Japan – bank funds 2.5 billion yen for construction waste recycling

The Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) announced that last Autumn it had provided a loan of 25 billion yen (about U.S.$22.5 million) to Recycle Peer Co., a newly established company specializing in construction waste recycling. Japan for Sustainability reports that the project is designated as one of the "Super Eco-Town Projects" promoted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to develop recycling facilities on the city-owned land along the Tokyo waterfront.



Most construction debris is typically collected as mixed waste, because limited space at demolition sites makes it difficult to sort the material. In addition, since the debris often includes composite materials, it is not easy to process it. As a result, the recycling rate of construction waste is lower than that of any other type of industrial waste, one factor behind the problem of illegal dumping of construction debris. Another problem is that Tokyo depends heavily on other prefectures to handle construction waste, due to a shortage of waste treatment facilities near the city.



Recycle Peer plans to reach a target 94 percent recycling rate, an extremely high rate for construction debris recycling, through grinding and washing process of the debris and recycling of collected dust, as well as the conventional waste treatment of sorting, crushing and compacting.



Recycle Peer was jointly established by 25 companies in construction, waste treatment, material manufacturing and environment-related industries, including Takeei Co., a major construction waste management firm and the planner of this project. The company will start operations in January 2005