Japan's environmental laws and regulations were established in the
1970s with the Basic Act on Pollution Control Measures and the Natural
Environment Conservation Act, both of which were aimed at preserving
the natural environment. In the 1990s, however, global environmental
issues came under close scrutiny, and with the Earth Summit held in
1992, the existing legal system could not adequately address the
current state of the global environment and Japan's international
cooperation.
The basic philosophy of this "Basic Environment Law" is to promote a
shift from conventional values to new values. In other words, the
values that conform to the economic efficiency of mass production,
mass consumption, and mass disposal during the high-growth era of the
1970s and 1980s are clearly different from the values that are
required now and in the future. The new values are "sustainable
development" based on eco-efficiency, in other words, "the creation of
an economic and social system that can develop sustainably.
Trends in Environmental Laws and Regulations
As values regarding environmental issues change dramatically, laws and
regulations are also undergoing a transformation within a new
framework. Specifically, the environment, coexistence, participation,
and international cooperation are moving forward under the values of
"sustainable development. From the standpoint of corporate
environmental management, this means promoting the construction of an
economic and social system that aims for a resource-recycling society
that can coexist in harmony with the natural environment, based on a
"fair division of roles.
In the field of environmental law, there are various moves to achieve
this, but broadly speaking, they are: 1. effective utilization of
resources (mineral resources) and proper treatment and reuse of waste,
2. energy measures, 3. management of hazardous chemical substances,
and 4. conservation of the natural environment.
Effective use of resources (mineral resources) and proper treatment
and reuse of waste
There are two initiatives. First, the depletion of resources (mineral
resources) is an urgent issue. In terms of oil, extraction from
existing facilities will reach zero in 42 years. Therefore, the
conventional economic system of mass production and consumption is
unsustainable. Efforts to conserve resources are based on the premise
that resources are finite, and to make effective use of them without
waste. The other is the proper disposal and reuse of waste.
Up to now, waste and recycling measures have been expanded through
amendments to the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law, enactment
of various recycling laws, and voluntary efforts by companies. In the
future, however, a basic "framework law" is needed to establish a
consistent framework for establishing policy priorities and promoting
preferential recycling of waste, to enable comprehensive
implementation of related measures based on individual laws (Container
Recycling Law, Home Appliance Recycling Law, etc.) in accordance with
the Basic Law, and to provide direction for efforts by the national
government, local governments, businesses, and citizens. A basic
"framework law" has become necessary.
In September 1999, the Ministerial Conference on Dioxin
Countermeasures decided on numerical targets for waste reduction, with
2005 as the interim target and 2010 as the final target. The goal is
to reduce the final disposal volume of both general and industrial
waste by about half. In order to achieve these targets, the government
will first instruct industries to voluntarily regulate the manufacture
and sale of disposable products and excessive packaging, and promote
the use of recycled products, and has also established a policy of
charging the public a new metered fee for general waste.
In addition, the recently revised and enacted Waste Disposal and
Public Cleansing Law, which requires companies to confirm the final
disposal of industrial waste, and other individual recycling laws have
also increased the responsibility and role of companies.
The Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society and the
Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources
In June 2000, the ordinary Diet session passed the "Basic Framework
Act on Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society" (the Basic Act on
Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society) and five related laws:
the revised Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act, the Law for
Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources (the former Recycling
Promotion Act), the Construction Materials Recycling Law, the Food
Recycling Law, and the Green Purchasing Law. The concrete framework
for the establishment of a recycling-oriented society in terms of
waste (recyclable resources) has finally been established, and a
full-scale shift in the social structure is about to begin.
The most distinctive feature of this movement is the promotion of
reduce and reuse, which is strongly emphasized in the "Basic Law for
Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society" and the "Law for
Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources. Until now, efforts
toward a recycling-oriented society have tended to focus on recycling
methods such as material recycling and thermal recycling. However, it
is increasingly recognized that recycling is only one of the options
for building a recycling-oriented society, and that it is not a good
idea to solve everything by recycling from the standpoint of efficient
use of resources and energy, as well as economic efficiency. The Basic
Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society places the highest
policy priority on reducing, followed by reuse and material recycling,
and finally thermal recycling.
The Law for Promotion of Utilization of Recyclable Resources
(Recycling Law), which requires manufacturers to use recycled
resources as raw materials, use easily recyclable materials, and label
materials, has been fundamentally revised as the Law for Promotion of
Effective Utilization of Resources, adding Reduce and Reuse as new
pillars. Starting in January 2001, 14 types of products, including
automobiles and personal computers, will be required to implement
Reduce measures, such as reducing product weight, improving
durability, enhancing repair systems, and designing for upgrades, and
Reuse measures, such as designing and manufacturing products that can
be easily reused and reusing recovered parts.
