Hadano shaken by "urban incinerator"--April 1995

Hadano shaken by "urban incinerator"--April 1995

In the mid-1990s, between the economic stagnation that followed the bursting of the bubble economy and the advance of urbanization, local cities were under pressure to develop new infrastructure and rebuild services for their residents. Hadano City in Kanagawa Prefecture was no exception, facing the reality of tight waste disposal capacity as its population grew as a bedroom community in the suburbs of the Tokyo metropolitan area. At the time, the use of high-performance waste incinerators as "intermediate treatment facilities" was progressing nationwide, and it was becoming the norm to install such facilities after environmental assessments and community briefings.

However, the plan to construct an incinerator in Hadano was complicated by the historical background and local circumstances, and it created unexpected friction. In particular, the early 1990s was a time when the dioxin problem was beginning to attract nationwide attention, and emissions from incineration facilities were being covered by the media as an "invisible danger. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (now the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) set a standard value in 1990, forcing local governments to install high-temperature incinerators and exhaust gas treatment equipment.

Against this backdrop, Hadano City proposed a "clean center concept" that would use the latest technology to detoxify waste and coexist in harmony with the local environment. However, residents in the vicinity of the proposed site were highly concerned about health hazards, foul odors, and the impact on property values, and criticism erupted that there had been "insufficient explanation. Furthermore, the city council was divided on the issue, and the regional council meeting was also in dispute. We were entering an era in which a shift from the traditional government-led "persuasion type" to a "dialogue type" consensus-building with residents was required.

This issue goes beyond the mere pros and cons of incinerator construction; it is a case that symbolizes a change in the model of democratic consensus building in urban policy. As sensitivity to environmental issues increased and the search for local autonomy and participatory society began in earnest, Hadano City's move had an impact on other municipalities as well.