The soft drinks division of Japan’s Asahi Group Holdings plans to test its new vending machines capable of absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. The experiment planned in June will begin by installing about 30 units in Kanto and Kansai regions.
The patent pending design is the first of its kind in Japan. Asahi is aiming for the machines to be fully operational from 2024. The company said that each machine is capable of offsetting 20% of the CO2 emissions generated from the production of the electricity they require to operate.
Asahi Soft Drinks, the group’s dedicated non-alcoholic division that has brands like Calpis and Wonda, said it will utilise the absorbed carbon dioxide as an “industrial raw material in fertilisers, concrete” and other products. The unique vending machines will work similarly to conventional machines, with the key difference of being capable of filtering and absorbing CO2.
Asahi Group, which plans on developing fully carbon-neutral vending machines in the future, says the absorbed CO2 will be used as a raw material in “various industrial applications, through co-creation with local governments and businesses,” such as boosting soil carbon sequestration rates by blending absorbents into fertilisers sprayed onto soil and using absorbed CO2 as an additive in concrete as a way of restoring blue carbon ecosystems in marine environments.
