Waste management in Japan

There was no centralized systems or legislation for managing waste at the beginning of the Meiji Era. In 1900, two measures were introduced to improve sanitation and avoid epidemics which were being caused by waste accumulating on open land. The Sewage Disposal Law, Japan's first law on waste, along with the Waste Cleaning Act tried to establish administrative systems to handle waste and made municipalities responsible for disposal, through incineration if possible. The National Diet session of 1970, referred to as the "Pollution Diet," sought to address these mounting issues of pollution and did so decisively, passing fourteen laws at once in what is seen as a turning point in environmental policy. These laws included policies to prevent pollution and established the Environmental Agency in 1971, which became the modern Ministry of the Environment. The 1952 Public Cleaning Law was revised significantly into the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law, or Waste Management Law. This made environmental preservation a goal of waste treatment, instead of just public sanitation, set standards for waste treatment, and offered subsidies for the development of facilities to meet these standards. Overall, the legislation from this session moved Japan from having one of the least strict environmental regulation regimes among countries in the OECD to one of the most strict. In the 1990s, the goal of reducing waste produced began to receive attention. In 1991, the Waste Management Law was again revised to add generation reduction as a national objective. Legislation that followed sought to reduce waste produced during manufacturing and promote recycling. In 2000, the Basic Act for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society or Basic Recycling Act was established, which laid out a framework that emphasized reduction in waste generation and recycling, and set numerical targets to measure progress. == Garbage collection ==

In Japan, public trash cans are quite rare, having been removed from public spaces in the aftermath of the 1995 Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack. Usually, trash produced outside is brought home and sorted with household trash before collection. Trash is sorted based on regulations that vary by municipality into as many as thirty different categories. One area of innovation is the development of hybrid or electric motor trucks which produce less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. In rural Japan, where there is no curbside collection, residents bring their own trash to neighborhood collection centers. == Waste disposal ==

In 2014, 437 million tons of waste was produced in Japan, of which 44 million tons, or about 10%, was municipal waste and the remaining 393 million tons was industrial waste. In 2016, the 43 million tons of municipal waste was generated, about 925 grams per day for each person living in Japan. This continued a downward trend in both the total amount of household garbage produced and per-capita production that has been visible following recycling laws passed in the 1990s. Major disposal methods for waste in Japan include incineration, recycling, landfill and backfilling. Incineration . Incineration is the most widely used waste disposal method in Japan, and is attractive because of its ability to reduce the volume of trash in a country mostly occupied by mountains or people. In 2017, there were about 1,200 incineration facilities in Japan. In 2014, 358 of these plants also generated electricity. Incineration is done at a high temperature, and the exhaust gas is put through many stages of cleaning and monitoring to ensure hazardous materials like dioxin and mercury are removed and not released into the air. The plastic recycling picture is a bit more complicated. The government reports an 84% recycling rate, one of the highest in the world, but this includes thermal recycling, where plastic is burned for energy. Only 27% of collected plastic is reprocessed into usable material. Thermal recycling is criticized as not being true recycling, as it still encourages the use of single-use plastics and produces greenhouse gases. There also exists legislation and systems established for the recycling of many specific types of less common waste, including for construction waste, appliances, vehicles, and electronics. Landfill In 2018, there were over 1,600 landfills across the country for disposing of nonburnable garbage and ash remaining from the incineration process. In this year, existing landfill space was expected to last another twenty years, though certain regions, unable to find enough space locally, had to ship garbage to other landfills in Japan for disposal. In 2014, 15 million tons of garbage were sent to landfills. Backfilling Backfilling or land reclamation is the process of filling in the sea with processed trash to create land that can be developed. In Tokyo, this has taken place since the 1920s and continues today. One contemporary example is the Central Breakwater, an artificial island in Tokyo Bay. In 2014, 21 million tons of garbage were put towards this purpose. == Managing unconventional waste ==

Electronic waste Electronic waste disposal and recycling is an important consideration for Japan, which produced 2.2 million tons of it in 2014, ranking third in volume behind the United States and China. One notable case study is waste management in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Before the disaster, Sendai, the largest city in the area that was heaviest hit, had prepared a plan involving removal of disaster waste from the area in one year and disposal within three years. The plan detailed contingencies to quickly restart essential waste services to maintain hygienic conditions, ensure transportation could be conducted smoothly and safely, and even included considerations to use local businesses in rebuilding efforts where possible. Smaller municipalities had varying waste disposal challenges depending on their local economy, and received technical assistance from prefectural officials. Other municipalities such as Tokyo also assisted by accepting disaster debris for local treatment and disposal, though there were some concerns over radioactive contamination of the waste from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. == Legal framework ==

The 1993 Basic Environmental Act provides the backbone of Japan's environmental policy. Within this, the 2000 Basic Act for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society or Basic Recycling Act lays out a framework for principles of waste management, including reducing resource consumption, as well as the general responsibilities of national and local governments, businesses, and citizens. Concrete regulations and systems for waste management are established by the Waste Management Act, originally enacted in 1970 and revised in 2006. This lays out controls and regulations on generation and proper treatment of waste. The 1991 Effective Resource Utilization Promotion Act, revised in 2001 promotes recycling through encouraging the use of recyclable materials and provides for labeling at waste collection locations. A series of acts promote recycling in specific industries. Finally, a 2000 Green Purchasing Act encourages purchase of environmentally friendly products by national and local governments. These acts have the effect of dividing up responsibility between the government at the national, prefectural and municipal levels, as well as waste-generating businesses and consumers. The national government implements standards, collects information, and provides technological support for lower levels of government. The prefectural government formulates plans and provides supervision of proper waste management. Ultimately, municipalities are responsible for constructing and maintaining waste management facilities. Construction is usually financed with the help of grants from the national government. In one example Japanese city, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, 3.6% of the general city budget went towards waste-related expenses. == Notes ==