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The new system was developed by Professor Tadayuki Imanaka, a well known scientist in biochemical engineering and a professor at the Graduate School of Kyoto University in Kyoto.
Imanaka announced earlier this month that he had succeeded in an experiment in which mashed potatoes were dissolved with the help of nothing but natural microbes. The remaining waste was measured at one-twentieth of that created by conventional microbiotic disposable processes. Such minimal waste can be flushed into sewage with water.
The method is being tested at a food processing factory in Maizuru City, Kyoto, starting this month. The test plant will be able to treat up to 500 kilograms of raw carbon hydrate garbage a day. As the low quantity of residual waste will no longer require transportation to landfills or sites for burning, the factory expects to reduce its garbage disposal costs by one-fifth.
Imanaka's method uses various types of microbes to treat garbage in a highly efficient manner, thus reducing the waste to a minimum. If the test operation proves successful, the system will go into full-fledged operation next year, capable of treating 7.5 tons of garbage per day.
The process, utilizing nothing but microbes and bacteria as disposal agents, would consume very little electricity, further lowering factories' operational costs.
Imanaka has long been exploring the vast potential of micro-creatures. "Microbes are the original inhabitants of the earth," he says. "We must coexist with them. The powerful microbes may save our planet."
About ten years ago, he discovered a species of super-thermophilic bacteria the size of one micron. It was multiplying in 90-degree Celsius water at a hot spa off the southern tip of Kyushu. He named it "Thermococcus kodakaraensis KODI", adopting the name of the site of discovery. He has since decoded its genome.
It was also established that KODI decomposes raw garbage at a high temperature and high speed. In the process it produces a huge amount of hydrogen in a process much more efficient than the conventional method of generating methane from raw garbage by biomass fermentation and decomposing the gas with steam.
