CH 41

lazilygrinningcat7-9 minutes 04.10.2021

Several years after its establishment, MCTBH had grown into one of the largest companies in Japan.

This was thanks to the abundant funds from foreign investors, the active backing of the local government, and the current trend of the SDGs boom.

(T/N: Sustainable Development Goods)

Outsourcing contaminated goods and waste disposal transactions to MCTBH would ensure you the achievement of zero emissions.

That’s a big step toward the SDGs.

MCTBH is now the standard bearer for environmental solutions, and the larger, more brand-conscious companies want to do business with MCTBH, which is then clamored for by the investors.

[In fact, it’s gotten so big……]

Hiroki looked down from the window of the conference room near the top of his building, which was several dozen stories high, at the hole carved into a cone several kilometers in diameter that now looked like a loose crater, and at the surrounding facilities.

Until just a few years ago, this was nothing but a used house and recycle store that Hiroki had purchased, abandoned farmland, and wasteland.

It has now become a major center of the logistics, which one might be able to call as a venous system, where the company occupies the lower reaches of the world’s industrial structure.

Just as all roads lead to Rome, one could say that all wastes lead to MCTBH.

“President, may we proceed with our regular meeting?”

“Yeah, please.”

Ishida, the company’s Managing Director, informed Hiroki that he was losing his concentration.

Even though he was a decorated Owner/President, Hiroki was still expected to behave properly in front of the board members at the management meeting.

In the bright and spacious conference room with a high ceiling and glass windows on one wall, the board members of MCTBH, which has become a huge corporation, were seated side by side.

The executives supporting MCTBH, which now handles waste treatment for companies around the world, is made up of a diverse group of people.

The company’s branding as a green company has been well-received, and the company has attracted highly motivated and capable people from all over the world.

“MCTBH’s performance in the current quarter has grown 35% compared to the previous year. The main reason for this is that we have developed a distribution network in the South American market, which has enabled us to link the economic support of the poor, who depend on the exploitation of the rainforest, to the development of the mining industry, which is a secondary industry, and to the waste take-back cycle……”

Since the company has become a global enterprise by gathering human resources from all over the world, management meetings are held in English as a matter of course.

As expected, even Hiroki was forced to study the language, and since he had a good head on his shoulders, he could now speak and understand normally.

Still, Hiroki’s attention and gaze couldn’t help but be drawn to the place where the hole is supposed to be.

While Hiroki’s mind drifted about, the executives at the management meeting passionately discussed how to save the Earth from the danger of environmental pollution, and each executive was satisfied that their competence and diligence had been properly evaluated.

★　★　★　★　★

After a while, as he watched the board members leave the conference room in droves, Hiroki called out to Ishida.

[Did everyone go home?]

[Yes.]

[Well then, let’s start with the report.]

Once the front management meeting was over, it was now time for the company’s secret meeting.

Hiroki didn’t want to create another complicated decision-making meeting, but he doesn’t trust their newly joined board members, who may be motivated by pure ambition, or may be under the influence of other companies or funds, so he had no reason to deny Ishida’s strong insistence.

In theory, it could be said that Ishida was planning to pull Hiroki out of the information of other executives and make him a puppet———– and in fact, there were some employees who were calling for such a move———– but Hiroki remained calm, saying Ishida can do as he pleases.

[First of all, the current governor is asking for support for his campaign fund.

[Ahh, errr, who is that again? Is he that greasy guy with a barcode for a hairstyle?]

[Governor Aburai, yes. He has been an environmental advocate since our company started funding him.]

[Hmmm. I don’t dislike easy-to-understand people like him. Isn’t it alright?]

[I understand. I’ll contact his secretary.]

After MCTBH announced that it would consider investment from funds, the response from the local political circles clearly changed.

It’s likely that they had received pushback from the business community and the electorate, who felt that it would be unbearable for a promising local company to be taken over by a foreign company or relocate out of the country even though they had grown locally.

In reality, it’s impossible for the company to move abroad, but they’re free to use it as a negotiating technique, and they’re also free to have the other party misunderstand them.

[We’re going to need their help with a lot of things.]

[You’re right. We’re going to have them useful to us from now on.]

The previously stalled procedures for permits and land acquisition went remarkably smoothly, and harassment from eco-friendly organizations and local yakuza disappeared.

This is probably because the funding from their supporters ceased.

They too are professionals, and when money runs out, their connections would disappear.

It’s easy to understand in the sense that they will not do work that wouldn’t earn them money.

At the same time, a certain bouncer in the company(Hiroki) no longer had a role to play, but it wasn’t that bad for him since he could spend more time near the hole.

The positive economic impact wasn’t limited to the local community.

In fact, MCTBH had a more pronounced positive impact on the Japanese economy as a whole.

Manufacturing and chemical factories returned to Japan.

Their presence encouraged the so-called “Return to Japan”.

With the creation of MCTBH, cheap waste disposal became available, and the cost of secondary industries that require solid and liquid waste disposal, such as the chemical and manufacturing industries, was greatly reduced.

As they’re currently accepting nuclear fuel waste from nuclear power generation on a temporary basis, the stocks of electric power companies have soared with the prospect of liquidating their negative legacy, while electricity prices have stabilized at low levels.

Fortunately, though they can’t exactly say that, a prolonged recession, a cheap currency and lower labor costs had made Japan a developed country that could compete with other developing countries in secondary industries.

[Local tax revenues soared. The surrounding factories have also increased the job opportunities. Well, I suppose that’s not something you would complain about.]

[Yeah.]

Standing by the window, Hiroki looked down on the crater-like cluster of facilities with pipes and conveyors heading towards the center.

[Looks like it’s also in a good shape today.]

[Yeah.]

What Ishida said isn’t out of concern for Hiroki’s physical condition.

Ishida knows that Hiroki is as healthy as he could possibly be.

What Ishida was concerned about was that hole, hidden in the central dome, where liquid waste and waste materials continue to be brought in through hundreds of waste pipes and conveyors.

He was talking about that waste disposal hole, who is now referred to as “The Hole”.

The Hole, which has become an integral part of the global economy, continues to expand, unnoticed by others.