From Scourge of the Seas to SDGs

"The fundamentals of our company are very strong.

Our balance sheet is healthy and assets robust."

The head of Adani Group who was once Asia's richest person tried to reassure investors that the corporate giant he founded remains on solid ground.

Over 3 decades, his firm blossomed into one of India's largest.

It operates a wide range of businesses, mainly in infrastructure such as ports for both sea and air, as well as energy.

Now it's been shaken by a single analysts' report.

That was from a little-known US investment firm, Hindenburg Research.

In late January, it published pages of allegations of accounting fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering aimed at Adani.

The firm says its report was based on extensive research.

Led by Nathan Anderson, Hindenburg is known in the industry for its short-selling.

It bets on the prices of assets falling, then tries to make that happen by taking its case to the public.

Adani Group hit back, dismissing the allegations as "nothing but a lie."

But that didn't stop a massive selloff of the group's listed stocks.

10s of billions of dollars of stock value were wiped off the conglomerate's listed firms, including flagship Adani Enterprises, in a matter of days.

The core company was also forced to cancel a 2.5 billion-dollar share sale.

The crisis quickly spread.

Demonstrators supporting the country's main opposition party demanded an investigation.

They say Prime Minister Narendra Modi is too close to Adani.

"Modi lifted Adani to the skies when he was not so successful as now, but after a report by Hindenburg, Adani has sunk to the ground again.

It is such a big scam and there is more corruption in this than India has ever seen."

Modi's party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, denied allegations it shows favoritism to Adani Group.

"In this matter, there is nothing for our party to hide and nothing to be afraid of."

Some analysts say serious trouble at Adani with its deep involvement in key industries could derail Modi's massive plan to revamp infrastructure in Asia's third biggest economy.

The wider reputation of the Indian business world is also at stake.

Many expect there will be a closer look at corporate governance.

As Adani scrambles to salvage its reputation, many are asking whether this will be a minor hiccup along India's growth path or something larger.

These floorboards had been slated for disposal.

But thanks to the efforts of an architect-turned-entrepreneur, they're going into a childcare facility under construction in Tokyo.

Toyoda Kumpei visited a lot of building sites as part of his work as an architect.

This made him aware that perfectly good construction supplies are being discarded.

So two years ago, he started a resale business.

"These materials are in short supply and expensive.

But they're being thrown away.

Construction material waste has become a big problem."

In the industry, there is what is called mixed-construction waste.

Much of it is recycled.

But almost 30% of it ends up in landfills or incinerators, including unused items.

Let's see why there is so much waste.

It's how the construction business works.

Multiple contractors are responsible for the various steps.

A shortage of material at any stage could mean a halt to construction and costly delays.

No one wants to be blamed for that, so the view is that it's better to have too much than to have too little.

This is where Toyoda's company, Hub and Stock, comes in.

It buys some of the oversupply and sells it at a discount to contractors.

The builder of the Tokyo daycare center we saw earlier estimates he will get the floor panels for 80% less than from another supplier.

"We asked about the possibility of reducing costs even a little, since materials have become so expensive."

Some customers are just grateful they don't have to pay for disposal.

Toyoda's company agreed to purchase about 2 tons of wall and floor tiles from this contractor.

"Of course, I'm happy the items I was going to have to pay to discard were purchased.

But it's also good that they'll have another chance at being used."

Business is brisk.

His company trades about 120 tons of material a year.

Social media is important, too.

The company's deep discounts off retail prices attract home remodelers and DIY enthusiasts alike.

Last year, Toyoda approached a major home center about selling his products to expand his sales channels.

"By reusing these building materials, our company creates an infrastructure within a circular economy that reduces CO2."

He hopes that his approach will spread basing that on the view that what one person might see as trash can be turned into treasure by another.

Marine plastic waste is being turned into a variety of useful household items.

And nylon sourced from used fishing nets is being used to make light and durable backpacks and hand bags.

Today's On-Site Report shows how environmentally conscious businesses are helping to eliminate plastic pollution in our oceans through recycling.

The vivid colors and distinctive marbling of these household items isn't the most unique thing about them.

