The Escape of Black Home Appliances: The Illegal Dumping Storm Caused by Mandatory Recycling" - June 2001

The Escape of Black Home Appliances: The Illegal Dumping Storm Caused by Mandatory Recycling" - June 2001

In April 2001, the Home Appliance Recycling Law came into effect. This system, which requires consumers to pay upfront recycling fees for home appliances such as televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines, was welcomed as a step toward a recycling-oriented society. But behind the scenes, in back alleys and vacant lots across the country, used appliances were waiting to be "dumped undetected. Yes, there has been a sharp increase in illegal dumping.

According to a survey by the Ministry of the Environment, the number of illegally dumped items in April, when the program began, increased 25 percent over the same month last year, and 1,986 units were found nationwide. Of these, televisions accounted for the largest number, at 191 units, while refrigerators and air conditioners were also being dumped one after another. It was as if the home appliances had disappeared into the darkness the moment they were ordered to be recycled.

The intensity of dumping varied from region to region. In Asahikawa City, Hokkaido; Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture; and Soka City, Saitama Prefecture, the number of dumped items jumped 10 to 19 times compared to the previous month. Behind this sharp increase was not only a lack of understanding by citizens regarding the introduction of the system, but also uneven responses by local governments. On the other hand, in Chofu City, Tokyo, and Yaizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, the number of dumping cases had, on the contrary, drastically decreased, indicating that thorough educational activities and monitoring systems had been effective.

This phenomenon shows us how the introduction of a legal system can have unintended side effects. People are reluctant to pay the cost. Sparing a few thousand yen for recycling, they throw away their TVs in the shadows of the night--that is human behavior. We are at the crossroads of whether a well-designed system will change or induce that behavior.

In the future, the Ministry of the Environment is said to be considering revising the method of collecting recycling fees and strengthening monitoring of illegal dumping. What is needed, however, may not be the system itself, but words that tell people "why we have to do it. The scene of black home appliances hiding in empty lots at night quietly reflected the contradictions in society that cannot be solved by the system alone.