RE Co., Ltd. Concludes Agreement with Funabashi City and Others on Collection and Recycling of Waste Oil Resources
RE Co., Ltd. has signed an agreement with Funabashi City, the National Federation of Oil Business Cooperatives, and Eco Creative Inc. for the collection and recycling of waste oil resources. This initiative aims to reuse waste cooking oil and wastewater oil sludge as biofuels, contributing to waste reduction and carbon neutrality.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 00:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 14, 2026 at 15:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 15:48 (120h 16m after Collected)
RE Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Naoki Imai; hereinafter "RE"), which tackles challenges in the food supply chain with an on-site perspective and data, announced that it has concluded an agreement with Funabashi City (Mayor: Toru Matsudo), the National Federation of Oil Business Cooperatives (Chairman: Futoshi Nakagawa; hereinafter "Zen-Yuren"), and Eco Creative Inc. (Representative Director: Atsuhiro Hori; hereinafter "Eco Creative") on "Agreement on the Collection and Recycling of Waste Oil Resources for the Realization of a Sustainable Resource-Recycling Society" (hereinafter "this Agreement"), effective April 14, 2026.
This Agreement aims to reduce waste and promote resource utilization, as well as contribute to carbon neutrality, by collecting waste cooking oil and wastewater oil sludge discharged from households and businesses in Funabashi City and reusing them as energy resources such as Biodiesel Fuel (BDF) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). As a public-private collaborative initiative involving four parties—a local government, an industry organization, and private businesses—it seeks to build a sustainable resource circulation model rooted in the community.
Scene from the signing ceremony (from left: Mr. Nakagawa, Representative of Zen-Yuren; Mr. Imai, Representative of RE; Mayor Matsudo of Funabashi City; Mr. Hori, Representative of Eco Creative)
**Overview of the Agreement**
* **Agreement Name:** Agreement on the Collection and Recycling of Waste Oil Resources for the Realization of a Sustainable Resource-Recycling Society
* **Signing Date:** April 14, 2026
* **Agreement Period:** April 14, 2026 – March 31, 2027 (automatically renewed annually thereafter)
* **Signatories:**
* Funabashi City
* RE Co., Ltd.
* National Federation of Oil Business Cooperatives
* Eco Creative Inc.
* **Purpose:** Waste reduction and resource utilization, contribution to carbon neutrality, building a sustainable circular society, and regional revitalization.
**Background of the Agreement**
In recent years, as the importance of realizing a decarbonized society and energy self-sufficiency has grown, attention to renewable fuels has rapidly increased. Particularly in the transportation and infrastructure industries, such as aviation, shipping, and construction, securing alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels is an urgent issue for achieving carbon neutrality.
According to estimates by the Ministry of the Environment, approximately 100,000 tons of waste cooking oil are discharged from households in Japan annually, but much of it is discarded without being collected, and its utilization as a resource has not progressed sufficiently. Furthermore, wastewater oil sludge discharged from restaurants and food-related facilities has been treated as industrial waste due to hygiene concerns and its impact on sewage infrastructure, but it can be reused as an energy resource such as biofuel if properly collected and processed.
Against this backdrop, this Agreement was concluded to build a waste oil resource collection and recycling system within a large municipality like Funabashi City, with a population of approximately 650,000, through a public-private partnership involving the administration, industry organizations, and private businesses, aiming to realize a community-based resource circulation model.
Through initiatives based on this Agreement, a reduction in general and industrial waste is expected due to the collection and recycling of waste oil resources. Additionally, converting the collected oils into biofuels such as BDF (Biodiesel Fuel) and SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) will lead to a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. Furthermore, the advanced regional resource circulation mechanism created by the collaboration of the four public and private entities, along with the visualization of collection data and public dashboard, is expected to raise citizens' environmental awareness.
Notably, RE has also been selected for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Early Social Implementation Support Project for GX-related Industry Creation" and is working on converting wastewater oil sludge into biofuel. Through this Agreement, RE aims to expand the collection and utilization of waste oil resources in Funabashi City and horizontally deploy the urban resource circulation model, combining it with knowledge gained in Tokyo.
**Roles and Initiatives of Each Party**
Under this Agreement, the four parties will leverage their respective expertise and assume the following roles:
* **Funabashi City:** Public relations and awareness-raising for citizens and businesses using city media.
