The tour of Osaka's waste treatment plant, the "Maishima Incineration Plant," was amazing!
The Osaka Expo was held on Yumeshima in Konohana Ward, Osaka City.
Just to the north, right next to the west side of USJ, is "Maishima."
The reason the character for "island" (su) is used instead of the standard one (shima) is that both are artificial islands.
And when you say "Maishima," the first thing that comes to mind is the waste treatment and incineration plant, the "Maishima Incineration Plant."
The two impressive chimneys that tower like a gate on either side of the entrance to Maishima after crossing the Konohana Bridge are it.
If it's your first time seeing it, you might think, "Huh? Is that USJ? An amusement park?"
Since I don't have a photo from the bridge, I'm using free photo material from "Photo AC."
Actually, this is an important facility for Osaka City, serving as both a waste incineration plant and a sewage sludge treatment plant.
✅ Photo left: "Maishima Incineration Plant" - Waste incineration and crushing plant
✅ Photo right: "Sludge Center" - Sewage sludge treatment plant
I found out that the Maishima Incineration Plant holds tour visits, so I went, and the things I learned were amazing!
⭐ Off to the Maishima Incineration Plant tour
It takes about 20 minutes by car from Osaka Station using the expressway, or 30 to 40 minutes via local roads.
Among the six waste incineration plants and two sewage sludge treatment plants in Osaka City, this one is special because it was designed by a famous artist.
It's so colorful!
It really stands out among the six treatment plants in Osaka City.
The tour is actually free!
There is also a parking lot.
Unfortunately, it was raining on the day of my visit.
From here on, I will introduce it using photos taken on a sunny day, occasionally mixed with information videos that were allowed to be filmed.
When I arrived at the time I had booked for the tour, the staff member who would be our guide was waiting for us.
The entrance alone has such an impact!
We took the elevator to the second floor.
I heard that these tiles were also applied by hand one by one.
The hallways are also winding.
First, we watched an information video about the design features of Mr. Hundertwasser and the system of the Maishima Incineration Plant.
Written on the wall is the Maishima Incineration Plant's mascot, "Pom."
From here, the tour started while listening to our guide!
⭐ "Coexistence with Nature" designed by Hundertwasser
The Maishima Incineration Plant, built in 2001, was designed by the Vienna-born painter and architectMr. Hundertwasser.
Mr. Hundertwasser presided over environmental protection projects around the world and was active as an environmental artist, and the theme of the Maishima Incineration Plant's exterior design is "the fusion of technology, ecology, and art."
The reason he was asked to design it was because the concept of "coexistence with nature" for the development of Maishima, a lush sports island, matched Mr. Hundertwasser's environmental protection philosophy.
Since Mr. Hundertwasser passed away in 2000, this became one of only two waste incineration plants in the world designed by Hundertwasser, the other being the Spittelau Incineration Plant in Vienna.
The Maishima plant has a huge number of windows, and because of the philosophy that
there are similar things in the natural world, but no two are exactly the same,
they are all different sizes and shapes.
It's true!
All of Wasser's works in Vienna are unique and cute.
Top left: Hundertwasser House (municipal housing)
Top right: St. Barbara Church
Bottom left: Blumau Village
Bottom right: Highway restaurant
Works by Wasser, who was also a painter.
A characteristic feature is the use of shiny, silver-plate-like materials in his paintings.
This is the blueprint for the Maishima plant drawn by Wasser.
He believed that building a structure means destroying nature, so one should plant greenery at the same time, and it certainly is full of greenery!
This is the completed model of the Maishima plant.
The yellow vertical lines painted on the walls were inspired by burning flames, and the red lines on the chimney represent rising smoke (gas).
Looking from the second-floor walkway, there is greenery on the roof of the gate and plenty of greenery in the winding garden as well!
There are no straight lines drawn with a ruler in the natural world,
and in line with Wasser's philosophy, the parking lot was not just white lines, but planted borders.
Three chimney models.
The left is the Maishima Sludge Center, the middle is the chimney of the Maishima plant as originally designed, and the right is the chimney as it was actually completed.
The signature "Hyakusui" at the bottom right of the blueprint is said to be his own.
Apparently, "Hundert" means "hundred" and "wasser" means "water."
The number of windows in the originally designed chimney apparently did not meet Japanese building standards, so it was changed.
This is a model of the Spittelau incineration plant in Vienna.
On the roof is an object of the hat that Wasser always wore.
It's humorous and nice!
There are 186 pillars on the premises, and these are also all designed differently.
⭐ Until the collected garbage becomes colorless and harmless gas
The gate where about 600 garbage trucks enter per day.
They stop here to weigh the garbage.
Garbage trucks dump the collected garbage in a place called the platform.
The packer trucks we see today were introduced in 1957.
Until then, they collected it in baskets on handcarts, and loaded and unloaded them onto barges or truck beds.
That must have been tough...
