Person of the Week: Tetsuo Tsumuraya

At 62, Tetsuo Tsumuraya hopes to bring solution to Bhutan’s garbage problem.

Tsumuraya is a senior volunteer for the Japan International Cooperation Agency. JICA sent him to Bhutan two years ago to help address the garbage problem in Bhutan.

“I thought I’d do whatever I could,” Tsumuraya was quoted by Daily Yomiuri Online as saying. “So, first of all, I introduced the idea of starting a recycling business, as it would be a way to turn recyclable garbage into money.”

Tsumuraya also helped build a factory for breaking down plastic bottles.

He joined JICA after retiring as manager at the environment planning section of the municipal government of Yokosuka in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture.