Method for estimating recycling amount of product, system for estimating recycling amount, program for estimating recycling amount

Abstract

This method for estimating a recycling amount of a product comprises: an acquisition step (S2) for acquiring identification information about a used product; and an estimation step (S4) for estimating, on the basis of the acquired identification information and predetermined correspondence information, an amount to be handled which is the recycling amount of recovered material obtained from the used product.

Description

Method for estimating product recycling amount, recycling amount estimation system, and recycling amount estimation program 【0001】 This disclosure relates to a method for estimating the recycling amount of products, a recycling amount estimation system, and a recycling amount estimation program. 【0002】 Patent Document 1 describes an evaluation device and an evaluation method for deriving a processing method that minimizes the recycling cost and environmental load of an evaluation target product. In this evaluation method, user selection of a product is accepted, all disassembly methods of the evaluation product and the recycling methods corresponding to each disassembly method are derived, and based on the utility used in the disassembly and recycling methods of each recycling method and the unit cost information, the cost and environmental load are calculated, and a processing method that minimizes the cost and environmental load is output. 【0003】 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-254353 【0004】 In recent years, there has been a demand to achieve high circulation in the circulation of resources, including product production, use, recovery of used products, and reuse of resources through the use of resources. The inventors of the present invention considered that, as a method for achieving high circulation of these resources, when a company such as a product manufacturing company collects used products from users, construction contractors, etc. and delivers them to a recycling company, the recycling company issues a certificate specifying the transaction target amount of the recovered materials obtained from the used products. Here, the "recovered materials" are materials recovered from used products in order to produce recycled materials that can be used for other objects such as products. The "transaction target amount" is the weight of the recovered materials that can be used to produce recycled materials, and is the recycling amount that is the subject of the transaction. 【0005】 At this time, when the company that has been issued the certificate discloses the usage amounts of fresh materials and recycled materials in the materials of new products, it is conceivable to show the amount obtained by subtracting the transaction target amount specified in the certificate from the usage amount of the fresh materials as the "assumed fresh material amount". By approaching this assumed fresh material amount to zero, it is considered possible to show the contribution degree of the company to resource conservation. 【0006】However, if the amount of recovered material is obtained by actually performing mechanical or chemical processing or measurement after separation and crushing operations in order to determine the "tradable quantity" of used products, the cost and labor involved in determining the tradeable quantity can increase significantly. 【0007】 The purpose of this disclosure is to reduce the cost and effort required to identify the tradeable quantity of recovered materials obtained from used products in product recycling estimation methods, estimation systems, and estimation programs. 【0008】 One aspect of this disclosure is a method for estimating the amount of recycled products, which includes an acquisition step of acquiring identification information of used products, and an estimation step of estimating the amount of recycled materials obtained from used products, which is the amount subject to trading, based on the acquired identification information and predetermined corresponding information. 【0009】 One aspect of this disclosure is a product recycling volume estimation system, which includes an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of used products, and an estimation unit that estimates the amount of recycled material obtained from used products, which is the amount subject to transaction, based on the identification information and predetermined correspondence information. 【0010】 A product recycling amount estimation program, which is one aspect of this disclosure, is a program that causes a computer to execute the product recycling amount estimation method of this disclosure. 【0011】 According to a method, estimation system, and estimation program for estimating the amount of recycled products, which are aspects of this disclosure, it is not necessary to actually perform separation and crushing operations, followed by mechanical or chemical processing or measurement, to obtain the amount of recovered material obtained from used products in order to identify the amount of recovered material that is eligible for trading. This reduces the cost and man-hours required to identify the amount of material eligible for trading. 【0012】This figure shows the fresh material quantity of a conventional product (a), the fresh material quantity of a new product (b), and the estimated fresh material quantity of a future new product (c). This is a block diagram showing the method for estimating the amount of recycled used products and the method for calculating the estimated fresh material quantity of a new product according to the embodiment. This is a block diagram of the product recycling quantity estimation system according to the embodiment. This figure shows a table representing the transactional quantity for each material corresponding to the first attribute, used in the product recycling quantity estimation method. This figure shows a table representing the transactional quantity for each material corresponding to the second attribute, used in the product recycling quantity estimation method. 【0013】 The recycling amount estimation method, estimation system, and estimation program related to this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Using Figures 1 and 2, the recycling amount estimation method for a product according to an embodiment and the method for calculating the deemed fresh material amount of the product, including the estimation method, will be explained. 【0014】 Figure 1 shows the amount of fresh material in a conventional product (a), the amount of fresh material in a new product (b), and the estimated amount of fresh material in a future new product (c). Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the method for estimating the amount of recycled used products and the method for calculating the estimated amount of fresh material in a new product according to the embodiment. 【0015】 "Deemed fresh material quantity" is a concept defined in this embodiment. For example, when a company that has developed or produced a new product makes an announcement about the new product, it is conceivable that they could demonstrate their contribution to resource conservation by showing, for example, the amount of recycled material and fresh material used in the conventional product as shown in Figure 1(a), and the amount of recycled material and fresh material used in the new product as shown in Figure 1(b), thereby showing that the proportion of fresh material has decreased. 