91福利

METAWATER Co., Ltd. (President: Kenji Yamaguchi, Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) has, with the aim of creating new added value in the sewage business, established a joint venture with TETSUGEN Corporation (President: Hirotsune Sato, Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), which is participating in the "Ofunato Sewage Treatment Center Comprehensive Operation Project with Facilities Improvement"^*1 in Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture, and Plant form Inc. (President: Yuji Yamamoto, Head Office: Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture), a company in which Metawater has a stake^*2 and is engaged in aquaponics, a recycling-based agriculture that grows fish and plants at the same time. The three companies established a joint venture company, Tetsugen Metawater Aqua Agri (President: Naofumi Sato, Head Office: Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture, hereinafter referred to as "Tetsugen Metawater Aqua Agri") to carry out an aquaponics business, and it started operations in Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture.

Aquaponics is a new method of agriculture that uses the excrement of the fish being farmed as fertilizer to grow plants. This method is also known as organic farming with water, which not only does not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but also does not discard water to minimize the environmental impact of aquaculture and farming.

Tetsugen Metawater Aqua Agri began operations in November at a site adjacent to the Ofunato Sewage Treatment Center in Ofunato City. Aquaponics will be used to cultivate sturgeon and hydroponic cultivation of vegetables without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. The sale of produce is planned from October 2022.

In recent years, land around its sewerage facilities is not in use because of consolidation and some plants have been eliminated as a result of population decline and technological innovation to improve treatment efficiency. Furthermore, The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism"s "Sewerage Renovation Plan"^*3 recommends turning sewage treatment plants into agricultural production bases by using sewage heat and reclaimed wastewater.

Ofunato City, in considering how to utilize the land around its sewerage facilities, has decided to use the aquaponics business as a means to make effective use of unused land at its sewage treatment plant, to use surplus energy, and to develop a new business model. Seeing this as an initiative that will contribute to regional cooperation, such as the creation of human resources employment, cooperation with local industries, and the fostering of farmers, a fixed-term land lease agreement has been concluded with Tetsugen Metawater Aqua Agri to provide the business land for this project.

This project will enable proposal of new added value, including the effective use of unused land for water and sewage works in public-private partnership projects in the water and sewage sector.

*1 "Ofunato Sewage Treatment Center Comprehensive Operation Project with Facilities Improvement" Contract Signed in Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture (Press Release, December 22, 2017
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*2 Acquisition of shares of Plant form Inc. through third-party allotment (as of March 3, 2020)
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*3 Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism "Sewerage Renovation Plan"

Overview of the joint venture company

Name

Tetsugen Metawater Aqua Agri

Representative

Naofumi Sato (Managing Executive Officer, General Manager of Tohoku Branch, Tetsugen Corporation)

Date of establishment

October 1, 2021

Address

1-2, Kakenoshitamukai, Ofunato-cho, Ofunato-shi, Iwate Prefecture

Shareholders

TETSUGEN Corporation
METAWATER Co., Ltd.
Plant form Inc.

Description of business

(1) Greenhouse design and equipment installation planning, installation, construction, and operation

(2) Design, construction, management, and sales of plant cultivation systems

(3) Vegetable cultivation, production, processing and sales

(4) Design, construction, management, and sales of fish and shellfish farming systems

(5) Breeding, production, processing and sales of fish and shellfish.

(6) All businesses incidental and related to the preceding items

Overview of "Aquaponics"

Aquaponics is a new method of agriculture that uses the excrement of the fish being farmed as fertilizer to grow plants. This method is also known as organic farming with water, which not only does not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers, but also does not discard water to make it possible to minimize the environmental impact of aquaculture and farming.

Aquaponics is said to have originated in the United States around 1980. In recent years, research has progressed to the point where stable production can be achieved, and it is now spreading worldwide including Australia and Europe. The way this method works is tha

t bacteria break down the excrement of the fish being farmed into plant nutrients, which the plants then use to grow. In doing this, the plants also serve as a natural purifier and the cleansed water is returned to the fish tanks. This system, which can be described as a microcosm of the natural world, does not dispose of or change any water, and does not require pesticides or chemical fertilizers. In a sense, it is organic cultivation done with water, and is said to be the ultimate in eco-friendly agriculture that embodies sustainability.

Image of Aquaponics System