Construction Materials Recycling Law Finally Passed into Law.

Construction Materials Recycling Law Finally Passed into Law.
On May 24, the "Construction Materials Recycling Law" (Ministry of Construction and Ministry of Health and Welfare) was finally passed by both houses of the Diet. The bill aims to prevent illegal dumping of construction demolition waste and promote its reuse as a resource, and is characterized by its clear stipulation of the roles of demolition contractors, contractors, and the government.
The law requires the contractor to provide the client and subcontractor with a "demolition plan" in advance, and to clearly state the demolition method and the "demolition cost" as a breakdown of the contract price in the contract. On the other hand, the client is obligated to notify the prefectural governor of the structure of the building, the start of construction, and the sorted demolition plan at least seven days prior to the start of construction. The governor will then examine the report, and if the contents are deemed inappropriate, the governor will provide advice and guidance to the client and contractor on how to change the plan.
In the past, small-scale construction contractors (contractors undertaking only construction work worth less than 5 million yen) were not required to obtain a construction license, and this has led to many cases of demolition work being undertaken easily by those without the necessary technical skills, which is a major cause of improper waste disposal. To address this issue, a new registration system for demolition contractors with prefectural governors has been established and technical managers are to be appointed at demolition sites.
The scale of demolition work that will be subject to mandatory separation of demolition materials will be determined by ministerial ordinance, but it is expected to be 70-100 square meters or more in terms of total floor area. In this case, about 90% of construction work based on floor area will be included, and most individuals who rebuild detached houses will also be eligible. For renovation work, this construction waste and recycling use."
"Current status of construction waste recycling.
The recycling of construction waste, which has been called for with great enthusiasm up to now, is finally being materialized in a semi-mandatory manner, but let's take a look at the current situation.
As of FY95, 90 million tons of construction waste was discharged nationwide (according to a survey of construction by-products by the Ministry of Construction). The breakdown is as follows: 36 million tons of asphalt and concrete mass, 36 million tons of concrete mass, 10 million tons of construction sludge, 10 million tons of mixed waste, 6 million tons of wood waste, and 1 million tons of others (waste plastic, paper waste, and scrap metal). The amount of waste generated accounts for about 20% of all industrial waste, and the final disposal volume, which in many cases is landfilled as it is because it is difficult to reduce the volume by incineration, accounts for about 40% of the total.
Although this amount is increasing, it is unlikely to decrease for some time. The floor area of construction starts in Japan peaked in 1974 and declined sharply, but began to rise again in 1977 and peaked for the second time in 1991, far exceeding the 1974 level. According to a future projection of the amount of construction demolition waste generated in the Tokyo metropolitan area by the Ministry of Construction, it is expected to increase steadily from approximately 10 million tons in 1995 to 20 million tons in 2000, 35 million tons in 2005, and 55 million tons by 2025.
In contrast, the recycling situation is not good. This is why the law was put in place, but as of 1995, the recycling rate was only 81% for asphalt and concrete mass, 65% for concrete mass, 14% for construction sludge, 11% for mixed waste, and 40% for lumber generated.
"Status of disposal of specific materials.
In addition to the tightness of final disposal sites, there is an increasing demand for the separation and recycling of construction waste.
In addition, the cost of building demolition work is currently about 30,000 to 40,000 yen per ton of waste for an average construction project that generates 3,040 tons of waste. According to the Ministry of Construction, by shifting from conventional mincing demolition to sorted demolition, for example, the cost of a 100-square-meter building will be reduced by 600,000-700,000 yen to 1,200,300,000 yen for each stage of demolition, transportation, and disposal combined. However, some believe that the cost will actually increase, given the fixed expenses required regardless of the amount of waste generated and the increase in transportation costs due to the reduced efficiency associated with transporting smaller quantities of waste. In any case, how to add value to waste as a resource will become important.
In this sense, there will be no small number of business opportunities for related technologies and businesses to fill the gap between the current construction waste disposal situation and the situation after the law comes into effect.
"This is the current situation for the treatment of specified materials (concrete, asphalt concrete, and lumber), which are obligated to be recycled and otherwise implemented under the Construction Materials Recycling Law."