【0016】In this embodiment, for example, a company producing a new product hands over used products of conventional products belonging to the same group as the new product, for a specific material, to a recycler. The recycler then obtains a certificate confirming that recyclable material is recovered from the used product, and that a tradeable quantity, which is the amount of recovered material that can be traded as recycled material, is obtained from that recovered material. Here, the "tradeable quantity" is determined by multiplying the weight of the recovered material obtained from the used product by the recycler through disassembly, sorting, etc., by a predetermined coefficient, which is the recycling rate, depending on the type of recovered material and the recycling method described later. 【0017】 For example, consider a company that develops and produces a new product, and for a specific material used in the new product, it shows the amount of recycled and fresh material used as shown in Figure 1(c). In this case, let A be the total number of conventional used products (estimated value) that belong to the same group as the new product, and let B be the total weight of the traded quantity of the specific material identified by multiple certificates for the used products. In this case, the amount obtained by subtracting the traded quantity per unit C, obtained by B / A, from the fresh material quantity D per unit of the new product is defined as the deemed fresh material quantity E. That is, E = D - C. In this case, by setting the deemed fresh material quantity E to 0, or approaching 0, it is possible to show the contribution of the company developing and producing the new product to resource conservation. 【0018】 On the other hand, in this case, it is necessary to identify the amount of recovered material to be traded. To do this, it is conceivable that a recycling company would actually dismantle or crush used products, and then calculate and obtain the amount of recovered material by performing mechanical or chemical processing and measurements. However, in this case, the costs and man-hours for mechanical or chemical processing and measurements could increase significantly. The methods, systems, and programs of the embodiments described below can prevent such inconveniences. 【0019】Specifically, as shown in Figure 2, the recycling volume estimation method of the embodiment includes an information acquisition step (S2), an attribute determination step (S3), and an estimation step (S4). These steps are performed by the recycling company using the recycling volume estimation system described later. 【0020】 First, in the recovery step (S1), for example, when a construction contractor is replacing conventional products such as lighting fixtures or refrigerators that have been used for a long period of time in a building or facility with new products, the used products are recovered from the site. Then, the manufacturer of the new products takes possession of the used products from the construction contractor and recovers them. In addition, in the recovery step, the manufacturer of the new products may also take possession of the products directly from the user. Hereafter, the manufacturer of the new products will be referred to as the recovery company. 【0021】 Next, the collection company hands over the used products to the recycling company. The recycling company then performs an information acquisition step (S2 in Figure 2) to have the recycling amount estimation system 10 acquire identification information of the used products using the input device 14 or code reader 30 of the recycling amount estimation system 10 shown in Figure 3. "Identification information" is the identification number, identification symbol, identification string, or combination thereof of the used product. The identification information may include attributes such as the type of product, such as a lighting device or refrigerator, or it may consist only of those attributes. The identification information may also include identification information of the group to which the used product belongs among its attributes. 【0022】 Figure 3 is a block diagram of the recycling amount estimation system 10. The recycling amount estimation system includes an estimation device 12, which is composed of a computer, and a code reading device 30. The recycling amount estimation system 10 may also consist of only the estimation device 12. 【0023】The estimation device 12 comprises an input device 14, a storage unit 16, an arithmetic unit 18, and an output device 26. The input device 14 includes a keyboard and a mouse. The storage unit 16 may be RAM, ROM, etc. The storage unit 16 has the function of temporarily storing read programs and processing data, and the function of pre-storing control programs, etc. The arithmetic unit 18 is composed of, for example, an MCU (Micro Controller Unit). The arithmetic unit 18 has the function of reading and executing programs, etc., pre-stored in the storage unit 16. The output device 26 is composed of a display or a printer. 【0024】 The arithmetic unit 18 executes a program to realize the main functions of the apparatus, system, or method of this disclosure. The arithmetic unit 18 can be of any type as long as it can realize its functions by executing a program. For example, the arithmetic unit 18 may be a CPU. The arithmetic unit 18 may consist of one or more electronic circuits, including a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) or a large-scale integration (LSI). Multiple electronic circuits may be integrated on one chip or provided on multiple chips. Multiple chips may be aggregated in one device or provided in multiple devices. A non-temporary recording medium such as an optical disc or a hard disk drive may be used as the storage unit 16. An external storage device may be connected to the arithmetic unit 18 as a storage unit. 【0025】 The storage unit 16 stores identification information entered using the input device 14 and identification information read by the code reader 30, which will be described later. The storage unit 16 also stores a table, which will be described later, containing correspondence information corresponding to the identification information. 【0026】 The code reader 30 is connected to the estimation device 12 by wire or wireless connection and can read identification information from two-dimensional codes such as QR codes (registered trademark) and barcodes provided on used products. The code reader 30 may be a smartphone or a portable information terminal such as a PDA that has a function to read two-dimensional codes such as QR codes. The code reader 30 may also be composed of a camera. 【0027】 The calculation unit 18 includes an information acquisition unit 20, an attribute determination unit 22, and a transaction volume estimation unit 24. The information acquisition unit 20 acquires identification information of used products via an input device 14 or a code reader 30. 【0028】 The attribute determination unit 22 determines the attributes of the used product from the identification information acquired by the information acquisition unit 20. The transaction quantity estimation unit 24 estimates the transaction quantity of recovered material obtained from the used product based on the acquired identification information and predetermined correspondence information. 