Chopsticks - The new Biofuel? Japan Thinks So
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08.22.07
Yup, crazy at it may seem, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is looking to introduce recycling bins to begin collection the country’s hearty supply of disposable chopsticks. It appears, that on average, each of that nations 127 million souls discards 200 sets annually. The resulting 90,000 tons of wood can, apparently, be converted to a biofuel, though those details are little sketchy. Ministry officials believe they’ll still come out in front, even after factoring in the “greenhouse gas emissions, of the process of collecting the chopsticks, carrying them to facilities and then producing the biofuel." Strikes us as an end-of-pipe ‘solution,’ particularly as it is touted as a way of reducing Japan's reliance on imported oil, especially given that 90% of the chopsticks are imported anyhow. Maybe a levy, such as China imposed, would help reduce the waste in the first instance. Via ::Physorg. Pic by Greg Baker / AP
We’ve covered the chopstick issue many times before, such as here, and here, for instance.
UPDATE: We just noticed this fuller article at Breitbart, which suggests the trial is likely to take the chopsticks to ethanol-producing facilities in Osaka and Okayama prefectures. Though some may processed, together with waste paper, to produce a wood pellet fuel. Japan has 30 such plants, which can do this pelletisation.
TH Forums Highlights: Bike to Work, Boycott Beef, Talk to Strangers and More...
|
Green or Not?: Braun's Energy Star Shavers
|
I can see this not being a good thing! Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries should not be promoting the use of single-use chopsticks! And though they are not coming right out and saying "use them" ,by promoting the biofuel angle on this the people in Japan will actually think they are doing something good for thier country by using single-use chopsticks! Instead they should be trying to get people to bring their own!
Bad idea.. I recently saw a post that said that harvesting wood for chopsticks was beginning to start a tree shortage in the areas around China. I think it would be more valuable to focus on developing cellulosic ethanol from waste plant matter than from chopsticks, which are hard to collect, prepare, degrade, and convert to EtOH.
I also agree that we should just be focusing on reducing the number of chopsticks consumed instead of recycling. The whole Reduce, Reuse, Recycle thing is in order... reduce the disposables, reuse (by making the chopsticks higher quality) the ones that are used, and finally recycle the waste (by converting it to paper? cardboard?)
-- Daniel Lunsford
While it would be better for people to use reusable ones, it's a fact that people will carry on using disposable chopsticks anyway. As long as they don't promote disposable ones. To make use of them is a great idea - I wonder why nobody thought of it earlier?
I wouldn't focus on dissing Japan. If you've ever been there, surely you've noticed that it's a nation absolutely obsessed with conservation and recycling.
Although it seems a good idea to use the old chop sticks as a bio fuel.
Why can't they recycle them to reproduce more disposible chop sticks? We recycle paper products to make more paper products, they same can be done for a synthetic wood. I understand that they wouldn't be a pure wooden chop stick, but I do believe they could form them into any shape other than a pellet for biofuel.
At least they are thinking in way to reduce their waste. Imagine if we did that with our fast food bags and packaging, we would be in a much better position than we are today.
bad idea, much better to bring out green chopsticks made from 100% natural waste, that protect the 25 mln tree's Japan destroy every year in China.