In the scenic town of Takuma, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture, with views of the Seto Inland Sea National Park and the Sanuki Mountain Range, a project that could open the door to the circular economy era is now underway. This is not just a demonstration experiment but a real-world challenge in recycling small household appliances like computers, conducted at an operational factory. The key players are Kurotani, a company involved in alloy manufacturing, and SJW (based in Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture), which handles resource recycling businesses such as E-scrap under the same group. Supervising the project are Professor Chiharu Tokoro and Associate Professor Yutaro Takaya from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School. Through repeated analysis of the materials extracted along the processing steps, the ultimate goal is to create a sustainable recycling business model backed by profitability. To witness the new breeze blowing from Setouchi, I visited SJW’s factory in Takuma.

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