The city of Kitakyushu is drawing attention nationwide for an environmental protection campaign it began in the 1990s.
"I may be the only mayor who became famous by collecting waste and creating an industry," says former Mayor Koichi Sueyoshi, 80.
He was speaking at a plant of Nishi-Nippon PET-Bottle Recycle Co. (NPR), where old plastic bottles were piled up high.