Establishing the Legal Entity for the LCCN Promoting Association
Dear Valued Partners,
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support. After extensive discussions and collaboration with many of you, we are pleased to announce the establishment of a legal entity, tentatively named the LCCN Promotion Association, with formal registration scheduled for mid-November 2024. This initiative will further drive the advancement of LCCN (Life Cycle Carbon Neutral), a concept that goes beyond the traditional 3Rs by utilizing the heat generated from incinerating non-recyclable waste to supply steam to manufacturing plants and by producing plastics from captured CO₂, all in the pursuit of achieving carbon neutrality.
The founding board of directors will include leading academics from relevant fields. Additionally, companies joining after the entity’s establishment will appoint their representatives, ensuring the organization operates through strong collaboration between industry and academias.
Our core activities will focus on information exchange, sharing, and research and development. We aim to invite a wide range of organizations and companies involved in the LCCN supply chain to join as regular members. Moreover, we will seek the active participation of government bodies (related ministries, prefectural and municipal governments,
universities, and research institutions) as special members, and environmental service-related organizations will play a key role as regular members. Together, we will work energetically to promote LCCN and further its development.
We will provide updates on the upcoming schedule and sincerely invite you all to participate in this exciting endeavor.
Sincerely,
Exlucive Director Minoru Fujii
Board Members
Executive Director
| Minoru FUJII | National Institute for Environmental Studies |
|---|
Directors
| Masahiro OSAKO | Fellow, National Institute for Environmental Studies |
|---|---|
| Tsutomu ONO | Professor, Graduate School of Natural Sciences, Okayama University |
| Hiroshi ONODA | Professor, Graduate School of Environment and Energy, Waseda University |
| Masateru TAKAOKA | Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University |
| Wakana TAKAHASHI | Professor, Department of International Studies, Faculty of International Studies, Utsunomiya University |
| Yoshiko TSUJI | Professor, Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo |
| Takafumi NOGUCHI | Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo |
| Seiji HASHIMOTO | Professor, Department of Environmental and Urban Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University |
| Toru MATSUMOTO | Professor, Graduate School of International Environmental Engineering, Kitakyushu City University |
Establishment Secretariat
Ai TERADA & Shigeastu FUJII
phon ＋81-3-55449742 ✉️ info@lccn.or.jp
About the Activities of the LCCN Promotion Association
Association for the Advancement of Research
Purpose of Activity
Our goal is to achieve carbon neutrality across all processes in the chemical and paper industries, including the disposal of low-grade waste that is difficult to recycle. We aim for an early and economically viable realization of Life Cycle Carbon Neutrality (LCCN). One approach we are focusing on is the establishment of an "LCCN Circular System," while simultaneously promoting initiatives that contribute to carbon neutrality.
The "LCCN Circular System" integrates the recycling of waste plastics and the promotion of biomass plastics usage. It involves collecting low-grade waste (industrial and municipal) and processing it in LCCN plants for incineration and thermal recovery. This process provides heat for chemical and paper manufacturing while utilizing the resulting CO2 to synthesize chemical raw materials.
Activities
Phase 1 (approx 10 years)
- Collaboration, preparation, and advocacy to support the demonstration research of the LCCN Circulation System.
- Examinations, surveys, research, etc.
- Evaluation of the potential of the LCCN Circulation System.
- Research for the development of the LCCN Circulation System.
- Examination of the collection system, regional transportation, and acceptance framework.
- Support for regional expansion.
- Support for coalition building and rapid information sharing with members and others.
- Initiation of the pilot project.
Phase 2 onwards
- Expansion of the project and horizontal deployment both domestically and internationally.
Activity Features
- Conduct research in collaboration with organizations such as the Society of Chemical Engineers and the Society for Waste Resource Recycling.
- Examination and promotion of collaboration across multiple prefectures.
- Technical proposals and demonstrations related to the LCCN Circulation System.
- Promote model projects targeting domestic regions such as the Tokyo Bay area and Seto Inland Sea, as well as urban areas and regions in Asia.
In regions where connecting to the LCCN may face constraints, we aim to promote decarbonization by enhancing power generation efficiency, collaborating with local manufacturing industries, and exploring innovative methods to optimize heat utilization.
Towards the realization of carbon neutrality
Systems required for achieving carbon neutrality.
Low-grade waste that is difficult to recycle
Development required for system realization
Develop and implement a highly efficient system by integrating existing technological elements.
Examples of target activity regions
In Japan, there are several chemical complexes located in major cities that generate significant amounts of waste. Tokyo Bay and the Seto Inland Sea, both of which are suitable for maritime waste transport, are prioritized regions for our initiatives, although other areas may also be considered. Internationally, we will focus on the Asian region, where cultural similarities exist and the construction of incineration facilities is expected to accelerate. In addition to these areas, we will engage in information sharing, joint research, and collaboration to promote the social implementation of LCCN across various regions.
Tokyo Bay area
- Home to major industrial complexes in Chiba, Kawasaki, and Kashima.
- High waste supply in densely populated areas.
- Potential for waste transportation utilizing Tokyo Bay (easier to gain understanding from nearby residents compared to land transportation).
Seto Inland Sea coastal area
- There are several large industrial complexes in western Japan.
- The entire region, including the Keihanshin area, has a high waste supply volume.
- Potential for waste transportation utilizing the Seto Inland Sea (easier to gain understanding from nearby residents compared to land transportation).
Asian cities and their surrounding regions
- In many Asian cities, moving away from landfill waste disposal is an urgent challenge, while the introduction of incineration facilities is not easily achievable.
- Decarbonization of industry is an important challenge, with some targets for achieving carbon neutrality set for before 2050.
Promoting commercialization in multiple regions.
Achieving economically viable carbon recycling through the efficient processing and utilization of low-grade waste.
- By utilizing waste heat from incineration and the thermal energy from carbon capture and utilization (CCU) processes in chemical complexes, we can implement carbon recycling with energy efficiency comparable to that of chemical recycling.
- We pursue the implementation of carbon recycling with minimal additional costs by improving the efficiency of low-grade waste treatment and maximizing the high-efficiency use of heat and carbon sources.
- From the perspective of the chemical and paper industries, we aim to achieve carbon neutrality,
while from the viewpoint of the waste sector, we strive for carbon negativity.
Pursuing energy efficiency equivalent to chemical recycling through thermal utilization of incineration and Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU).
Management of Association
- We invite companies involved in the production, use, and waste management of plastics and paper, as well as local governments, ministries, universities, and research institutions, to participate widely. Our aim is to share the usefulness of LCCN and to develop concrete plans for its dissemination and expansion.
- With the cooperation of participating institutions and individuals from industry, government, and academia, we will advance the examination, demonstration, and commercialization of technologies and systems. Our efforts will focus on acquiring public funding and promoting private investment.
- The activity period for Phase 1 is approximately 10 years.
- The activity period will be updated periodically for Phase 2 and beyond.
By dramatically improving the efficiency of incineration and power generation from currently inefficient low-grade waste, we aim to secure initial development costs and future business expenses for carbon recycling.
