Significantly reducing waste lowers costs and contributes to environmental protection!
"MeltKing IoT" is also being used in hospitals that support local residents.
USER PROFILE
■Company information: Machida Municipal Hospital
■Business details:
Showa 33 Established in 2007, the hospital operates under the basic philosophy of being "a hospital that is needed, trusted, and satisfied by the local community," and provides medical care to local residents in a wide range of medical fields, including emergency care, team medical care/multi-disciplinary collaboration, palliative care, and cancer treatment. In addition to serving as a disaster base hospital, the hospital has established a medical collaboration office and is working to enhance hospital-clinic and hospital-hospital collaboration, including accepting referred patients and reverse referrals, in order to fulfill its role as a public core hospital in the region.
■Interviewee:
Machida Municipal Hospital Administrative Department, Facilities Supplies Division
Section Manager Takatoshi Kawai (left in photo)
Kenji Kikuchi (center of photo)
Mr. Kosuke Haneda (right in the photo)
summary
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Background and Issues |
Reduces waste disposal costs while contributing to the city's environmental action plan |
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selection |
Even with trial calculations, clear effects were realized, leading to smooth implementation |
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Current operation |
Waste generation has decreased significantly compared to the previous year |
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from now on |
We want to use waste generated within the hospital as energy |
Background and Issues
Aiming to reduce expensive waste disposal costs while also being environmentally conscious
Mr. Haneda: I first encountered Macnica when I became interested in bioclean lighting at an energy conservation exhibition and heard about it.
Machida Municipal Hospital, which generates a large amount of waste, faced issues such as breakdowns in its food waste disposal equipment and rising maintenance costs. Furthermore, the cost of disposing of infectious waste generated by the hospital is about an order of magnitude higher than the general waste generated by an ordinary business. I wanted to find a way to reduce these high costs, so I approached Mr. Wakisaka (General Manager Macnica 's Circular Economy Business Division), who is proactively working on environmental issues, for advice.
Mr. Kawai: Machida City is working on its "5th Environmental Action Plan" towards becoming a "Zero Carbon City Machida" by 2050, and the national government is working to promote such initiatives in municipalities nationwide. Macnica is strong in areas essential to this plan, such as CO2 reduction, paper consumption reduction, and the use of renewable energy, and sells a variety of advanced products. I think one of the reasons Machida Municipal Hospital selected "MeltKing IoT" is that it matched the initiatives requested by the city and the administration.
selection
Reassuring explanations ensure smooth implementation
Haneda: At first, I thought there would be various hurdles to overcome when introducing it into the hospital. However, Mr. Wakisaka explained the sterilization process and how it would be possible to avoid having someone constantly nearby after the waste was placed inside, meaning that labor costs would be reduced. We received various questions from within the hospital, but he answered every question immediately, so we really got a sense of the merits of "MeltKing IoT," and the more we learned, the more we felt that it matched our needs. The cost-benefit analysis showed that it was sufficiently cost-effective, and it also aligned with the direction of initiatives that the city wanted, so things proceeded smoothly.
We actually installed "MeltKing IoT" in February 2025, and after adjusting the weighing scales and other components, we began trial operation in April-May. Currently, we are preparing for full-scale operation on October 1st. The reasons for deciding to introduce it were that it could achieve two things: cost reduction and environmental consideration. Infectious waste processed by "MeltKing IoT" can be disposed of as general waste after processing, which significantly reduces costs. In addition, since it is possible to reduce the amount of waste, we thought that it would also reduce CO2 emissions generated during transportation.
Mr. Kawai: Cost is a truly pressing issue, and it's said that 70-80 % of hospitals nationwide are operating at a loss. While it's true that reducing waste disposal costs alone won't cover everything, I believe that "MeltKing IoT," which allows hospitals to be environmentally conscious, is a good product that is in line with the times. These days, the transportation industry is said to be suffering from a labor shortage, but if the amount of waste is reduced, the need to transport it will decrease, so there may be benefits in that respect as well.
Current operation
Significant reduction in cardboard waste, with support from cleaning staff
Mr. Haneda: Since introducing "MeltKing IoT," the amount of 60-liter cardboard boxes we use for waste disposal has decreased by about 200 to 250 boxes per month compared to 2024. The amount of waste generated fluctuates daily, and the weight of each box varies depending on the type of waste it contains, but since we have a per-box pricing contract for collection, it has led to significant cost reductions.
At the waste disposal site, we have newly asked cleaning staff to load waste into the "Melt King IoT" and to scoop out the processed waste. However, we have heard that transporting waste within the hospital has become easier because they now use plastic bags instead of the cardboard boxes that were previously difficult to transport. The cleaning staff have understood the details of our initiative and have been very positive in their cooperation, saying things like "it's fun" and "it's even more motivating" after seeing the significant reduction in waste.
from now on
Towards a hospital that can reuse energy
Mr. Haneda: In the future, I would like to create a system that utilizes machines such as "Melt King IoT" to recycle waste generated within the hospital into renewable energy. For example, currently we use gas as fuel, but if we could burn processed waste like pellets to secure energy and use that to power chillers and air conditioners, we might not need to purchase additional energy. If we can manage energy solely within the hospital in this way, I think we will be much closer to the vision that Machida City is aiming for.
Mr. Kawai: That's very inspiring. In reality, furnaces and the like use a lot of kerosene when starting them up, so it would be great if "MeltKing IoT" could be introduced to public facilities in Machida City in the future so that waste could be turned into fuel. Machida Municipal Hospital would also like to aim for a circular economy.
