As a wastepaper recycling plant, Nippon Daishowa Paperboard Kanto's Soka Mill offers mill tours for elementary and junior high school students. The Mill is registered as a "3R Hands-on Learning Business Firm*," meaning that it is a business that supports education in recycling, as promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The number of tour participants is increasing every year. With 500 taking part in 2003, the number rose to 731 in the year from September 2004 to August 2005. The tour takes visitors to the stockyard where wastepaper is stored, and then to the pulper, which melts a large amount of wastepaper. The participants then witness the pulp process, where impurities are removed and the fiber of the paper is extracted, before going on to see how paperboard is made. Popular aspects of the tour include samples of the finished products and the fact that visitors can actually touch the paperboard before they are shipped. * Business firms and research institutions that provide factory tours to offer education in recycling (3R stands for recycle, reuse and reduce) at elementary and junior high schools.   Children attentively listen to an explanation   Scene from a mill tour →Go Back to Major Activities