Using the model, we will look at the process from the garbage stored in the pit on the left to the smoke (gas) coming out of the chimney on the right.
From here, we actually toured the inside of the plant.
Upon entering, the first thing I saw was a massive crane in motion.
Wow!
The pit where the trash is stored is said to be the size of 55 elementary school classrooms, and this crane stirs the trash to make it easier to burn.
After that, the trash is burned in an incinerator at about 900°C.
The model at the bottom right was easy to understand; the yellow and red tiers moved back and forth alternately, and the mechanism pushed the cloth placed on top so that it gradually descended.
The burned trash becomes ash, about 1/20th of its original volume.
Heat is recovered from the high-temperature exhaust gas generated by incineration using a boiler, and the steam turns a turbine to generate electricity, which covers all the electricity for the building, and they even sell the surplus electricity.
I experienced the mechanism of generating electricity by turning a turbine using a model.
The central control room is where staff members control the entire plant.
The ash after burning is landfilled in the order of ash, soil, ash, soil, which prevents dust from flying and prevents odors and the generation of insects.
Even though it is an incineration plant, I wondered why I had never seen smoke billowing from this chimney.
It turns out that they remove all harmful substances like mercury from the exhaust gas, detoxify it, and discharge it as clean gas, so they said, "You can't see it with your eyes."
I was surprised by its high performance!
Next is the non-combustible waste area.
Wow!
I could see mattresses, toilet seats, strollers, and more!
These are crushers.
They are finely crushed by a hammer crusher, and recyclable materials such as aluminum and iron are extracted.
There was a model, and the iron that came out after being crushed was collected by a powerful magnet, while only the aluminum was blown away and collected separately.
It is lit up at night, and as the night deepens, the lighting changes in several stages, gradually becoming darker.
⭐Maishima Sludge Center
Built on the north side of the Maishima Plant is the Maishima Sludge Center.
This is a facility that treats sludge generated from sewage.
Sewage and rainwater from homes and factories are collected at sewage treatment plants through sewer pipes, but there are two types of facilities at sewage treatment plants.
✅Water treatment facility
A facility that treats sewage and discharges clean water into rivers
✅Sludge treatment facility
A facility that treats sludge generated when treating sewage
The Maishima Sludge Center receives sludge transported by pipe from the sludge treatment facility of the sewage treatment plant, and it is a facility that performs dehydration and melting treatment to produce "molten slag" that can be effectively used.
This was, of course, also designed by Mr. Hundertwasser.
✅ The red stripes on the outer wall = flames
✅ The blue color of the chimney = the blue of the sea and sky of Osaka Bay
✅ The golden glow at the top of the chimney = dreams and hopes for the future
It seems these are the meanings behind them.
Even looking at the display panels, it is quite a large facility.
The "molten slag" produced here is reused as material for pipes and the like.
The blocks I saw were very well-draining, likely used for construction materials.
The Maishima Incineration Plant tour was truly wonderful, with a very thorough and informative guide!
I hear that in Osaka City, fourth-grade elementary school students visit the treatment plants in their respective wards.
Maishima Incineration Plant
1-2-48 Hokko-Shiratsu, Konohana-ku, Osaka
Click here to apply for a factory tour
Approx. 90 minutes (free)
～Summary～
A long time ago, when I first saw the Maishima Incineration Plant and the Sludge Center and instinctively asked,
“What is that!?”
someone told me,
“It’s a waste of tax money” or “a negative legacy.”
✅ Maishima Incineration Plant
Design fee: approx. 66 million yen; Total construction cost: 60.9 billion yen
✅ Sludge Center
Design fee: approx. 60 million yen; Total construction cost: 80 billion yen
Admittedly, there was criticism from the start that it was a “waste of tax money,” and at the time, I also thought, “Did they really need to spend so much money making a garbage disposal plant so flashy?”
However, the reason I went on this tour was precisely because of its eccentric design.
The truth is, I had no awareness of the existence or locations of the other five treatment plants in Osaka City...
After actually going on the tour, I was able to learn how important this facility is, how it is a facility the world should be proud of, how the trash we produce is processed, and I also learned that it generates profit by selling surplus electricity.
I’m glad I didn’t just settle for an image I heard from someone whose name I don’t even remember.
And I was surprised to hear that there is one more facility in Osaka City designed by Mr. Hundertwasser!
That is the “Kids Plaza Osaka Children’s Town” in Ogimachi, Kita-ku.
It really is like a fairy tale land!
Maybe I’ll go see it again sometime♪
Next week, I will introduce the fact that “Maishima” is not just a sports island, as it also has a Nemophila festival, accommodation facilities like log houses and trailer houses, and sports karts♪
⭐⭐Miyuki Togawa Official Site⭐⭐
⭐⭐Miyuki Togawa's Instagram⭐⭐
Domestic Travel Account
Gourmet Account
Overseas Travel Account
Lifestyle Account
Diving Account