What is produced from industrial waste treatment - pollutant or hope? | Noriko Ishizaka | TEDXUTokyo

Noriko Ishizaka became the president of Ishizaka Sangyo Co., Ltd. that was founded by her father some years ago, by persuading her father, then the company president, to let her take initiative in the midst of their bankruptcy crisis when the news reported that the high level dioxin concentration was detected from the agricultural products grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama where their company is, and the local people blamed her father's industrial waste disposal company for it. Since then, she has been working hard to create the environment not only for the employees to be able to work with pride and dreams but for the local communities while her company still being viewed as an "unwelcome industry." With her sensibility as a woman and her brand-new intellect, she has a vision for the company to bring innovation into the field of industrial waste utilization.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

(Music)

[Value. What is value?]

(Applause)

Thank you.

Is this mic working?

Today I have something

that I would like all of you
to think about.

Suppose you were shopping
for a new mattress today.

One is only 10,000 yen,

the other is 100,000 yen,
just like the one you sleep on

in a luxurious hotel.

Which one would you buy?

"I take sleep seriously
because it's important for beauty.

So, I will buy the good quality one
no matter how expensive it is,"

might be what some of you think.

Depending on the decision
according to your values,

the price may not mean anything to you.

Now, the mattress you paid for
has been delivered to your home.

The old mattress you have been using
is no longer needed.

After considering what to do with it,

you contacted industrial waste
disposal companies.

The company A said
that it would cost 5000 yen,

Ishizaki Sangyo said
7000 yen to dispose of it.

Which one would you choose?

"I don't want to spend money
for what I don't need,"

is what many of you have just thought
for a moment right now, isn't it?

Would you take a quick look at this?

This is the amount
of non-industrial garbage

that each of these countries
disposes of per year.

Non-industrial garbage
is what we dispose of in everyday life.

Of course, not all countries
are included in this data.

In Japan, about 50 million tons
of garbage produced in our daily life

is being disposed per year.

This means

that approximately 365kg per person

is being discarded every year.

Do you think that this amount

is too much or too little?

This graph shows

how each country disposes
of their household garbage.

At first glance, the dark blue
looks dominant, doesn't it?

This color shows that the waste
is buried into the ground.

In some countries,
most garbage is being buried.

It seems hard to distinguish
which one is which

by just looking at the colors.

Can you see it okay?

Actually in Japan,

we are incinerating 75% of garbage.

Since Japan has limited
space for landfills,

the percentage of garbage
to be buried is very small.

That is why we depend on incineration.

Well, then, how much do you think
the amount of the industrial waste

having been disposed since WWII is?

It is approximately
400 million tons per year.

What is industrial waste anyway?

The more active our economy
and industries get,

the richer our life gets,
and the more things we produce.

As the result, what comes out
in that process is industrial waste.

That is 400 million tons.

Comparing it to the size of Tokyo Dome,

it's roughly 1100 times as much
as the dome could hold.

Disposing of industrial waste is my job.

In Japan, there are about 18,000 companies

that accept and dispose
of industrial waste.

If you were informed
that you are going to have

an industrial disposal company
in your neighborhood,

how would you feel?

"Not in my back yard,"
whose abbreviation is "NIMBY,"

is a normal reaction.

Our industry has been viewed
as an "unwelcome industry."

I run the company that my father
started when I was small.

"She is the daughter of a binman."

"Do not play with her,"

were the words I overheard
when I was a child.

When I asked my father
why he started this business,

he answered,

"As I watched those things being dumped
into the ocean day after day,

I saw so many things
that could have been reused.

I am certain that the time
for recycling things will definitely come.

So, I started this business."

That was what my father told me.

However, have you heard the news
about dioxin reported in 1999?

Because of the news -

my company is in Tokorozawa, Saitama -

people in the local communities said,

"Your company is causing us problems,"

"Get out of this area,"

"We don't need your company here."

A lot of people began
saying things like that to us.

What my father thought was good for people

was considered to be useless by many.

But think again before you have
such view about this industry.

Who has been contributing
to producing such waste?

If we don't do this job,
where would the waste be taken?

I don't want you to forget
that it is our mission

for each one of us to figure out
what we should do with it.

I have been seeing people
who work at my company,

putting their hands into the piles
of stuff carried in by dump trucks,

to sort out what could be reused
from what could not, everyday.

Looking at them, I feel like
I am watching "Treasure in Japan."

And the moment of looking
at them makes me realize

that I am proud
of what my father has built.

What would we be able to produce
from industrial waste, then?

The premises of my company is roughly
3.5 times as vast as Tokyo Dome.

We use 20% of it for the operation
of industrial waste treatment.

The rest, 80%, is for preserving
the woodlands in the neighborhood.

From all over, not only Japan,
but also the world,

a lot of people visit us.

How should we dispose industrial waste?

If a facility like my company
is made in a community,

what would happen to the community?

How can we preserve
our environment from now on?

These are the questions
that we should ask ourselves,

and I hope visiting my company provides
people with an opportunity for it.

I also would like you to think about

how the facilities like my company
which are not too welcomed,

can get out of the current situation

and produce something new out of it.

Something new doesn't always
have to be made brand new from scratch.

Creating something new by transforming

things we already have made
and can no longer use

is also very important.

Without those who work in this industry,

and those who actually continue
handling the waste,

what would happen to the waste?

Who else would do the job?

We need to create a culture
where they can work with pride and dreams.

If I can give people
an opportunity for them to think

about what to do with industrial waste,

my role in this job would
become meaningful.

This is the thought that I have

while working as the president
of my company.

Do you want to live on the land

with the ground contaminated by waste?

Do you want to live
on the desert-like Earth,

with forests and rivers devastated?

Or do you want to live
in harmony with nature

in the environment
with rich forests and plenty of water?

It is our mission
for each one of us to choose.

This is the era
where the choice is up to us.

Thank you.

(Applause)