What really makes them standout is their source material - plastic waste collected from beaches across Japan.

The brand was created by Hayashi Terukuni, the president of a company that specializes in producing plastic housings for electronic devices.

As a company that produces plastic products, it felt it should play a role in reducing plastic waste,

and set out to create a brand focused around achieving that goal.

My generation has benefited greatly from plastic and the durable products it provides, but we shouldn't stand by and leave something negative or dangerous for the next generation to deal with.

I think it's our responsibility to turn it into something that they can use and benefit from for a long time.

However, recycling marine waste plastics isn't easy.

Not only do the plastic items arrive in varying states of deterioration, different types of plastics have different melting points,

making it impossible to uniformly combine them for recycling.

To overcome this issue, Hayashi's company developed a specially designed compression molding press.

Various types of finely crushed plastics are placed into molds on the press.

A layer of hygienic film is then placed on top.

And a carefully calculated amount of heat and pressure is then applied to meld the different types of plastic together while also molding it into the desired shape.

We always look forward to seeing the various shapes and colors that result from smashing the different plastics together.

And the older more worn-out plastics are great for this.

I guess the longer the journey, the more character the plastic has.

In 2020, the company started selling its new products under the brand name "buoy."

The unique designs achieved by combining different types of plastic are a major selling point.

To date, the recycled plastic products have brought in nearly $80,000 in sales.

Primarily sold through select shops, they are currently available at over 40 retail stores across Japan.

A single coaster costs about $8.

Although not cheap, an increasing number of people are willing to pay a premium for turning pollution that threatens our oceans and beaches into useful products.

The company sources the plastic waste it uses from 14 organizations located all across Japan that focus on cleaning up and protecting the country's beaches.

To promote their efforts and help cover their operating costs, Hayashi's company pays the same price for the plastic waste as it would for new plastic.

Last year alone, the company purchased nearly 1 ton of plastic waste for its eco-friendly product line.

I think it's up to people like me who used lots of plastics or produced a lot of plastic products to help in the transition to a more circular system

that encourages the next generation to collect and recycle its plastic waste.

While this looks like any other modern tote bag...

It's actually made from recycled nylon sourced from used fishing nets.

Most fishermen replace their nets at least every 2 years, and since they are difficult to re-use most ended up being incinerated or thrown away.

This company, wants to change that and has recently developed a new way to recycle used fishing nets.

Since most fishing nets are made of pure nylon, we knew that the core material would be recyclable.

The challenge in recycling fishing nets comes from what gets stuck to them.

Sand, sediment, and other organic and inorganic impurities must all be removed before the nylon strands can be recycled.

After being cut into small pieces, the nylon is thoroughly washed, then run through a machine which melts them down and forms them into long nylon ribbons

which are then cut into tiny pellets after cooling.

This is how the company is able to restore the contaminated nylon from fishing nets into a usable material with the same attributes as virgin nylon.

Currently, 400 tons of nylon fishing net are collected annually through fishing cooperatives and seafood companies throughout Japan.

This is a major benefit to fisherman as they are no longer responsible for disposing of used nets on their own.

The faster we can collect the nets, the more we can prevent from ending up in the ocean.

Compared to manufacturing new nylon, the recycling process produces 80% less CO2 emissions.

This much more eco-friendly option is catching the eyes of manufacturers from a variety of industries.

For example, a manufacturer in Toyooka, a city known for being Japan's leading bag producer, is now using fabric made with recycled nylon in some of its products.

Although the cost of the recycled material is 3 times more than virgin nylon, the company is still excited to use it in their products.

And the decision wasn't solely based on the environment.

With a material like this, I thought we can make all sorts of bags that are both light and durable.

They also used it to develop a backpack for young school children.

Even with my stuff inside, it's light and easy to run with!

Since releasing the new product line 2 years ago, the company has sold about 1,300 bags made of recycled nylon.

This year, they have set their sales target at 5,000 bags.

It'd be great if we can get the message out that some Toyooka bag makers are taking a more environmentally conscious approach to their products.

That way we can bolster our reputation and increase our consumer base even more.