【JOYCLE Corporation】Untransported, Unburned, and On-Site Waste Upcycling: Solving Logistical & Incineration Crisis via Distributed Infrastructure "JOYCLE BOX"

A Logistical Meltdown and the Decline of Incinerators: The Urgent Need for On-Site Waste Upcycling Infrastructure

Hello everyone. I am Yutaro Koyanagi, CEO of JOYCLE Corporation.

Our company is a green-technology startup building a new environmental infrastructure that enables waste to be processed "on-site, without transport, and without incineration."

The backdrop to our business is a severe crisis facing local governments and corporations worldwide: the collapse of traditional waste disposal systems.

Japan has the largest number of waste incinerators in the world. However, due to rapid population decline, incinerators across the country are shutting down one after another. As a result, the transportation distance and costs to carry waste from collection points to centralized incinerators are skyrocketing.

To make matters worse, we face a severe driver shortage (the logistical "2024 problem"). It is already difficult to hire drivers to transport goods, and it is virtually impossible to recruit drivers for the harsh work of transporting waste. In fact, some bankrupt municipalities and remote islands can no longer transport or burn their waste, leaving them with no choice but to bury it on-site.

This centralized waste disposal model—collecting, transporting long distances, and burning in massive plants—has reached its physical, economic, and environmental limits.

If we continue this way, the world will be buried in waste. To solve this monumental challenge, we developed "JOYCLE BOX," a distributed, on-site infrastructure that upcycles waste without moving it, while operating as a highly profitable business.

20 Bags of Waste Reduced to 1/100th in 5 Hours: IoT-Enabled, Off-Grid Thermal Decomposition

JOYCLE BOX is a compact thermal decomposition device that can easily be transported by a standard truck.

It processes all types of burnable waste (excluding liquids and metals), reducing 20 bags of 45-liter waste to 1/100th or 1/20th of its original volume, while sterilizing it and converting it into carbon and inorganic resources in just 5 hours.

Technically, it utilizes a thermal decomposition method that heats waste indirectly using electric heaters in a low-oxygen chamber. While this technology itself has existed for a long time, our unique edge lies in "unlocking the black box of thermal decomposition through digital data."

In partnership with universities, we have accumulated proprietary control data and filed patents for algorithms that determine "exactly what kind of waste has entered, in what volume, and under what heating control to upcycle it most efficiently and with the lowest energy." Multiple IoT sensors installed in the device monitor its operation, visualizing carbon reduction, cost savings, and safety performance in real time via our cloud dashboard, "JOYCLE BOARD."

Furthermore, because it is powered by electric heaters rather than combustion, combining it with solar panels and batteries will allow us to achieve a "fully off-grid, carbon-free waste disposal infrastructure" that emits zero CO2 in the future.

Instead of discarding the inorganic resources left after thermal decomposition, we mix them with special solidifying agents and cement to "upcycle" them into eco-friendly tiles, design tables mixed with solar panel shards, blue-carbon blocks to restore marine seaweed beds, and even beautiful artwork.

For the operation of the device and the manufacturing of upcycled products, we have built a collaborative scheme with employment facilities for people with disabilities nationwide, creating new jobs and vocational areas for individuals with handicaps.

Reducing Hospital Waste Costs by 30% to 50%: Global Expansion into Southeast Asia's 8-Trillion-Yen Market

Our business model is a hybrid of hardware sales and subscription SaaS.

First, we sell the device (valued at 30 million yen per unit) upfront to a partnered leasing company. At this point, we secure a gross profit of 10 to 15 million yen per unit. Then, through the leasing company, we offer the package—comprising device rental, JOYCLE BOARD data visualization, and periodic maintenance—to end-users under a fixed monthly subscription model.

Currently, we are receiving numerous inquiries from clients facing an urgent "burning need" for this solution.

We are seeing particularly strong demand from hospitals with 100 or more beds.

