Overview

Project Ikkaku was launched in 2019 by the Nippon Foundation, JASTO, and Leave a Nest to create a pathway for businesses that reduce marine debris. Over three years, startups, universities, small factories, large companies, and other cross-disciplinary teams developed and commercialized new technologies. Selected teams received a total of 150 million yen in research funding and support for commercialization and partner acquisition.

Technology strengths

Eight services were created through the project, including satellite-based visualization of stranded waste, drone analysis of coastal debris, the UMIMIRU beach monitoring app, distributed energy systems that convert marine debris into alternative fuel, microalgae water purification, collection and recycling of oyster pipes and artificial turf, carbon nanotube production from marine plastic, and SDGs learning through beach cleanups.

Deployment examples

Partner

Leave a Nest

Use case

Since 2022, the participating teams have been advancing the business implementation of marine debris reduction.