There are two things we can learn from the JFS article (below) on the generation of energy from passengers walking through the ticket gates at train stations.

One, the “think out of the box” mentality. If we put our mind to it, we can think of innovative ways to generate energy from different sources (not just depend on power plants) and use it for local specific purposes.

Two, the “first to try” spirit. If we don’t try, we would not know whether it works, especially for something that has not been done before. Either we take the risk, put in some money and do it first. Or we can be “kiasi” and wait for others to try it out and see how it goes. If it is successful, it is usually too late for us to follow suit and lead since others already have accumulated enough experience and know-how to do it better.

__________

Power Generating Floor Tested at JR Tokyo Train Station

The East Japan Railway Company (JR East) conducted a demonstration experiment from January 19 to March 7, 2008, at Yaesu North Gate, Tokyo Station, on a new power-generating floor. Installed at the ticket gate area, it generates electricity from the vibrations created by passengers walking through the ticket gates.

The power-generating floor is embedded with piezoelectric elements, which are 35 millimeters in diameter, and disc-shaped components used for loudspeakers. It uses 600 of these elements per square meter. While the loudspeaker creates sound by converting electric signals to vibrations, the floor adopts the reverse mechanism that produces electricity by harnessing the vibrational power generated from passengers’ steps. It is being developed by JR East with the aim of making stations more environmentally friendly and energy efficient.

Following the first experiment in autumn 2006, this test was aimed at verifying the improvement in power generation efficiency and durability. It was also targeted at verifying power-generating capacity, now more than ten times per unit of installation area compared to the performance in 2006. JR East expects to generate enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for about 80 minutes per day. It intends to use the power for station facilities such as automatic ticket gates or electric displays in the near future.

Source credit: Japan for Sustainability.

Share This

What is the current status on the recycling of food waste in Singapore? Currently, a local company recycles soya bean waste, spent grains and spent yeast into animal feed. A local food waste treatment plant was also set up last year to turn food waste from food courts, hotels and factories into compost and biogas.

In addition, a local non-profit organisation, Food from the Heart, collects unsold bread and pastries from bakeries and hotels and distributes them to welfare organisations, needy families and individuals (not really considered as recycling but reduces food waste nonetheless).

We are not sure what happens to the unsold, expired or soon-to-be expired food products in supermarkets and retail shops. There are a few possibilities:

1. Disposed and sent to the incineration plants
2. Sold at a cheaper price before the expiry date to clear stock
3. Donated before the expiry date to schools, charitable organisations or anyone who wants them
4. Recycled (we don’t think this is happening now): the food is sent to recycling plants for composting or digestion to produce biogas, and the food packaging (plastics, paper and metal cans) is recycled

From the 2006 waste data for Singapore, the recycling rate for food waste is only 8% and there is more room for improvement. For a start, we can learn from Japan and Korea.

In Korea, campaigns and policies have increased the food recycling rate to 81% in 2004 (Green Korea 2006 report). In Japan, there is a Food Waste Recycling Law that requires businesses and consumers to take responsibility for the reduction of food waste. Some retail stores have also implemented food waste recycling programmes (see article below from Japan for Sustainability).

———-

Convenience Store Chain Establishing a System to Recycle 100% of its Unsold Food

Seven & i Holdings Co., the parent company of the major convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan Co., started turning its food waste into animal feed on September 1, 2007, in cooperation with Agri Gaia System Co., a company specializing in food recycling. By the end of July 2007, Seven & i Holdings had already implemented the system of composting food waste from about 1,600 stores, or about 14 percent of all its stores. The company intends to raise this to roughly 2,350, or 20 percent, of its stores by the end of February 2008 (this does not include recycling of oil waste).

