The Waste Management Deadlock - 1995 to the 2020s

The Waste Management Deadlock - 1995 to the 2020s

In 1995, waste disposal was a serious issue in urban areas of Japan. At that time, food waste accounted for about 47% of Tokyo's household waste, and about 21% of business waste. Effective measures to recycle or reduce the volume of these raw garbage had not been established, and disposal methods relying on incineration or landfill had reached their limits. The government formulated the Basic Environmental Plan, which aims to create a recycling-oriented society for waste, and at the beginning of the 21st century it set out to promote the use of energy during incineration and recycling, but the waste recycling rate remained at just over 3%.

In the 2020s, the waste disposal problem became even more serious. In metropolitan areas such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, it has become particularly difficult to secure final disposal sites, and it is estimated that the remaining life of Tokyo's landfill sites is about 20 years. The national waste recycling rate has improved to about 20%, but in many areas, sorting of plastics and metals is also inadequate, and further improvement is required.

At the corporate level, Suntory, Toyota Motor Corporation, and other companies are promoting efforts to realize a recycling-oriented economy. Suntory is promoting the use of recycled plastic to increase the recycling rate of PET bottles, aiming to achieve 100% sustainable PET bottles by 2025. Toyota Motor Corporation has been working to reduce waste in the vehicle manufacturing process, and in fiscal 2019 reduced the amount of waste generated at its plants in Japan by about 50% compared to fiscal 2000.

In addition, Japan Environmental Safety Corporation (JESCO), located in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture, operates a PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) waste treatment facility and is promoting the detoxification of PCB waste collected from all over Japan. However, it is expected to take several more years to complete the treatment of PCB waste nationwide.

Local governments are also making their own efforts. Odawara City in Kanagawa Prefecture and Kofu City in Yamanashi Prefecture are implementing projects to compost food waste and reuse it as agricultural fertilizer. These projects have been reported to reduce annual waste emissions by approximately 5-10%. However, the introduction of these facilities requires a large amount of money, and there are still issues to be addressed in their nationwide diffusion.

Thus, from 1995 through the 2020s, Japan has taken various measures to promote waste reduction and recycling. However, further technological innovation and infrastructure development are required to resolve the waste disposal impasse. In order to realize a sustainable, recycling-oriented society, it is essential for companies, local governments, and the public to cooperate in the thorough separation and collection of waste, as well as the evolution of recycling technologies and the development of new treatment facilities.