Awards


Grand Prize for the Global Environment Award

The Grand Prize for the Global Environment Award is an awards program established with the special cooperation of the World Wide Fund for Nature to promote greater harmony between industrial development and the global environment. It is intended to promote product and technology development, environmental protection activities and business that contributes to the formation of a sustainable society while further raising awareness of environmental protection.

  • Sponsor: Fujisankei Communication Group
  • Support: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Japan Business Federation

Recipient of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Award at the 24th Grand Prize for the Global Environment Award

Development of circular agricultural process with composting promoter Thervelics

　Asahi Biocycle developed technology that promotes circular agriculture as follows. Through microbial fermentation using Thervelics, a composting promoter containing Bacillus subtilis C-3102, incinerated food waste is reduced by a rate of 95% or higher, which enables the production of high-quality compost using high-temperature fermentation with aerobic bacteria. It can also be expected to increase crop yields when crops are grown in fields where the compost is applied.

　Increased use of microbial fermentation technologies with Thervelics has the potential to form a more recycling-based society by reducing food waste incineration and landfill volume through reduced waste while promoting organic farming with compost. In actual application, Thervelics reduced food product waste from vegetable scraps and other waste from cut vegetables production by a rate of 95% or higher, and when the compost was used in actual fields, daikon radish yields increased by 51% and carrot yields by 43%.

　The technology uses microbial fermentation and no high-tech devices or other equipment, so technical barriers are low, making it relatively easy to introduce in developing countries in Asia, Africa and other regions.

Recipient of the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Award at the 25th Grand Prize for the Global Environment Award

Development of new agricultural material from discovering the function by which brewing yeast cell walls raise plant bioactivity

When the agricultural material using brewing yeast cell walls is applied to plants, it:

1Greatly contributes to increased crop yields;

2Enables less frequent use of chemical fertilizers;

3Facilitates stable crop production even in poor conditions, such as less sunlight;

4Reduces greenhouse gas emissions per unit of yield.

As a result, the material can be expected to contribute to the prevention of global warming and creation of a more sustainable, recycling-based society.

Recipient of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Award at the 2nd EcoPro Awards

Contributing to sustainable agriculture with a brewing yeast cell wall material created by giving advanced functionality to a byproduct from the beer brewing process