Medical waste (infectious waste) generated by hospitals has extremely high disposal unit costs, with many hospitals spending over 10 million yen annually on industrial waste disposal. By introducing JOYCLE BOX, hospitals can reduce their overall waste disposal costs by 30% to 50%, even after subtracting the monthly rental fees.

Other primary targets include hotels on remote islands where shipping waste to the mainland incurs massive freight costs, factories far from municipal incinerators, and local governments unable to transport waste to neighboring towns due to driver shortages.

We have already received Letters of Intent (LOI) for 7 units (equivalent to approximately 200 million yen in sales), securing commercial adoptions.

This on-site waste upcycling infrastructure is not limited to Japan (where the hospital market alone is worth 160 billion yen) but will demonstrate its true value in global markets, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia is the world’s fastest-growing market with exploding populations and waste volumes, yet many regions consist of islands where building large incinerators is impossible. Currently, their only options are shipping waste by boat over several days or illegal dumping.

In this industrial waste disposal market, which is projected to reach 8 trillion yen by 2030, we aim to become a global startup capturing over 1% of the Southeast Asian market (80 to 100 billion yen) by providing agile, digitally managed distributed infrastructure.

In December, we plan to run a pilot project in Taketomijima, Okinawa, featuring a mobile unit that integrates solar panels, JOYCLE BOX, and a Starlink terminal on a truck chassis. During normal times, it will be used for daily waste reduction and upcycling. In times of emergency, it will serve as a disaster waste BCP (business continuity planning) infrastructure, helping local governments and companies strengthen their resilience. Let us work together to build a sustainable society where resources and joy circulate. Thank you very much.

Q&A and Feedback

Commentator (Mr. Fukutani): Thank you, Mr. Koyanagi, for the presentation. Reducing waste to 1/100th on-site is a highly logical approach and a business with great social impact, directly addressing the driver shortage and decline of incinerators.

I have a question: you mentioned "upcycling" the processed inorganic resources into art or tables. While the concept is interesting, isn't it practically difficult for hospitals or companies using the device to commercialize and sell these products themselves?

Mr. Koyanagi: Thank you for the question.

First, as a premise, the upcycling into "art" or design products is mainly for PR and lobbying purposes. Currently, the Ministry of the Environment in Japan is inclined to relax strict licensing regulations for devices that upcycle waste instead of burning it, and we use these art projects as symbols to facilitate those lobbying efforts. Therefore, we do not include the sales of upcycled products in our business plan numbers.

As for the practical recovery scheme, the inorganic resources processed at the client's site (which are reduced to 1/20th or 1/10th of their original weight) will be fully recovered and purchased by us during periodic maintenance and customer support visits.

Thus, hospitals and companies using the device do not need to sell products themselves. From their perspective, the volume of high-cost infectious waste is drastically reduced, giving them the direct benefit of a 30% to 50% cut in waste disposal costs.

Mr. Fukutani: I see. JOYCLE handles the collection and purchasing, while clients simply enjoy the benefit of "reduced waste disposal costs." That makes it very easy for hospitals to adopt.

How do you plan to expand the commercialization of the collected resources?

Mr. Koyanagi: We plan to establish regional support and manufacturing centers called "JOYCLE [Region Name]" in collaboration with welfare employment facilities for people with disabilities, outsourcing the processing of inorganic resources and production of upcycled items to them.

Traditional environmental equipment manufacturers sold the machines and walked away, rarely designing post-sale support, recovery, or social output. By packaging "recovery and purchase," "manufacturing via welfare partnerships," and "digital measurement," we differentiate ourselves from simple machine manufacturers as a "circular infrastructure platform."

Mr. Fukutani: So instead of just selling hardware, you provide a unified loop—maintenance, resource recovery, and welfare-partnered manufacturing—which forms a strong moat that competitors cannot easily copy.

I look forward to your mobile unit pilot in Taketomijima and your global expansion into Southeast Asia. Thank you very much.

Mr. Koyanagi: Thank you very much.