Our guest today is Yamasaki Nobuyoshi, whose company developed a new material to replace paper and plastic. The material is limestone-based, and is used to make pamphlets, food trays, smartphone cases, and more. The technique has a registered trademark in over 30 countries. The company aims to expand production to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Mongolia. How did Yamasaki develop this alternative to paper and plastic? He spoke to us about the potential of the material, and its environmental benefits.

Nice to meet you. I'm Yamasaki.

Yamasaki's business card is, of course, made from his new material. At first glance, it looks like a normal business card. But there are two big differences.

First, its durability. Here's our program director's card. As expected, it rips easily. But Yamasaki's card holds firm, no matter how hard it's pulled.

The second difference is water resistance. This is a normal sheet of paper. After three minutes, it's removed. The paper is soaked through, and totally ruined. Let's try that again with a sheet of the new material. Three minutes later, the water hasn't penetrated at all. It rolls right off. What's more, it's usable while wet. Even when water is pooled on the material's surface, you can write on it with a ballpoint pen. And when the water is wiped away, the ink doesn't smudge.

The material is highly regarded for its durability and water resistance. Many restaurant chains use it for their menus. It's common for menus to be made from paper, and laminated with plastic. But with our material, it's just one sheet. You can wipe it clean. It's very easy to work with, and often cheaper, too. Thanks to its water resistance, it's increasingly used outdoors, for products such as posters.

The posters endure rainy and windy weather without changing color or shape. Long after paper posters would have faded, they remain as vivid as the day they were printed. In fact, their product range goes way beyond paper alternatives. From food trays, used in deliveries, to combs and toothbrushes used in hotel rooms, the material can be used to make objects more commonly made from plastic. For this reason, it's receiving a lot of attention as a plastic alternative. The principal ingredient in the material is limestone.

Limestone is cheap, and practically inexhaustible. Even Japan, which has few natural resources, can provide 100% of its own supply. Making paper requires a huge volume of water, and a similarly large supply of timber. Our material barely uses either. But it can be used to make the same products that are normally made from paper or plastic.

The material is more environmentally-friendly than plastic. When buried for several days, it begins to break down, and can easily be crumbled by hand. Surprisingly, Yamasaki developed this ground-breaking material without any special scientific expertise.

He was born in 1973, in Osaka. His family ran a local okonomiyaki restaurant. After graduating from middle school, he spent four years as an apprentice carpenter. Then, when he was 20, he founded a used car dealership.

After middle school, I decided to get a job. I didn't feel any motivation to go on to high school. But I didn't want to be a carpenter either; my friend was a carpenter's apprentice. He asked me to join him, so I did.

You only live once. I wanted to dream big, and challenge myself. Starting a business seemed like the best way to do that, so at 20, I started a used car dealership. But I didn't know what I was doing, so I couldn't devote myself to the work. I wanted to find something else. It preyed on my mind.

When Yamasaki was 30, a friend invited him on a trip to Europe. As he looked at the old, historic architecture, something occurred to him.

Places like London, Barcelona, and the Vatican had a big effect on me. Those buildings had centuries of history. I was just amazed by them. Because I was a carpenter, I thought about the hundreds of years they took to build. People spent their whole lives working on something they'd never finish. I was stunned. Seen from those buildings, human life seemed so short. My life as well. It made me think really hard about what I wanted to achieve in my life.

Yamasaki was searching for a new challenge. Something to become his life's work. Three years later, in 2008, he came across stone paper, made in Taiwan.

It was paper made from stone, without wood or water. I was intrigued, and asked them to let me handle sales in Japan. They wanted me to buy a certain amount every month. We came to an agreement, and I became an importer.

Yamasaki set up his own company and became a sales representative for the Taiwanese stone paper. But there were problems.

It was heavy, expensive, and the quality was inconsistent. We discovered that it damaged printers, and left white powder everywhere. There were all sorts of issues. The thickness varied. There was stone residue, and marks on the paper. Some of it couldn't be used for printing.

The Taiwanese stone paper was 40% heavier than normal paper. A hurdle for distribution. Yamasaki asked the makers to improve their production methods, but the conversation didn't go well.

They didn't have the ambition to go global with their product. From their perspective, Japanese customers were too demanding. No one else had a problem. I was convinced that, as things were, nothing would change. The product would never be improved.

In 2009, Yamasaki and his ten employees set about developing their own stone paper. But, there were many setbacks, and their troubles continued. Then, Yamasaki encountered a man known in the industry as "The God of Paper": Sumi Yuichiro.

He used to be the top engineer at a major Japanese paper maker. At first, he resisted the idea. He understood how much it would cost, and how long it would take. I asked him to take care of the development, and said I'd come up with the money. I used everything I'd saved since I was 20 years old. At one point I couldn't even pay my rent.

With the company at risk of bankruptcy, Sumi managed to develop a brand-new manufacturing technique. He created a consistent gap between the limestone and resin, then added air, making the product lighter. In 2011, he perfected the material. It was light, and it left no limestone residue.

I was deeply moved. It sounds strange, because I was looking at a blank piece of paper. But my heart was jumping for joy. It was the first sheet ever made in Japan. I was absolutely delighted.

In 2015, Yamasaki set up a factory that could produce 6,000 tons of the new material every year. In 2016, he started selling business cards. And he reached an agreement to start production in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Mongolia.

Places like Saudi Arabia and Mongolia have a limited water supply, so they've never been able to produce paper. But now they can use limestone, taken from their own country, and manufacture a paper alternative using our technology.

At present, ocean plastic waste is a major global problem. Widespread use of plastic bags and straws is one of the main causes. In 2018, Yamasaki began manufacturing goods using his new material, which breaks down easily, as a plastic alternative. And that's not the only way Yamasaki is combating plastic usage.

This plastic bag is made from over 50% recycled waste plastic.

Eliminating plastic waste entirely won't happen overnight. In the meantime, Yamasaki is developing a system where recycled plastic is combined with his limestone material to create new products.

Right now, over 120 countries have introduced laws related to plastic usage. It's creating something called a "circular economy." By recycling waste plastic, we can reduce oil usage, as well as CO2 emissions. Our technique allows recycled plastic to be used at existing plastic manufacturing facilities. Developing countries can make use of their plastic waste. Continuing to develop new material in that way could make a huge contribution. That's my current challenge.

Yamasaki's workforce has increased to 160 like-minded people. However, the global outbreak of COVID-19 has had a significant effect on the company's expansion. In response, Yamasaki and his team used their knowledge to develop a brand-new type of mask.

I don't think many people are aware of this, but commonly-used disposable masks are actually made from plastic. Over 70 countries have now made masks compulsory in public settings. We're still seeing mask shortages in some parts of the world. Washable, reusable masks, made from environmentally-friendly materials will be very important. So that's what we developed.

The masks are made using polylactic acid fibers taken from natural resources such as cornstarch. They have a lower environmental impact than masks made from oil-based plastic. There are fears that disposable masks will generate waste, and Yamasaki hopes his product can help alleviate the problem.

They're made from plant-based resin, and in the right environment they're biodegradable. If they're disposed of correctly, they'll break down. In regions such as Africa, there's still a shortage of masks, and more and more people are contracting the virus. Donations of masks from our company to those countries would have an incredibly positive effect. So that's what we're working on at the moment.

(Do you have any words to live by?)

"Gratitude." This company has received help from so many people, and it's thanks to them that we've come this far. And our staff have made a bold decision to work with us. They've dedicated their lives to this challenge, and I'm incredibly grateful. People have been helping me every step of the way. I've received assistance in countless different ways, and I'm thankful that we can face this challenge together. I want to keep taking on new challenges.