* **RE Co., Ltd.:** Designing and promoting collection operations, coordinating and developing new collection points, establishing inquiry and consultation services, and providing a dashboard visualizing collection volumes.
* **National Federation of Oil Business Cooperatives:** Coordinating collection operators.
* **Eco Creative Inc.:** Estimating decarbonization effects from waste oil collection and analyzing collection methods.
As concrete initiatives, the following projects will be promoted:
* Development of household waste cooking oil collection points.
* RE in Funabashi
This Agreement aims to reduce waste and promote resource utilization, as well as contribute to carbon neutrality, by collecting waste cooking oil and wastewater oil sludge discharged from households and businesses in Funabashi City and reusing them as energy resources such as Biodiesel Fuel (BDF) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). As a public-private collaborative initiative involving four parties—a local government, an industry organization, and private businesses—it seeks to build a sustainable resource circulation model rooted in the community.
Scene from the signing ceremony (from left: Mr. Nakagawa, Representative of Zen-Yuren; Mr. Imai, Representative of RE; Mayor Matsudo of Funabashi City; Mr. Hori, Representative of Eco Creative)
**Overview of the Agreement**
* **Agreement Name:** Agreement on the Collection and Recycling of Waste Oil Resources for the Realization of a Sustainable Resource-Recycling Society
* **Signing Date:** April 14, 2026
* **Agreement Period:** April 14, 2026 – March 31, 2027 (automatically renewed annually thereafter)
* **Signatories:**
* Funabashi City
* RE Co., Ltd.
* National Federation of Oil Business Cooperatives
* Eco Creative Inc.
* **Purpose:** Waste reduction and resource utilization, contribution to carbon neutrality, building a sustainable circular society, and regional revitalization.
**Background of the Agreement**
In recent years, as the importance of realizing a decarbonized society and energy self-sufficiency has grown, attention to renewable fuels has rapidly increased. Particularly in the transportation and infrastructure industries, such as aviation, shipping, and construction, securing alternative fuels to replace fossil fuels is an urgent issue for achieving carbon neutrality.
According to estimates by the Ministry of the Environment, approximately 100,000 tons of waste cooking oil are discharged from households in Japan annually, but much of it is discarded without being collected, and its utilization as a resource has not progressed sufficiently. Furthermore, wastewater oil sludge discharged from restaurants and food-related facilities has been treated as industrial waste due to hygiene concerns and its impact on sewage infrastructure, but it can be reused as an energy resource such as biofuel if properly collected and processed.
Against this backdrop, this Agreement was concluded to build a waste oil resource collection and recycling system within a large municipality like Funabashi City, with a population of approximately 650,000, through a public-private partnership involving the administration, industry organizations, and private businesses, aiming to realize a community-based resource circulation model.
Through initiatives based on this Agreement, a reduction in general and industrial waste is expected due to the collection and recycling of waste oil resources. Additionally, converting the collected oils into biofuels such as BDF (Biodiesel Fuel) and SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) will lead to a reduction in fossil fuel consumption. Furthermore, the advanced regional resource circulation mechanism created by the collaboration of the four public and private entities, along with the visualization of collection data and public dashboard, is expected to raise citizens' environmental awareness.
Notably, RE has also been selected for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Early Social Implementation Support Project for GX-related Industry Creation" and is working on converting wastewater oil sludge into biofuel. Through this Agreement, RE aims to expand the collection and utilization of waste oil resources in Funabashi City and horizontally deploy the urban resource circulation model, combining it with knowledge gained in Tokyo.
**Roles and Initiatives of Each Party**
Under this Agreement, the four parties will leverage their respective expertise and assume the following roles:
* **Funabashi City:** Public relations and awareness-raising for citizens and businesses using city media.
* **RE Co., Ltd.:** Designing and promoting collection operations, coordinating and developing new collection points, establishing inquiry and consultation services, and providing a dashboard visualizing collection volumes.
* **National Federation of Oil Business Cooperatives:** Coordinating collection operators.
* **Eco Creative Inc.:** Estimating decarbonization effects from waste oil collection and analyzing collection methods.
As concrete initiatives, the following projects will be promoted:
* Development of household waste cooking oil collection points.
* RE in Funabashi