020, our directions aligned in aiming to improve citizens' ability to solve regional issues using data and technology. At the COI-NEXT Keio Kamakura Hub, where I serve as project manager, we are proposing the thorough utilization of digital technology aimed at intra-regional resource circulation. We plan to sequentially introduce town monitoring technology using AI cameras attached to garbage trucks by Professor Jin Nakazawa of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and sensing technology that operates independently without batteries by Professor Jin Mitsugi of the same faculty, to "visualize" the flow of resources in the town through data and make the information public. Another point we want to emphasize is using digitalization (DX) as a means to lead citizen participation. In Kamakura City, the digital regional currency "Machi-no-Coin" (developed by KAYAC Inc., whose CEO Daisuke Yanagisawa is a 1996 graduate of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) was introduced in January 2021. Public activities such as town planning are maintained through the exchange of value different from conventional legal tender. By collecting coins somewhere in the town and using them somewhere else, various community activities in the region become organically connected.

The starting idea for this project was "Resource Circulation DX," which connects such digital information to increase transparency, fosters a sense of participation in resource circulation, derives academic insights from accumulated data, and leads to further optimization of measures and operations [Figure 1].

Building on that, we are further considering the development of new indicators to show "intra-regional circulation." The "recycling rate" published by local governments until now represents the ratio of recovered resources out of the waste generated, measuring the so-called "outflow" part. However, in aiming for a "circular society" in recent years, there has been active movement to measure the ratio of recovered resources used again in the manufacturing process—the "inflow" part that returns to the start of the loop—and to index "circularity" from both sides (for example, the CTI (Circular Transition Index) by the WBCSD (World Business Council for Sustainable Development)). While these movements are currently led by product manufacturers, we are using them as a reference to devise a municipal version of circularity indicators and are beginning to consider whether the degree of regional circulation (local-disposal-local-consumption rate) can be used as a new yardstick. "Visualization" through digital technology and setting new indicators as common goals will serve as the development of a platform where various players from industry, academia, citizens, and government can naturally co-create.

The "Program on Open Innovation Platform for University-Associated Venture Ecosystem (COI-NEXT)" carries the slogan "People change, universities change, society changes." In the conventional linear economy era, the division of roles was that companies "manufacture and sell goods," citizens "purchase, use, and discard goods," and local governments "process waste." However, in the coming circular society, companies will bear the responsibility not only to sell goods but also to "collect what they have sold," and local governments will bear the role not only to process waste but also to "connect recovered resources to new regional wealth." Citizens, who play the role of connecting these, will also need a new citizen consciousness different from that of conventional "consumers."

However, rather than being driven by necessity, it seems to be naturally budding from within the citizens themselves. Of the 24.5 tons of recycled materials used to make the Olympic podiums, 13 tons were posted by citizens into collection boxes installed at schools, supermarkets, and drugstores. To give a clear outline to this new citizen consciousness and behavior, we have decided to use the term "Circulators." We hope to clarify the substance of the change in consciousness and behavior that differs from conventional "consumers" and lead the way toward its further expansion, penetration, and establishment.

The future town where "Circulators" live should be one where facilities and systems different from the present are introduced. Based on long discussions with the 24 companies participating in the project, particularly Taisei Corporation, a draft of the "Future City Image" was born and released as a four-minute video movie [Figure 2].

What this video depicts is the image of a city that actively increases value from "waste to resources, and further, from resources to town assets" by promoting cascade utilization that connects and repurposes resources from various industries, including plastics and natural waste that have not been effectively utilized until now. We aim to transform relatively short-lived products (flow products) into long-lived products (stock-type artifacts) as much as possible. Toward the realization of the vision depicted in the video, we opened a satellite lab in a location five minutes on foot from JR Kamakura Station. Kamakura Mayor Takashi Matsuo participated in the kick-off symposium, and an active exchange of opinions took place, including President Itoh [Figure 3]. With Professor Kenji Miyamoto of the Faculty of Science and Technology, who was in charge of the keynote speech here, we are subsequently conducting special classes and experiments on plastic decomposition by microorganisms at elementary schools in Kamakura City.

This project is conducting social experiments with Kamakura City as the first stage, but the ultimate goal is to deploy a new social model to various municipalities in Japan and abroad. In 2001, the "Kassel Project" was conducted to popularize biodegradable plastics in a town and demonstrate whether their use contributes to the formation of a circular society. Kassel, Germany, the stage for this, is also a city with a population of 200,000, similar to Kamakura. The movement that started there later spread throughout the world and was used as a reference for model projects in Japan as well. Our satellite lab has already been visited for inspection by Umeå, Sweden, and Venice, Italy, which are linked with Kamakura City through the "International Urban and Regional Cooperation Program," as well as Bhutan and Yogyakarta, Indonesia, through JICA's "International Exchange Program." Through discussions there, while understanding differences in population scale and culture, expanding the network of new resource circulation cities has become our new goal.

The "Mixed-Recycle Large-Scale 3D Printer" is currently beginning to be used to create town benches, playground equipment, planters, and more using plastics collected from the region and coffee grounds. Additionally, the "Resource Collection Box" was redesigned as the green "Shigen Post" (Resource Post), manufactured with our 3D printer, and installed at Kamakura City Hall and other locations [Figure 4]. This project has only just begun, but we hope to push forward with various stakeholders and researchers to lead a new future society 10 or 20 years from now.