【0029】 Correspondence information is stored, for example, in tables 31 and 32 shown in Figures 4 and 5, and each table 31 and 32 is stored in the storage unit 16. Figure 4 shows table 31, which represents the transaction quantity for each material corresponding to the first attribute used in the product recycling amount estimation method. Figure 5 shows table 32, which represents the transaction quantity for each material corresponding to the second attribute used in the product recycling amount estimation method. In Figures 4 and 5, tables 31 and 32 are shown when the attributes included in the correspondence information are lighting devices and refrigerators, but the system is not limited to these, and tables for various attributes such as air conditioners, televisions, washing machines, etc., can also be set up. 【0030】 In Table 31 shown in Figure 4, the vertical columns contain identification information for used products, such as Lighting Device 1, 2, 3, etc. However, these columns can also contain identification numbers for multiple products belonging to the Lighting Device category. Furthermore, the number of products is not limited to five; any number can be entered. In the horizontal columns of Table 31 in Figure 4, the types of materials recovered from the products are entered. Metals A, B, and C represent different types of metals, and can be selected and entered from, for example, iron, copper, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, gold, etc. Four or more metals can be entered in the table. Resins A and B represent different types of resins, and can be selected and entered from, for example, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), etc. Five or more types of resins can be entered in Table 31. 【0031】In Table 31 shown in Figure 4, the trading quantities of multiple materials, which are recovered materials obtained from individual used products corresponding to the identification information, are predetermined in A11, B11, etc. The trading quantity is determined by multiplying the weight of each recovered material per individual product, which can be determined in advance by measurement, by a predetermined recycling rate. 【0032】 Figure 5 shows Table 32 corresponding to used products with multiple identification information when the attribute is refrigerator. Table 32 contains the transaction quantities corresponding to multiple materials for multiple refrigerator products, but otherwise the contents represented by Table 32 are the same as Table 31 in Figure 4. 【0033】 The trading volume estimation unit 24 of the estimation device 12 estimates the trading volume corresponding to the identification information based on the tables 31 and 32, which define the trading volumes of multiple materials corresponding to the identification information as described above, and the acquired identification information. 【0034】 For example, when identification information of the lighting device 1 is input from the input device 14, the transaction quantity estimation unit 24 selects the table 31 in Figure 4, calculates the transaction quantity corresponding to each material of the lighting device 1, such as metal A and metal B, from the table 31 and the identification information, and outputs the calculation result to the output device 26, such as a display. At this time, the estimation device 12 may also have a certificate creation function and create a certificate specifying the transaction quantity, which is then output by the output device 26. The certificate may also be issued by transmitting it to the collection company's terminal PC via a communication network such as the Internet between the communication unit (not shown) of the estimation device 12 and the Internet. 【0035】 The method for estimating the amount of recycled products in this embodiment is performed using the recycling amount estimation system 10 described above. In step S2 shown in Figure 2, the information acquisition unit 20 of the estimation device 12 performs an acquisition step in which it acquires identification information of used products via the input device 14. Next, the attribute determination unit 22 of the estimation device 12 performs an attribute determination step in which it determines the attributes of the used products from the acquired identification information and associates the attributes with the identification information (S3). 【0036】Next, the transaction volume estimation unit 24 of the estimation device 12 performs an estimation step to estimate the transaction volume, which is the amount of recycled material obtained from used products, based on the acquired identification information and a table containing predetermined correspondence information (S4). 【0037】 In this step, the estimation step estimates the transaction volume using tables 31 and 32, which have corresponding information stored in advance according to the attributes. That is, since the attributes are associated with the identification information, tables 31 and 32 corresponding to the attributes can be efficiently read from the storage unit 16, and the transaction volume can be estimated efficiently. 【0038】 Next, the estimation device 12 etc. creates and outputs a certificate specifying the transaction quantity, and the recycling company issues the certificate to the collection company (S6). Then, the collection company uses the transaction quantity specified in the certificate to calculate the deemed fresh material quantity of new products, etc. (S7). 【0039】 Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the recycling company actually disassembles (S5) the used products that were collected in the collection step (S1) and handed over from the collection company, etc., and performs a recycling process in which recovered materials are extracted from the used products. After the recycling process is completed, the recycling company may issue a certificate specifying the amount of materials to be traded. 【0040】 The storage unit 16 of the estimation device 12 stores a product recycling quantity estimation program for causing a computer to execute a recycling quantity estimation method, which includes the above-mentioned information acquisition step (S2), attribute determination step (S3), and transaction quantity estimation step (S4). 【0041】 According to the above-described recycling volume estimation method, recycling volume estimation system 10, and recycling volume estimation program, it is not necessary to actually perform mechanical or chemical processing or measurements to obtain the amount of recovered material obtained from used products in order to identify the amount of recovered material to be traded. This reduces the cost and man-hours required to identify the amount to be traded. 【0042】Also, in the above description, tables 31 and 32 as predetermined correspondence information include information for each material at least classified into metal and resin, and in the transaction target amount estimation step (S4), the transaction target amount is estimated for each material. Thereby, it becomes easier to use the transaction target amount, such as calculating the equivalent fresh material amount. 【0043】 Also, in the embodiment, the used product includes a lighting fixture. In the place where the lighting fixture is installed, many lighting fixtures are often gathered and arranged, and it is easy to collect many lighting fixtures. Also, in the lighting fixture, as the main components, the main body part often contains metal and the light-transmitting cover often contains resin, so it is relatively easy to extract the recycled material for each material. For this reason, the transaction target amount of the recycled material from the used product can be made relatively large. Thereby, the utilization degree of the estimation result of the transaction target amount can be made higher. 