University Students Propose Plan to Companies to Decarbonize the Transportation Industry Returning Mass-Disposed Transport Pallets to Nature, Debriefing on December 7, 2024

2024.12.03 14:00

株式会社ニシヒロ

The transportation industry faces many challenges, including a shortage of drivers and the second highest CO2 emissions. Amidst the urgent need to work toward decarbonization and carbon neutrality, NISHIHIRO Corporation (Head office: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; President: Shiro Nishio), a transportation company, will launch an initiative to chip its own transport pallets, which are discarded in large quantities every year, and return them to nature in order to decarbonize the industry. Students of Fukuoka University Venture Entrepreneurship Theory will propose a business plan and report at the preliminary round of the business plan contest on Saturday, December 7, 2024.

HEROESと専務取締役

HEROES and Executive Director

Gap between reality and ideals

The National Institute for Environmental Studies of the Ministry of the Environment announced in April 2024 that the transportation industry is the second largest sector in terms of CO2 emissions in FY2022. While each sector decreased compared to the previous year, the transportation sector increased by 3.9%. Although daily efforts are being made to improve vehicle fuel efficiency, stop idling, and joint deliveries that make effective use of empty cargo bed space, a significant improvement has yet to be achieved, partly due to the impact of increased transportation volume due to the economic recovery from the Corona disaster.

Student-led, mass-disposed shipping pallets are returned to nature.

Nisshiro Corporation, a transportation company with 12 locations nationwide, is working with Fukuoka University students to create a business plan for decarbonization. A team of students from the Faculty of Economics, Venture Entrepreneurship, has proposed an initiative to return large numbers of discarded wooden pallets to nature by turning them into chips, which will be reported at the preliminary round of the business plan contest to be held on campus on December 7.

The 20-member student team "HEROES" will be in charge of the project. The team focused on the CO2 emitted when pallets are disposed of. The company disposes of 1,600 wooden pallets per year, equivalent to six 10-ton trucks. Wooden pallets used for transportation vary in standard depending on the products to be transported and the country from which they are imported. Because they vary in size, tier height, and board thickness, it is difficult to use them interchangeably. It is rare in Japan for a transportation company to process discarded pallets into chips or fertilizers on its own.

廃棄パレットをテーブルと椅子へ-1

Turning discarded pallets into tables and chairs-1

Environmental awareness for children in cooperation with the city

HEROES began its activities in April 2024. A partnership with Koga City, where the logistics warehouse is located, has been decided, and cooperation with Kanazawa Bio Research Institute in providing technology is also being considered. Four students visited the mayor of Koga City, and it was decided that chips processed by the company will be provided free of charge to elementary schools within this fiscal year as a weed control measure. The chips will be returned to the soil through the power of microorganisms, and the mayor readily agreed, hoping that scattering the chips with the children would provide an opportunity for them to become interested in environmental issues. We plan to expand the program to other elementary and junior high schools in the next school year and beyond.

In addition, the Kanazawa Biotechnology Institute, where the students conducted online interviews, has driftwood composting and woodchip recycling technology through university research. Since the "Chi-Sai-Ike Composting System" can create local agricultural products by returning local organic matter (waste) to high-performance, safe organic fertilizers, the institute is investigating the possibility of utilizing this system for chipped waste pallets.

チップ状にした廃棄パレット

Chipped waste pallets

古賀市長と学生代表4名

Mayor Koga and four student representatives

[To be a hero of society! Proposal filled with students' wishes].

Student's voice: "At first, we processed them into tables and other items for reuse and offered them to the Koga City Festival, but they were eventually disposed of, so we again examined ways to solve the fundamental problem. It will take some time to monetize the project, so there are issues to be addressed as a venture business. However, we heard that the company aims to contribute to society and be community-based, so we made this proposal because we thought it would be necessary to take a long-term perspective toward improving the environment."

The managing director in charge of the project said, "We had been looking for a new business that would help solve issues in the transportation industry within the company, but we were struggling to come up with a good idea. In an effort to enlist the help of young people, we asked students in the Fukuoka University Faculty of Economics Venture Entrepreneurship to help us create a business plan. Their ideas and energy were excellent, and their proactive approach to various areas helped us find a way forward. I heard that you named your team "HEROES" in the hope that we would become heroes in society and the world. We will continue to take over and give shape to our efforts to improve the environment."

The preliminary round will be held on December 7, and eight of the 16 teams will advance to the final round on December 21. The team that wins either the championship or the SDGS award at the finals will advance to the national competition to be held in March 2025.

専務取締役西尾孝史