5.5.1 Plans for "Eco-island Naoshima"

The town of Naoshima is blessed with a beautiful natural environment, part of the 27 islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The “Eco-Island Naoshima Plan” describes the creation of a recycling-oriented society that could be used as a model on a national level. The Japanese government (Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry; Ministry of the Environment) approved the plan as progressive and unique, a first among island municipalities.
The plan outlines a new environmental industry (infrastructure support), and towns built up in harmony with the environment (social support).
The infrastructure support calls for reclamation of materials from disposal facilities: the waste streams from fly ash, disposed household electronics, and dust from automobile shredders, will become a “town mine”, and will be processed to reclaim gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc and other valuable metals instead of burying them. Waste heat will also be reclaimed and used to produce power.
The social support entails the cooperation of local residents and workers with the government to decrease waste, plant trees and flowers, and hold workshops and symposiums on the environment.