JFE Engineering Corporation
J&T Recycling Corporation
SAPPORO BIO FOOD RECYCLING CORPORATION

SAPPORO BIO FOOD RECYCLING CORPORATION (President: Satoshi Ogura, Headquarters: Sapporo City, Hokkaido; hereinafter "SAPPORO BIO FOOD RECYCLING") has been constructing a new plant to update and expand the capacity of its food recycling power generation plant in Sapporo City, and held a power generation ceremony on May 15 to mark the commencement of operations at the new facility. The new plant is Hokkaido's largest food biogas power generation facility*1, and J&T Recycling Corporation (President: Hiroyuki Haseba) of the JFE Engineering Group operates food recycling power generation businesses*2 at six locations nationwide, including this site.

In 2018, Sapporo City formulated the "2nd Sapporo City Basic Environmental Plan" and has been actively promoting waste reduction and resource recycling initiatives toward achieving zero carbon city status by 2050. While the progress of the plan shows significant reduction in both "household waste" and "business waste" over the past decade, the volume and utilization rate of food waste remained a challenge. To address this issue, SAPPORO BIO FOOD RECYCLING has renovated its existing plant in the Sapporo Recycling Complex and significantly strengthened its processing capacity. The new plant will be capable of processing up to 100 tons per day, handling not only the existing 68 tons per day of municipal food waste from Sapporo City school meal centers but also industrial food waste from food manufacturing plants in and around Sapporo City.

The new facility generates electricity by fermenting food waste using microorganisms and using the produced methane gas as fuel. The power output is 1,980kW, with an expected annual power generation of approximately 16,420MWh (equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of about 4,560 households). The generated electricity will be sold through the FIT (Feed-in Tariff) system and through Urban Energy Corporation (UEC) (President: Taro Kawahara, Headquarters: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture), JFE Engineering's retail electricity subsidiary, aiming to promote local production and consumption of renewable energy. Furthermore, the fermentation residue produced during the treatment process will be entirely converted into fertilizer. This will realize a local "double recycling loop" that converts food waste into both clean power and fertilizer.

The JFE Engineering Group will continue to work with local communities to promote improved food recycling rates and local production and consumption of renewable energy, contributing to the realization of a recycling-based society.

*1: Largest biogas power generation facility using food waste as raw material in Hokkaido (according to our research)
*2: Food recycling business of J&T Recycling Group

■ Double Recycling Loop: Creating Renewable Energy and Fertilizer from Food Waste

■Company Overview

■Overall view of the facility

■ Power Generation Ceremony