In addition to 24-hour remote monitoring and operational support, Solution Lab, Takuma's remote monitoring and operational support facility, is striving to realize stable plant operation, for example by optimizing maintenance through the collection and analysis of operating data from various plants.

Plant EPC, operation management, and maintenance require many years of experience and expertise, and one of Takuma's strengths is the experience it has accumulated in this area since its founding. To provide higher-quality EPC and after-sales service, we are working to ensure that expertise and skills are reliably passed down to younger employees and to further improve individual workers' skills while making use of digital technologies. Additionally, we are working to strengthen our competitiveness in EPC and after-sales service by working to improve productivity, for example through streamlining initiatives based on the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and other technologies.

Acquisition of Techno Links Inc.
We have acquired a 100% stake in Techno Links Inc., a manufacturer with operations spanning the design, fabrication, and installation of environmental recycling systems^*, as well as associated after-sales service. By augmenting Takuma's overall plant design capabilities with this new subsidiary's ability to design custom equipment to suit the properties of specific waste streams, we will gain the ability to build more efficient sorting systems.
*Equipment that makes up recycling plants (equipment for crushing, sorting, compacting, and transporting drink containers; equipment for sorting and compacting other plastics; belt conveyors, etc.)

Initiatives at Imabari City Waste Management Center
Having adopted the concept of Phase Free^*1 operations at waste treatment facilities, Takuma built and operates Imabari City Waste Management Center as a new type of waste treatment facility that contributes to its community during both normal times and times of emergency.
The plant has a role as a disaster-prevention base to safeguard residents in the event of an emergency as well as serving as a familiar presence to residents during normal times, other than incinerating waste. In addition to providing functionality to serve as a shelter where people can take refuge with peace of mind, the facility is improving its ability to deal with any contingencies that might arise in the event of a disaster and strengthening its cooperative structures by joining the city, a Special-Purpose Company (SPC)^*2, and local NPOs as well as residents to hold annual training involving opening itself as a shelter and carrying out improvements based on that training. Moreover, the Center is earning praise not only for playing a role in times of emergency, but also for operating as a Phase Free facility that maintains a familiar presence for residents in regular times by allowing them to enjoy sports and events.
*1: A concept that augments daily operations with the ability to play a role in the event of a disaster.
*2: Imabari High Trust Co., Ltd., a Special-Purpose Company (SPC) established with investments by Takuma and Takuma Technos Co., Ltd., which is part of the Takuma Group, is tasked with operating Imabari City Waste Management Center. Waste treatment facilities in service to the region both "normally" and "in emergencies"! In-depth analysis featuring "Imabari City Clean Center"

Participation in the C2X Project
Takuma is participating in the Carbon to X (C2X) project, an open innovation business platform dedicated to helping realize a decarbonized society. The organization emphasizes commercialization through inter-industry partnerships to promote adoption of technologies for decarbonization and Carbon dioxide Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS). By commercializing CCUS technology through the C2X project, for example in businesses that use collected CO₂ as a raw material to produce fuel or chemical products, we will realize a global vision for a sustainable, safe, secure, and comfortable decarbonized society based on cyclical resource flows through adoption of renewable energy. As a leading manufacturer of municipal solid waste treatment plants, Takuma will contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society by working with local governments and local stakeholders to develop and study next-generation waste treatment plant in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through C2X.

Development of a CO₂ supply system for SARA Inc.
We developed a system for supplying a large volume of CO₂ in a safe, economical manner from combustion flue gas from a biomass power plant and delivered it to SARA Inc. By locating the biomass power plant that incorporates this system next to a greenhouse, we have realized a biomass tri-generation system that uses heat, electricity, and CO₂ in vegetable cultivation.
Through this system, which combines the expertise of SARA Inc., an expert in vegetable cultivation, with Takuma's flue gas treatment technology, we are contributing to smart agriculture that utilizes the fertilizing effects of CO₂ while realizing economic, carbon-negative^* operation.
The system received the Japan Machinery Federation Chairman Prize at the Federation's 2020 Equipment and System Awards for Excellence in Energy Savings.
*The system absorbs more CO₂ than it gives off(making it carbon-negative) as its CO₂ source is combustion gases from wood biomass, which is carbon-neutral, and because it makes effective use of the CO₂ in those gases.
Biomass Power Plant Construction / O&M Project in Kasaoka

Conversion of CO₂ in flue gas into solid carbon
This technology manufactures solid carbon using CO₂ separated and captured from the flue gases from municipal solid waste treatment plants as the raw material and energy from the same plant. The solid carbon is expected to be used as a raw material for the manufacture of chemicals such as carbon black, and we are currently involved in a research and development project that is receiving technological guidance from Shizuoka University.

Biomethanation, which also yields a substitute for natural gas
This technology generates high-concentration biomethane from biogas from the methane fermentation of garbage and other waste and CO₂ contained in flue gases by adding hydrogen and relying on a microbial process to convert the mixture into methane. It is characterized by low facility energy consumption and high operational stability. The technology offers a high level of versatility since biomethane can be used as a fuel to generate electricity or as a substitute for natural gas, and we are currently conducting joint research with Kyoto University, Hokkaido University, the National Institute for Environmental Studies, Toho Gas, and Ebara Jitsugyo.

Technology for separating and capturing CO₂(chemical absorption method)
Working with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, we are conducting joint research to develop technology for separating and capturing CO₂ using a chemical absorption method that utilizes non-water absorbent for use with CO₂ in flue gases from biomass power plants and municipal solid waste treatment plants. Under the Research, Development and Demonstration Project of CCUS Technology, which Takuma is carrying out with Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd., under contract from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and which is conceived to yield energy savings and downsizing of equipment, we will research the targeted technologies, and we will look to use the absorbent to treat plant flue gases in the future as we evaluate its performance and work to commercialize it.