THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF THE FOOD WASTE BIOMASS UTILIZATION: A CASE STUDY OF OKI TOWN, JAPAN

Abstract

We examined the economic and environmental impact of biomass utilization in order to clarify the influence of stakeholder engagement. For this study, Oki town which is the where the utilization of food waste biomass has been actively implemented in Japan selected as the target region. the income and expenses and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions was used for calculating the environmental efficiency. Five scenarios were developed to estimate the environmental efficiency of the food-waste biomass utilization which were gradually extended and expanded by the appropriate procedures of stakeholder engagement. As a result, the implementation of businesses using food-waste as a source of feedstock can generate higher economic returns as well as decreasing GHG emissions. In conclusion, it was indicated that development of biomass utilization in cooperation with stakeholders of the region is able to accelerate the regional activation in terms of economic and environmental issues in local regions such as Oki town.