【0044】 Note that in the above description, the attribute of the used product is determined by the attribute determination unit 22 from the acquired identification information. However, when a recycler or the like knows the attribute of the used product, the attribute may be input using the input device 14 of the estimation device 12, and the transaction target amount estimation unit 24 may estimate the transaction target amount using the input attribute. On the other hand, it is also possible to omit the attribute determination step (S3) in the recycling amount estimation method of the present disclosure and omit the attribute determination unit 22 in the recycling amount estimation system of the present disclosure, and estimate the transaction target amount of the recycled material from the identification information and the correspondence information of the used product. 【0045】Furthermore, although not shown in the diagram, the table storing the correspondence information may be configured to contain different information depending on the recycling process for extracting recovered materials from used products. For example, in the process of extracting recovered materials in the recycling process, there are two methods: one in which the used product is disassembled by hand into individual parts or into units, and then the recovered materials are sorted and extracted by material; and another in which the used product is crushed in bulk and then the recovered materials are sorted and extracted by material. In this case, disassembling the product into individual parts or units and extracting the recovered materials tends to result in higher accuracy of material sorting and a higher volume of recovered materials to be traded compared to extracting them after crushing. For this reason, different tables may be prepared and stored depending on the recycling process, with the volume to be traded defined by the relationship between identification information and material. In this case, the tables include information about the disassembly procedure for disassembling the used product. 【0046】 In this case, in the transaction volume estimation step (S4), the transaction volume is estimated using one or both of the different tables depending on the recycling process. For example, if one of the recycling processes is not predetermined, the transaction volumes obtained using both tables are estimated separately for each recycling process. For example, different transaction volumes are estimated for processes that include parts disassembly and processes that include crushing. Also, if one of the recycling processes is predetermined by input using the input device 14, the transaction volume is estimated using only the table corresponding to that process. This allows for the estimation of the transaction volume with higher accuracy. 【0047】In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, a table is stored in the storage unit 16 of the estimation device 12. However, as another example of the embodiment, the table may be stored in advance in a computer different from the estimation device 12. Also, one or more tables may be stored in a computer other than a recycling company such as a collection company. For example, the estimation device of the recycling company may be able to communicate with another computer such as a collection company in which a table is stored via a communication network such as the Internet or a LAN. At this time, for example, when the recycling company inputs the identification information of the product using the input device 14, the estimation device 12 may be configured to obtain the table corresponding to the identification information from the computer of the collection company by downloading. 【0048】 Further, the collection company has an estimation device 12 having a storage unit in which one or more tables are stored and a transaction target quantity estimation unit, and the recycling company may share the corresponding information stored in the table in an electronic form with the collection company. In this case, when the identification information is transmitted via the Internet to the estimation device 12 of the collection company using the input device of the terminal PC owned by the recycling company, the transaction target quantity estimation unit 24 of the estimation device 12 estimates the corresponding transaction target quantity, and the terminal PC of the recycling company can receive the estimation result via the Internet. The recycling company can create a certificate using the estimation result obtained by the reception. 【0049】This disclosure is further illustrated by the following embodiments: Configuration 1: A method for estimating the amount of recycled products, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring identification information of a used product; and an estimation step of estimating a transactional amount, which is the amount of recycled material obtained from the used product, based on the acquired identification information and predetermined correspondence information. Configuration 2: The method for estimating the amount of recycled products according to Configuration 1, wherein the predetermined correspondence information includes information for each material, distinguishing between metal and resin, and the estimation step estimates the transactional amount for each material. Configuration 3: The method for estimating the amount of recycled products according to Configuration 1, comprising an attribute determination step of determining the attributes of the used product from the acquired identification information, and the estimation step estimates the transactional amount using a table in which information is stored in advance according to the attributes as the correspondence information. Configuration 4: The method for estimating the amount of recycled products according to any one of Configurations 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined correspondence information includes different information obtained through a recycling process for extracting recycled material from the used product, and the estimation step estimates the transactional amount using one or both of the different pieces of information. Configuration 5: A method for estimating the amount of product recyclables according to Configuration 4, wherein the predetermined correspondence information includes information regarding a disassembly procedure for disassembling the used product. Configuration 6: A method for estimating the amount of product recyclables according to any one of Configurations 1 to 5, wherein the used product includes a lighting fixture. Configuration 7: A system for estimating the amount of product recyclables, comprising: an acquisition unit for acquiring identification information of a used product; and an estimation unit for estimating the amount of traded material, which is the amount of recovered material obtained from the used product, based on the identification information and predetermined correspondence information. Configuration 8: A program for estimating the amount of product recyclables, which causes a computer to execute the method for estimating the amount of product recyclables according to any one of Configurations 1 to 6. 【0050】 10 Recycling volume estimation system, 12 Estimation device, 14 Input device, 16 Storage unit, 18 Calculation unit, 20 Information acquisition unit, 22 Attribute determination unit, 24 Transaction target volume estimation unit, 26 Output device, 30 Code reading device, 31, 32 Tables.