The two companies have been working on composting unsold food products collected from approximately 1,000 Seven-Eleven stores in Tokyo’s 23 wards since 2003. Seven-Eleven and Ito-Yokado Co., another company of the Seven & i Holdings group, have been selling watermelons and spinach grown using the compost made from the group’s waste food products. Under the new system, outdated food products such as packed lunches and delicatessen foods, collected under refrigeration once a day from stores by Seven-Eleven’s original waste collecting system, called the “eco distribution system,” which was established in 1994, are to be recycled fully by being processed into animal feed.

The waste food products will be sorted at Agri Gaia System’s recycling feed mill. Materials suitable for animal feed will be processed, while others will be composted or processed into methane gas to be used as supplementary fuel for the mill. Plastic food trays will be incinerated as an auxiliary fuel. Seven-Eleven intends to sell packed lunches and prepared food containing pork and poultry raised on the feed produced by this new recycling system.

Source credit: Japan for Sustainability. Image attribution: quotlumen.

Share This

In Hong Kong, a leading supermarket chain has started charging customers an optional 20 Hong Kong cents each for a biodegradable shopping bag. This is in response to the government’s plan to introduce an environmental levy of 50 Hong Kong cents each on plastic shopping bags soon. More on the news from The Straits Times website. And if you’re interested in the proposal on the levy on plastic bags, details are available from the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department website.

In Japan, more customers agree to the charge on plastic bags than those that oppose, and 60% of customers bring their own bags. Read more from the Japan for Sustainability article below.

———-

60% of Shoppers Carry Own Shopping Bags, 12% Always Decline Free Plastic Bags

Japan’s Ministry of the Environment released on May 30, 2007 the results of two surveys conducted in March, 2007: one survey on “customers’ utilization of plastic shopping bags and their awareness of the system for promotion of sorted collection and recycling of containers and packaging” and another survey on “retailers’ efforts to reduce the consumption of plastic shopping bags.”

The results show that, during the week before the survey, 85.0 percent of the customers received free plastic shopping bags every time they went shopping and only 11.9 percent did not.

Approximately 60 percent of those surveyed have their own shopping bags, showing that the practice of utilizing reusable shopping bags has become popular to some extent. Regarding the issue of charging for plastic shopping bags, 46.4 percent of the respondents agreed with the idea, outnumbering those who opposed it (28.9%). The price they said they wouldn’t mind paying for plastic shopping bags varied: Five yen (4 US cents) was the most popular (36.0%), followed by one to two yen (0.8-1.6 US cents) (21.5%) and three to four yen (2.4-3.3 US cents) (10.3%). Those who were aware of the revised Containers and Packaging Recycling Law accounted for 59.8 percent of respondents.

The latter survey of retailers confirmed that about 40 percent of retailers have set numerical targets for reducing the number of plastic shopping bags they distribute. Among specific efforts for reducing plastic bag distribution, the most popular was offering services such as giving customers stamps when they bring their own shopping bags. Only 9.4 percent of retailers were charging for plastic shopping bags.

Source credit: Japan for Sustainability.

———-

Source: The Straits Times; Environmental Protection Department; Japan for Sustainability. Image attribution: KingOfHiking: (r) 愛, 回家.

Share This

The Eco-Products 2007 - Eco Style Fair will be held in Tokyo from 13th to 15th December. This annual exhibition is Japan’s largest environmental and eco fair, showcasing the latest eco-friendly products, services and technologies. Around 160,000 people are expected to attend this exhibition, which has about 600 companies and organisations participating in 1,200 booths. Check out the Eco-Products website for more details on the exhibition.

To provide a guide for the Eco-Products exhibition, Japan for Sustainability (JFS) introduced the Eco-Products Navigator 2007 blog to give more information on products and companies in this year’s exhibition. The blog also contains information, pictures and movies for past exhibitions. And to help foreign participants, JFS is conducting free English guided tours during the exhibition. More details on the tours at the JFS website.

Those who are interested to attend the exhibition in Japan can drop us an email, maybe we can help to organise a group.

Source: Japan for Sustainability; Eco-Products 2007. Image attribution: Copyright Eco-Products 2007.

Share This