In 2016 Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by two large earthquakes. Mitsubishi Materials has been assisting Kumamoto by accepting disaster waste since the end of last year.
     The wood chips received from the local authorities in Kumamoto Prefecture are being put to effective use as a substitute thermal energy source in the manufacture of cement. Several hundred tons of wood are crushed on site and then shipped to the company’s Kyushu plant for processing, with the aim of finishing the project before the end of the 2017 fiscal year. Each cement plant utilizes wood chips and waste plastics in a high-temperature (1,450°C) forming process. One major benefit of this process is that it produces no secondary waste. At present, the Cement Business receives large quantities of coal ash from coal-fired thermal plants, incineration ash from trash burning sites, and sewage sludge from towns and cities, and puts these materials to effective use.

     After the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, disaster waste that had been identified as safe was shipped to and received and processed at three plants in Iwate, Aomori and Yokoze with the understanding of the local communities. The acceptance of the disaster waste from that earthquake was completed in March 2014, with Mitsubishi Materials handling some 88,000 tons of waste.
     Mitsubishi Materials uses technology and knowhow it has built up over the years in the effective use of waste materials to work with local authorities in assisting in stricken areas and contributing to a sustainable world.