Translator: Reiko Bovee Reviewer: Ellen Maloney
(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)