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Internally circulating fluidized-bed gasifier

Changing the world of plastic recycling with our unique technology "Waste treatment that goes beyond incineration = ICFG® Internal Circulating Fluidized Bed Gasification System"

What is "waste disposal beyond just burning"?

As we take on the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which are inseparable from our lives, from exhaust fumes from automobiles and airplanes, heating, thermal power plants, livestock on farms, and even human breathing, our environmental company, which operates waste treatment plants domestically, is trying to tackle CO2 emissions from "waste incineration" from a unique angle.

It's a somewhat hard-to-imagination method of "waste disposal that doesn't just involve burning." The material we are challenging is "plastic." Currently, plastic waste accounts for 15% of household waste. The total amount is 8.24 million tons, of which approximately 80% has already been recycled. However, more than 60% (5.1 million tons) of this recycling is thermal recovery. The idea is to make effective use of the heat generated by burning. Although this is a useful recycling method, CO₂ is produced during the incineration process.

However, there are also recycling methods that do not produce CO₂. This includes "material recycling" (1.77 million tonnes), in which plastic is washed, crushed, granulated, and then melted down for reuse, and "chemical recycling" (290,000 tonnes), in which plastic components are broken down to an intermediate synthesis stage and turned into chemical materials. In other words, the future of plastic waste recycling depends on how well we can replace "thermal recovery" with "material recycling" and "chemical recycling."

Developing our own unique technology

Therefore, we have developed our own unique technology, the "ICFG Internal Circulating Fluidized Bed Gasification System." This is a technology that involves pyrolyzing plastics in a temperature-controlled high-temperature environment and "extracting gases other than carbon dioxide" such as ethylene and propylene. ICFG is an original Ebara technology developed based on waste treatment plant technology that separates mixed waste into combustibles, non-combustibles, gas, air, etc. ICFG is an approach that enables the processing of waste plastics that contain a variety of materials and foreign objects that are difficult to separate, and enables "chemical recycling" by obtaining gas that can be used for other materials without emitting carbon dioxide in the process.

*The photo was taken during the "demonstration in the 2000s"

Aiming for chemical recycling of waste that is difficult to separate

Of course, it is very important for each individual to separate their trash, but we are trying to use ICFG to help with trash that is "difficult to separate" even if individuals separate their trash. For example, plastic containers with food on them or equipment that only partially contains plastic materials. Our lives are filled with things that are difficult to separate through individual effort. Our company will contribute to replacing waste that could not be separated and had to be sent for thermal recovery with chemical recycling. Domestically, industry groups are working together to aim for a significant expansion from the current 290,000 tons to 2.5 million tons.

The challenge of spreading the word not just in Japan but around the world

And Japan is not the only place where this technology can be put to good use. Looking around the world, there are areas where waste sorting has not taken root and where incineration facilities are not even widely available. However, we must continue to move towards decarbonization for the sake of the future of humanity.

Waste will inevitably be generated as long as humans live. We are taking on the challenge of "leaving no waste behind."