[Interview Article] Upcycling Discarded Rice into Paper! Food Loss Paper "kome-kami"

Interviewee

■ Paper containing rice, used since the Edo period with a "mottainai" (waste-not) spirit

mySDG Editorial Department: Please tell us about your business overview.

Mr. Yada: Our company was founded in 1890 as a paper distributor. We have been operating as a wholesaler until now, but a few years ago, we decided to develop environmentally friendly materials and have been promoting a project to create "
Food Loss Paper". The concept of Food Loss Paper is to upcycle food loss and discarded food ingredients into paper for effective use. As our first product, we developed "kome-kami" using rice, and as our second, we developed "Craft Beer Paper" using malt residue from craft beer. We are currently in the process of developing several other materials as well.

mySDG Editorial Department: Is there a reason you focused on rice?

Mr. Yada: I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Yu Yamashita, an associate professor at Shiga University who is working on solving food loss issues, and I became interested. Professor Yamashita also serves as an advisor to a food bank and mentioned that he felt there was a lot of rice waste. Food banks engage in activities where they receive donations from companies of food that cannot be distributed due to reasons such as damaged packaging, excess inventory, or printing errors, and provide them free of charge to facilities, organizations, and impoverished households in need. However, I heard that a large amount of food that cannot be used for consumption is also generated, such as returned items, items with foreign matter contamination, or emergency stockpiled food that has passed its expiration date. Hearing that, I thought that by turning the cost of disposal into value and returning it to the food bank, we could create a business mechanism to reduce food loss.

And one more thing: actually, rice was used as a raw material for paper until the Edo period. It seems that paper culture arrived from the continent around the Nara period and evolved independently. In letter etiquette books from around the Kamakura period, there were even rules such as "Samurai should use paper containing rice, and court nobles should use paper without rice," which shows how much paper using rice was utilized. I believe that such a circular society was created back then with a "mottainai" spirit. I think "kome-kami" is paper that inherits that ancient "mottainai" spirit.

mySDG Editorial Department: What kind of uses did rice-containing paper have in the past?

Mr. Yada: It seems there were various patterns. By adding rice to the paper, the surface would have an interesting color, so it was used for Ukiyo-e, and because ink would not bleed, paper with rice was used when writing something a bit special. It also seems it was used to add white rice to make the paper look whiter when low-quality paper was produced.

mySDG Editorial Department: Why did it disappear once over time?

Mr. Yada: It is thought that the reason is that after the Meiji era, it became an era of mass production, and improving productivity and lowering costs became more important than the "mottainai" spirit.

■ "kome-kami" used for various purposes

mySDG Editorial Department: You also posted about it on your company's Instagram, but it seems it was difficult to incorporate rice into the paper. What points were difficult?

Mr. Yada: Rice grains have hardness, and if even a few grains remain, they can damage the machinery. Also, if the stickiness of the rice remains, it can stick to the machine, causing malfunctions or even holes in the paper. Adjusting those aspects was difficult.

mySDG Editorial Department: Is it stable now?

Mr. Yada: Yes. We are now able to produce it stably. If we made it into super high-end paper that no one could use, I don't think the total volume would increase much, no matter how much it could be reused. We realized our desire to create something with a quality that is affordable and can be printed and processed, and now we are able to mass-produce it.

mySDG Editorial Department: How does the price compare to regular paper?

Mr. Yada: It is quite expensive compared to paper used for flyers and the like, but it is on par with paper used for school anthology covers or high-quality paper used for confectionery boxes.

mySDG Editorial Department: Is it possible to adjust the actual texture and appearance to be closer to such paper?

Mr. Yada: Since it was our first attempt, we honestly didn't know what the quality would be like when mass-produced. As a result, by incorporating rice, we were able to achieve a high-quality paper with a unique surface and a good texture.

mySDG Editorial Department: Are there opportunities for the general public to come into contact with "kome-kami"? Is it only for businesses?

Mr. Yada: Online business card printing shops handle kome-kami, so if you order from a shop that carries it, you can make "kome-kami" business cards. In addition, we also sell notebooks, which are handled at some Loft stores. We also have manufacturers provide the material to be processed into products such as packaging, memo pads, paper clips, and paper files for sale, and sometimes we take on contract work.

mySDG Editorial Department: Please tell us about the attributes of your client companies.

Mr. Yada: We have a variety of users, from companies doing business for individuals, such as confectionery and cosmetics manufacturers, to companies doing business for other corporations that want to engage in SDGs initiatives. Companies targeting individuals ask to use it for their product packaging or leaflets. Companies considering SDGs initiatives use it for novelties such as notebooks, envelopes, paper files, and pamphlets.

mySDG Editorial Department: How do companies that like the texture of the kome-kami material use it?

Mr. Yada: For example, for the packaging of the Japanese confectionery store "Taneya," they finished it with a very high-class package that makes the most of the texture of kome-kami. When you open the box, it is also noted that rice is used in the paper.
*The product in the photo is a seasonal item and is no longer on sale.

mySDG Editorial Department: That's wonderful! Were you positive about making food loss paper from the beginning of development?

Mr. Yada: At first, I was worried because I didn't know if it would sell, and if there was no one to use it even after we went to the trouble of making it, then no matter how much we upcycled, it would be meaningless. Currently, I am happy that many more people are using it than we initially expected.

■ Craft beer paper developed with a Yokohama company

mySDG Editorial Department: How did you get started with craft beer paper?

Mr. Yada: I heard from a beer company that an acquaintance of mine from when I lived in Kawasaki had dealings with, that a lot of malt residue was being discarded, so I started a craft beer paper company in Yokohama. The company is called "kitafuku Inc.," and we are working together on the development of craft beer paper this time.

mySDG Editorial Department: Actually, our company interviewed kitafuku before. We also interviewed Yokohama Beer, which provides malt residue to kitafuku. It connects through SDGs. Is reusing malt residue a welcome thing for a brewery as well?

Mr. Yada: They say it's good that we can use it, since it's essentially something they are paying to dispose of.

mySDG Editorial Department: Are the challenges different for malt dregs and rice?

Mr. Yada: Because the composition of the materials is different, there were different challenges. Malt dregs were relatively easy to work with, but I struggled to get the surface texture just right.

mySDG Editorial Department: Are the uses different as well?

Mr. Yada: Craft beer paper is used for coasters and business cards, taking advantage of its brown texture. It is also used for beer labels and packaging.

mySDG Editorial Department: I see. Please tell us about your future prospects.

Mr. Yada: I believe that the more we expand our initiative of turning disposal costs into value to support food banks, the more we can support activities aimed at reducing food loss.
Therefore, I would like to have more people use food loss paper so that we can gain the power to provide even greater support.
Just like with kome-kami and craft beer paper, we can upcycle inedible food waste, and we can also upcycle other non-food waste like fabric into paper. If you have anything around you that you feel is a waste, we can help you reuse it, so please let us work together.

mySDG Editorial Department: I will think about whether I have anything that is a "waste" too! Thank you very much for today.

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