Because everybody in Milky Way class is so curious about how recyclable materials are being recycled, we went to the eCONeCOL, a recycling factory which was known as SynEco, to discover more about the recycling process. Outside and inside the building, everyone saw mottainai boxes with the recyclable materials in it. As we went around the place, the staff showed us a lot of aluminum cans, the crushing machine they use, and the big cubes of crushed aluminium cans. They said that they use it to make new aluminium cans. They also showed us how they transfer the content of mottainai into the crushing plant. We were surprised to see right in front of us how the crane lifted up the broken car and transferred it to the crusher! Woah!!! They had a short quiz about the 3 R’s and everybody enjoyed answering the questions. Each of them received a book as a reward to them for answering the questions eagerly. 

The learning didn’t stop there because the next day, we went to visit the Matsumoto Clean Center. This is the place where burnable garbage goes that was collected by the garbage trucks. They learned that they burn the garbage to reduce the amount of garbage by turning it into ash. The heat produced by burning the garbage makes the water in Lala Matsumoto swimming pools warm. They also convert the heat from the burning garbage to electricity which is called waste-to-energy. Everybody saw how much garbage they collected, how the workers separate and check the garbage to make sure there’s no metal mixed up to them which may break the machines they use, how the crane mixes the garbage and puts it in the incinerator. The staff also explained to them the steps on how they recycle paper using the paper upcycling machine. After that, they also received an airplane craft using the recycled paper that they can do at home.

Thank you so much, eCONeCOL and Matsumoto Clean Center, for accommodating us and for the wonderful and fun learning experience!

Thank you for reading and have a great weekend!