We are pleased to announce that we have been selected for the “
FY2024 Supplementary Budget Project for Future-Oriented Co-creation with the Global South (Large-Scale Demonstration Project: ASEAN Member States).”
Through this project, we will establish a closed-loop waste management system on Koh Tao, Thailand.
https://www.deloitte.com/jp/ja/Industries/government-public/information/globalsouth2.html
以下、日本語プレスリリース（PDF)
GOMIソリューションズ株式会社（本社：北九州市小倉区、代表取締役社長 CEO：関山一太、以下「当社」）は、このたび、経済産業省がAMEICCに拠出して行われる「グローバルサウス未来志向型共創等事業」において、当社が提案した「タイ王国／廃棄物の脱焼却・埋立型資源循環経済プラットフォーム実証事業」が採択されたことをお知らせいたします。
本事業は、タイ王国・タオ島を対象に、混合一般廃棄物および既存埋立廃棄物を含む日量20トン規模の廃棄物を処理対象とし、前処理、減容、資源回収、エネルギー回収を組み合わせた循環型廃棄物処理システムの実装・実証を行うものです。焼却や単純埋立に依存しない新たな資源循環モデルの構築を通じて、離島・観光地における持続可能な廃棄物処理の実現を目指します。
「本実証事業の特長と、過去のパラオ実証との違い」
当社はこれまで、パラオにおいて小規模装置（GXB-1）を用いた実証事業を実施し、海洋プラスチックや廃タイヤなどの処理困難廃棄物を対象に、安全かつ確実な処理の実現性や、船上での稼働可能性を検証してまいりました。このパラオ実証は、日量数百kg規模の処理を前提とした技術実証型の取り組みであり、自治体全体の廃棄物処理システムを代替するものではなく、限定的・補完的な役割を担うものでした。
これに対し、今回のタイ・タオ島における実証は、島内で発生する混合一般廃棄物に加え、既存埋立地に蓄積された廃棄物も含めた島全体の廃棄物フローを対象とする大規模実装型の実証事業です。処理規模はパラオ実証と比べて大幅に拡大しており、単なる技術確認にとどまらず、前処理・選別から減容、資源回収、エネルギー回収までを一体的に運用し、社会実装を前提としたモデルの確立を目指します。
また、本事業では、自治体等からの廃棄物処理受託によるTipping Feeに加え、金属類、PET、炭、再生油などの再生資源の売却収益も視野に入れています。これにより、循環型廃棄物処理の事業性、運営管理体制、オペレーションの再現性まで含めて検証する点が大きな特長です。
「補助金の意義と期待される成果」
本事業は、人口約8,000人の観光離島であるタイ・タオ島を対象に、日本発の循環型廃棄物処理技術を実装・実証し、将来的な横展開と標準化につなげることを目的としています。対象となるのは、島内全域から発生する1日数十トン規模の廃棄物であり、単なる小規模な技術検証ではなく、観光需要の季節変動を含む実運用条件下で、年間365日ベースの運転データを取得しながら、処理能力、運転安定性、資源回収量、事業性を一体的に検証する大型実証です。そのため、初期段階においては短期的な収益性のみで事業判断が可能な案件ではありません。
今回の補助金により、総事業費約10.6億円（補助対象経費約10.6億円、補助金申請額約7.1億円）規模で、前処理・選別から減容・資源回収までを一体化したシステムを導入し、実証の立ち上げを加速することが可能となります。事業計画上は、FY2026に設計・製造、FY2027に据付・実証開始、FY2027～2028に長期実証・評価を進める想定であり、補助金の活用により、設備導入から実証開始までを概ね1年程度の立ち上げ期間で進められる見込みです。また、初期投資負担の大幅な軽減により民間資金を呼び込みやすくなり、実証後の横展開においても、投資回収期間を10年以内に抑える現実的な事業計画の構築が期待されます。
さらに、本事業を通じて、自治体からの廃棄物処理受託収益と資源売却収益を組み合わせた持続可能な循環型ビジネスモデルを、実運用レベルで確立することを目指します。加えて、当社の熱分解装置は、従来の焼却方式と比較してCO2排出量を72％削減できると見込まれており、埋立由来のメタン排出抑制と合わせて、高い環境政策効果が期待されます。また、独自のSmart Waste Management Systemにより、廃棄物投入量、設備稼働状況、回収資源量を継続的に可視化・分析することで、観光需要の季節変動下でも安定運転が可能か、また自治体が処理費用を負担する運営モデルが成立するかを定量的に検証できます。
これに対し、補助金がない場合には、約10.6億円規模の初期投資を民間単独で負担する必要が生じ、設備規模や処理能力を大幅に縮小せざるを得ず、実証開始までに複数年を要する、あるいは事業着手自体が困難となる可能性があります。その結果、取得できるデータは限定的となり、年間365日の運転データ蓄積、自治体負担モデルの検証、他地域展開に向けた設計・運用の準標準化といった本事業の中核成果も大きく制約されます。
当社は、本補助金を単なる初期投資支援ではなく、本事業を「局所的実証」から「日本発の循環型廃棄物処理モデルの社会実装・国際展開」へと発展させるための重要な推進力と位置付けています。申請資料上も、タオ島で得られる成果は、日本の離島、観光地、大規模イベント向けの設計・運用基準づくりへの活用が想定されているほか、タオ島と類似条件のタイ国内約40島への展開を前提とすれば、1島当たり約8億円、総額約320億円の設備輸出効果、さらに1島当たり年間約7,500万円、10年間累計約300億円の運転・保守収益も期待されています。今後も当社は、持続可能な資源循環社会の実現に向けて、国内外での事業展開を加速してまいります。
English press release below
GOMI Solutions Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City; President & CEO: Ichita Sekiyama; hereinafter, the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its proposed project, “Kingdom of Thailand / Demonstration Project for a Circular Resource Economy Platform Without Incineration or Landfill,” has been selected under the Global South Future-Oriented Co-Creation Project, which is implemented through a contribution from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to AMEICC.