Claims

1. A method for estimating the amount of recycled materials for a product, comprising: an acquisition step of acquiring identification information for a used product; and an estimation step of estimating the amount of recycled materials obtained from the used product, which is the amount subject to transaction, based on the acquired identification information and predetermined corresponding information.

2. The method for estimating the amount of recycled products according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined correspondence information includes at least information for each material, distinguishing between metal and resin, and the estimation step estimates the amount to be traded for each material.

3. A method for estimating the amount of recycled products according to claim 1, comprising an attribute determination step of determining the attributes of the used product from the acquired identification information, wherein the estimation step estimates the amount to be traded using a table in which information is stored in advance according to the attributes as the corresponding information.

4. A method for estimating the amount of recycled products according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined correspondence information includes different information obtained through a recycling process for extracting recovered materials from the used products, and the estimation step estimates the amount subject to trade by one or both of the different pieces of information.

5. The method for estimating the amount of product to be recycled according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined correspondence information includes information regarding a disassembly procedure for disassembling the used product.

6. The used product includes a lighting fixture. A method for estimating the amount of product to be recycled according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

7. A product recycling volume estimation system comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of used products; and an estimation unit that estimates the amount of recycled material obtained from the used products, which is the amount subject to transaction, based on the identification information and predetermined correspondence information.

8. A product recycling amount estimation program that causes a computer to execute the product recycling amount estimation method described in claim 1.

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