This will have no small impact on product manufacturing ideas and
technologies in industry, as well as on business methodologies,
including recovery. In the development of recycling-oriented
technologies, including those at the private sector level, the focus
has been on the recycling and proper disposal of materials, with
little emphasis on value-added technologies, such as functional
renewal and reuse. In the future, the promotion of reduce and reuse
will require the development of technologies that are different from
recycling, such as materials that can be reused with less
deterioration due to scratches and wear, product design technologies
that enable functional renewal, technologies to manage the usage
history of each part, maintenance technologies that enable long-term
use, and information systems that enable sharing of product
information related to life prediction, inspection, and circulation.
The development of technologies that are different from those for
recycling is required.
Energy Measures
Japan's current energy sources consist of 35% nuclear power and 10%
hydroelectric power, with the remainder coming from fossil fuels such
as oil and coal. In view of the depletion of supply sources and the
environmental burden of conventional energy sources, it is necessary
to expand the development of new energy sources and their efficient
use during energy supply. The "Act on Special Measures Concerning the
Promotion of New Energy Use, etc." (New Energy Act) is in effect to
promote the development of new energy technologies and businesses. The
Law establishes and publicizes a basic policy to comprehensively
promote the use of new energy, clarifies the obligation of energy
users, suppliers, and manufacturers/importers to make efforts, and
provides financial support (debt compensation, subsidies,
interest-free loans, etc.) for businesses selected by the Minister of
International Trade and Industry to formulate a new energy use plan. )
for businesses selected by the Minister of International Trade and
Industry to formulate new energy use plans. The following new energy
sources are envisioned: (1) solar power (2) wind power (3) solar heat
utilization (4) thermal energy utilization (5) natural gas
cogeneration (6) fuel cells (7) recycled waste fuel (8) waste heat
utilization (9) waste power generation (10) electric vehicles (11)
natural gas vehicles (12) methanol Automobiles are envisioned.
Furthermore, a "Renewable Energy Promotion Bill" is currently under
consideration. On the other hand, there is the "Amendment to the Law
Concerning the Rational Use of Energy" (Revised Energy Conservation
Law), which was enacted in April 1999 to promote highly efficient
energy use. This law came into effect in April 1999, as the Kyoto
Conference on Climate Change Prevention (COP3) triggered a full-scale
movement in Japan toward reducing CO emissions reduction target (6%
reduction in 2010 compared to 1990 levels) imposed on Japan at COP3,
the law aims to improve energy efficiency in factories and major
products such as electrical equipment and automobiles.
Control of Hazardous Chemical Substances."
Chemical substances are contained in an extremely wide range of
products, from raw materials for the chemical industry to pesticides,
fertilizers, detergents, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, and
have rapidly spread into our daily lives due to their convenience.
Currently, there are 70,000 to 80,000 chemical substances circulating
in the world, with production amounting to 400 million tons annually,
and another 1,000 to 2,000 new chemical substances are synthesized
each year. However, as research on the effects of chemicals on the
human body and the natural world continues to advance, a major theme
is how to prevent the release of hazardous chemicals into the
environment. Laws are being developed to minimize the impact of
chemical substances on the environment by strictly managing them and
regulating their emissions.
New laws include the "Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of
Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of
Improvements to the Management Thereof" (PRTR Law, to be implemented
in stages from April 2000) and the "Act on Special Measures against
Dioxins" (to be implemented in 2001), while existing laws are also
being strengthened. The Ministry of the Environment plans to
substantially revise the Air Pollution Control Law by 2001. In
addition, the Ministry of the Environment has decided to introduce
total volume controls for Tokyo Bay, the Seto Inland Sea, and Ise Bay,
and plans to add nitrogen and phosphorus to the fifth round of total
volume control of water quality in fiscal 2001. The addition of
nitrogen and phosphorus is scheduled to be added to the fifth set of
total water quality regulations from FY 2001.
Conservation of the Natural Environment.
This is an effort to maintain and preserve the existing natural
environment and pass it on to future generations, while at the same
time restoring and restoring the natural environment that has already
been destroyed by human hands and restoring the ecosystem. The
Environmental Assessment Law was enacted in June 1999. The
Environmental Assessment Law is strictly designed for
nature-destroying development projects. Until now, assessments (based
on ordinances, etc., rather than laws) were "environmental
assessments" that justified development projects. However, from now
on, regardless of the size of the project, if the impact on the
natural environment is significant, an assessment that understands
even the biological ecosystem is required from the planning stage.
Recently, many nature-destroying public works projects have been
cancelled. We will be forced to change our way of thinking about the
preservation of the natural environment.
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