【Special Issues: Current Status of R&D Technologies for Waste Biomass Utilization】
Total Recycle System for Municipal Food Waste for Poly-L-Lactic Acid Output
Kenji Sakai* and Yoshihito Shirai**
* Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Oita University
** Professor, Graduate School of Life Science and System Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology
† Correspondence should be addressed to Kenji Sakai:
Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Oita University
（700 Dannoharu Oita, 870-1192 Japan）

Abstract
Over 50％ of the approximately twenty million tons of food waste generated annually in Japan comes from kitchens and the food industry and is a type of municipal food waste which is difficult to recycle. Here we propose a novel recycling system for municipal food waste which combines fermentation and chemical processes to produce recyclable plastics from high quality poly-L-lactic acid（PLLA）. The total design of the process allows for a high yield of PLLA with high opti-cal activity and novel recycling of all materials produced at each step, with minimal emissions and energy-savings.
Evaluation of the system is discussed from the standpoints of energy balances, environmental impact, as well as sustainability of the industry, which are all important areas to consider for the establishment of a recycling-based society.

Key words: food waste , recyclable plastic, poly-L-lactic acid（PLLA）, recycle-based society