[first person] "Back then, medical waste was gold: the frenzy and confusion I saw in the waste industry" - 1994.

[first person] "Back then, medical waste was gold: the frenzy and confusion I saw in the waste industry" - 1994.

Back then, medical waste was the "new gold mine. I have been in the waste industry for many years, and in the past, hospital waste was accepted at a low price, sometimes for free. However, in 1989, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a guideline and in 1992, the law was revised, making it an "infectious waste," subject to strict control. Needles and blood-stained gauze--the cost of disposing of such waste jumped dramatically, sometimes exceeding 1,000 yen per kilogram.

Realizing the marketability of such waste, different industries rushed to the market. Real estate, cabs, construction, and even major manufacturers entered the market, and a "high-tech" competition began, with trucks equipped with incinerators and bar code tracking. However, the excessive number of entrants naturally led to dumping, and at prices as low as 50 yen per kilogram, there was no way that any decent processing could take place. The law had not yet been revised, and illegal dumping continued unabated.

I worked hard to establish "voluntary standards" in an industry subcommittee, but I was keenly aware of the reality that the desire to "make money from garbage" overrode the spirit of regulation. Laws create markets, and those markets are also distorted. This business, which had begun in the name of environmental protection, had become a place where people danced around the "smell of money. I still remember the frenzy and confusion.