The project will be carried out on Koh Tao in the Kingdom of Thailand and will demonstrate a circular waste treatment system designed to process approximately 20 tons of waste per day, including mixed municipal solid waste and waste already accumulated in existing landfill sites. By combining pre-treatment, volume reduction, resource recovery, and energy recovery, the project aims to establish a new resource-circulation model that does not rely on incineration or simple landfill disposal, thereby supporting sustainable waste management for islands and tourist destinations.
Key Features of the Demonstration and Differences from the Previous Palau Project
The Company has previously conducted a demonstration project in Palau using a small-scale unit, the GXB-1. That project focused on difficult-to-treat waste streams such as marine plastic waste and used tires, and verified the feasibility of safe and reliable treatment as well as onboard operation. However, the Palau project was a technology-demonstration initiative based on processing volumes of only several hundred kilograms per day. It was not intended to replace a municipality’s overall waste management system, but rather to serve a limited and complementary role.
In contrast, the Koh Tao project in Thailand is a large-scale, implementation-oriented demonstration that addresses the island’s entire waste flow, including both mixed municipal solid waste generated on the island and waste accumulated at existing landfill sites. Its processing scale is substantially larger than that of the Palau project. Rather than serving as a simple technical proof of concept, this project seeks to establish a socially deployable model by integrating pre-treatment and sorting, volume reduction, resource recovery, and energy recovery into a single operational framework.
In addition, the project is designed not only to generate tipping fee revenue from municipal waste treatment services, but also to create revenue from the sale of recovered resources such as metals, PET, char, and recycled oil. One of the project’s defining features is that it will verify not only technical feasibility, but also business viability, operational management, and the reproducibility of the overall model.
Significance of the Subsidy and Expected Outcomes
This project is intended to implement and demonstrate a Japanese circular waste treatment technology on Koh Tao, Thailand, a tourist island with a population of approximately 8,000, and to use the results as a foundation for future horizontal deployment and standardization. The project targets waste generated across the island at a scale of several tens of tons per day. It is therefore not merely a small-scale technical verification project, but a large-scale demonstration under real operating conditions, including seasonal fluctuations in tourism demand. Through the collection of 365 days of operational data, the Company will comprehensively verify processing capacity, operational stability, resource recovery volumes, and business feasibility. As such, the project cannot be evaluated solely on the basis of short-term profitability in its initial phase.
With the support of this subsidy, the Company will be able to introduce an integrated system covering pre-treatment, sorting, volume reduction, and resource recovery at a total project scale of approximately JPY 1.06 billion, with eligible costs of approximately JPY 1.06 billion and a subsidy request of approximately JPY 710 million. This support will significantly accelerate the launch of the demonstration. Under the current project plan, design and manufacturing are scheduled for FY2026, installation and the start of the demonstration for FY2027, and long-term demonstration and evaluation for FY2027–FY2028. With the subsidy, the Company expects to move from equipment introduction to demonstration start-up within roughly one year. The reduction in initial capital burden is also expected to make it easier to attract private-sector funding and to support the development of a realistic business model capable of achieving investment payback within 10 years during future expansion.
Through this project, the Company also aims to establish, at a practical operational level, a sustainable circular business model that combines municipal waste treatment revenue with revenue from the sale of recovered resources. In addition, the Company’s pyrolysis unit is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 72% compared with conventional incineration. When combined with the suppression of methane emissions from landfill disposal, the project is expected to generate substantial environmental policy benefits. Furthermore, the Company’s proprietary Smart Waste Management System will continuously visualize and analyze waste input volumes, equipment operating conditions, and recovered resource volumes, making it possible to quantitatively verify whether stable operation can be maintained despite seasonal fluctuations in tourism demand, and whether a municipality-funded operating model can be successfully established.
Without the subsidy, the private sector alone would need to bear an initial investment of approximately JPY 1.06 billion. This could force a significant reduction in equipment scale and processing capacity, delay the start of the demonstration by several years, or even make project launch itself difficult. As a result, the amount of data that could be obtained would be limited, and the project’s core outcomes, such as the accumulation of 365 days of operational data, verification of a municipality-funded operating model, and quasi-standardization of design and operating practices for deployment in other regions, would be significantly constrained.
The Company views this subsidy not simply as support for initial capital investment, but as a critical catalyst for advancing the project from a localized demonstration to the social implementation and international expansion of a Japanese circular waste treatment model. According to the application materials, the outcomes generated on Koh Tao are expected to contribute to the development of design and operating standards for remote islands, tourist destinations, and large-scale events in Japan. In addition, assuming expansion to approximately 40 islands in Thailand with conditions similar to those of Koh Tao, the project is expected to generate equipment export opportunities of approximately JPY 800 million per island, or about JPY 32.0 billion in total, as well as operation and maintenance revenue of approximately JPY 75 million per island per year, amounting to about JPY 30.0 billion over 10 years. The Company will continue to accelerate its business development both in Japan and overseas in pursuit of a sustainable circular economy.