Creating a sustainable society. "Circular Action in daily life"

Description

Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co.Ltd., whose brand concept is "Life-styling and age-friendly", and ECOMMIT Corporation, a provider of resource recycling infrastructure with the vision of "realizing a society that does not throw away resources", have joined forces in a project aimed at realizing a recycling-oriented society from the perspective of housing and living. Ltd. and ECOMMIT Corporation, a provider of resource recycling infrastructure under the vision of "Achieving a society that never throws away resources. As part of Mitsui Fudosan Residential's "Sasukatsu for Life" program, which encourages people to enjoy and practice sustainable decarbonization activities, we are working with residents to create new housing values that become more attractive the longer they live under the theme of "something a little better for you and for the earth. The project is aimed at creating new housing values that become more appealing the longer one lives in the building.
Since the program started in May 2023, a total of approximately 7 tons of clothing and sundry goods that might have been thrown away have been rescued as of the end of October, and the reuse rate of collected items has climbed to 89.2%. The program aims to further expand its coverage area and promote a low environmental impact lifestyle.

Story

Compared to the manufacturing and distribution systems of today's society, there is an overwhelming lack of "systems for circulating things. According to data from the Ministry of the Environment*², more new clothes are purchased than are given away, and as many as 35 pieces of clothing per person are not worn even once in a year. In addition, 70% of the clothing that is given away is disposed of as combustible or noncombustible waste, incinerated, or landfilled because it is "too cumbersome. In order to stop mass disposal and recover and redistribute as many resources as possible, it is important to establish a system that encourages reuse and recycling in a way that benefits consumers with as little labor and effort as possible. In order to solve this issue, we will first set up permanent unwanted item collection stations in the common areas of five condominium buildings in the Toyosu area (approximately 4,000 units*¹), where people can easily drop off their unwanted clothes and other miscellaneous items anytime they feel like it. This provides an alternative to throwing things away in our daily lives and a mechanism to deliver items that are no longer used to the next person who needs them.

*¹：Properties that have been sold or leased by Mitsui Fudosan Residential and properties that Mitsui Fudosan Residential Group companies are entrusted to manage.

*²：Ministry of the Environment丨Sustainable Fashion (https://www.env.go.jp/policy/sustainable_fashion/)

Link

• https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000027.000067508.html
• https://www.env.go.jp/policy/sustainable_fashion/

Images

Judge’s Comments

Lucy Lu

Director General of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Chiayi City

Power from Bottom Up Prize

I like this project for several reasons. First of all, it’s a system built by a private company, and I’m excited when a company has the ambition to make a real social impact. Second, the project is remarkable for its scalability and sustainability, and it could well turn out to be very profitable in the long term. I’m also very interested to see how government policy on sustainability and these private sector-led approaches to sustainability interact and influence each other.