Starting a 'Zero Waste Society' from Stations: Launching a Project to Build and Verify a New Railway-line Circulation Model Utilizing JR East Stations, Station Buildings, and Logistics Networks

Four companies—JR East Startup Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Yutaka Shibata; hereinafter 'JR East Startup'), ECOMMIT Co., Ltd. (Representative Director & CEO: Teruyuki Kawano; hereinafter 'ECOMMIT'), Atre Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Hiroyuki Takahashi; hereinafter 'Atre'), and JR East Logistics Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Shinobu Noguchi; hereinafter 'JR East Logistics')—have partnered to launch a pilot test of a resource circulation model originating from train stations and station buildings. This initiative aims to establish a "sustainable resource circulation model" in local communities by utilizing ECOMMIT's resource circulation service "PASSTO" to collect and redistribute clothing and household goods. Background: Building a New Resource Circulation Model Along JR East Railway Lines Realizing a circular economy has become a crucial theme for solving various social issues, not only environmental problems but also price hikes due to soaring raw material costs, increasing administrative burdens for waste disposal, and declining public services. On the other hand, to implement resource circulation as a sustainable initiative in society, it is necessary to establish multiple functions—such as "collection hubs" to gather unneeded items, "logistics," "sorting," and "resale/redistribution" through reuse—while ensuring economic viability. However, it has not been easy to expand the circulation system due to problems such as the lack of easily accessible collection hubs on daily commuter routes, high logistics costs, and securing places for resale and redistribution. Therefore, in this initiative, the JR East Group aims to build a new resource circulation model that connects everything from collection to resale and redistribution by utilizing its living infrastructure, such as stations and commercial facilities, to expand collection hubs where people can easily let go of unneeded items in their daily lives, and efficiently transporting them using JR East Logistics' logistics network. Outline of Collaboration Specifically, collection hubs for clothing and miscellaneous goods using PASSTO will be set up on daily commuting routes such as stations and station buildings. The railway line's logistics network will be utilized for efficient collection and transportation, creating venues for resale and redistribution utilizing commercial facilities and event spaces. The goal is to establish a resource circulation process, which has tended to be fragmented until now, in a unified manner along the railway line and local communities. Through this, we will verify the possibility of a circulation model that is not only creating environmental value but also sustainable as a business. 1. Resource Collection via Resource Circulation Service "PASSTO" Resource collection using the resource circulation service "PASSTO" will be implemented at Atre Matsudo, Atre Toride, and Play Atre Tsuchiura. A specially designed PASSTO box for Atre will be installed at each Atre store, aiming to collect unneeded items more efficiently by making it easy for customers to drop off unneeded items along their daily shopping routes. In addition, a portion of the collected items will be sold at the "PASSTO Market" scheduled to be held at Atre Matsudo, realizing resource circulation along the railway line and providing customers along the line with an experience where they can easily participate in the "resource circulation initiative that delivers value to the next person." Installation Period: From Monday, April 20 (End date undecided) Location: Atre Matsudo 5th floor, Atre Toride 1st floor, Play Atre Tsuchiura 1st floor Items Collected: Clothing, bags, fashion accessories, toys, etc. Service Hours: Subject to the business hours of each Atre store