Development of the AK System
How it started
The local government of Hidaka-shi, along with Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, established a recycling research council around the time the city began looking into a new waste processing system as a way of updating their waste processing plant. The council conducted a great deal of research on completely new ways of recycling waste in an effort to achieve a recycling-based society. A demonstration test was conducted over the course of about a year and a half, starting in March 2001. The technology for the AK system was developed based on the test results for the system's safety and utility, as well as the impact it had on products. Amid the current pressing issue of waste disposal, the AK System is gaining much attention, and hopes are high that it will be the next-generation processing method for municipal waste.Current state
In November 2002, the AK System commenced operation at our Saitama Plant, located in Hidaka-shi, Saitama. This city of some 54,000 residents abandoned its former waste processing plant in favor of the AK System, which is turning approximately 15,000 tons of municipal waste a year into material that can be used in making cement.
