This article explains how the concept of a 'living pavilion that eats garbage' is being realized through actual plant operations at the Japan Pavilion of the Osaka-Kansai Expo.
The Japan Pavilion serves as an innovative facility that overturns conventional pavilion concepts by incorporating an actually operating biogas plant. Food waste collected throughout the venue is transported daily to the Japan Pavilion, processed finely by crushers, then fermented in methane fermentation tanks to generate biogas. This biogas is converted to electricity by generators installed within the pavilion and actually used within the facility. The plant area exhibition visually represents the actual processes taking place in this back yard.
The water purification process from food waste is also actually operating. Starting from wastewater containing impurities, through stepwise treatment by purification equipment and removal of fine impurities by filtration membranes, it is finally transformed into clean water that flows into the water basin at the center of the Japan Pavilion. The water that visitors see in the water basin is actually 'the transformed appearance of garbage becoming water,' serving as a symbolic representation of a circular society.
As an opportunity to experience such actual plant operations, 'Japan Pavilion Biogas Plant Tour' is also available. Participants wear helmets and can observe up close the actually operating equipment such as machinery that collects and crushes food waste, fermentation tanks, generators, and purification facilities. Due to space limitations, this tour has limited capacity, but it provides a valuable opportunity to understand the true nature of the Japan Pavilion.
The article emphasizes that the Japan Pavilion is not merely an exhibition facility, but a revolutionary existence that fundamentally overturns the concept of 'pavilion' created by expos by functioning as an actual operating plant.