Japan's environmental laws and regulations were established in the 1970s with the Basic Act on Pollution Control Measures and the Natural Environment Conservation Act, both of which were aimed at preserving the natural environment. In the 1990s, however, global environmental issues came under close scrutiny, and with the Earth Summit held in 1992, the existing legal system could not adequately address the current state of the global environment and Japan's international cooperation.

Japan's environmental laws and regulations were established in the 1970s with the Basic Act on Pollution Control Measures and the Natural Environment Conservation Act, both of which were aimed at preserving the natural environment. In the 1990s, however, global environmental issues came under close scrutiny, and with the Earth Summit held in 1992, the existing legal system could not adequately address the current state of the global environment and Japan's international cooperation.

The basic philosophy of this "Basic Environment Law" is to promote a shift from conventional values to new values. In other words, the values that conform to the economic efficiency of mass production, mass consumption, and mass disposal during the high-growth era of the 1970s and 1980s are clearly different from the values that are required now and in the future. The new values are "sustainable development" based on eco-efficiency, in other words, "the creation of an economic and social system that can develop sustainably.

Trends in Environmental Laws and Regulations

As values regarding environmental issues change dramatically, laws and regulations are also undergoing a transformation within a new framework. Specifically, the environment, coexistence, participation, and international cooperation are moving forward under the values of "sustainable development. From the standpoint of corporate environmental management, this means promoting the construction of an economic and social system that aims for a resource-recycling society that can coexist in harmony with the natural environment, based on a "fair division of roles".

In the field of environmental law, there are various moves to achieve this. Broadly speaking, these are: 1. effective utilization of resources (mineral resources) and proper treatment and reuse of waste, 2. energy measures, 3. management of hazardous chemical substances, and 4. conservation of the natural environment.

Effective use of resources (mineral resources) and proper treatment and reuse of waste
There are two initiatives. First, the depletion of resources (mineral resources) is an urgent issue. In terms of oil, extraction from existing facilities will reach zero in 42 years. Therefore, the conventional economic system of mass production and consumption is unsustainable. Efforts to conserve resources are based on the premise that resources are finite, and to make effective use of them without waste. The other is the proper disposal and reuse of waste.
Up to now, waste and recycling measures have been expanded through amendments to the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law, enactment of various recycling laws, and voluntary efforts by companies. In the future, however, a basic "framework law" is needed to establish a consistent framework for establishing policy priorities and promoting preferential recycling of waste, to enable comprehensive implementation of related measures based on individual laws (Container Recycling Law, Home Appliance Recycling Law, etc.) in accordance with the Basic Law, and to provide direction for the efforts of the national government, local governments, businesses, and citizens. A basic "framework law" has become necessary.

In September 1999, the Ministerial Conference on Dioxin Countermeasures decided on numerical targets for waste reduction, with 2005 as the interim target and 2010 as the final target. The goal is to reduce the final disposal volume of both general and industrial waste by about half. In order to achieve these targets, the government will first instruct industries to voluntarily regulate the manufacture and sale of disposable products and excessive packaging, and promote the use of recycled products, and has also decided to collect a new metered fee for general waste from the public.

In addition, recently revised and enacted laws include the revised Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law, which requires companies that produce industrial waste to confirm the final disposal of industrial waste, as well as individual recycling laws, which place greater responsibility and roles on companies.

The Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society and the Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources

In June 2000, the ordinary Diet session passed the "Basic Framework Act on Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society" (the Basic Act on Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society) and five related laws: the revised Waste Management and Public Cleansing Act, the Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources (the former Recycling Promotion Act), the Construction Materials Recycling Law, the Food Recycling Law, and the Green Purchasing Law. The concrete frame for the establishment of a recycling-oriented society in terms of waste (recyclable resources) has finally been set in place, and a full-scale shift in social structure is about to begin.

The most distinctive feature of this movement is the promotion of reduce and reuse, which is strongly emphasized in the "Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society" and the "Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources. Until now, efforts toward a recycling-oriented society have tended to focus on recycling methods such as material recycling and thermal recycling. However, it is increasingly recognized that recycling is only one of the options for building a recycling-oriented society, and that it is not a good idea to solve everything by recycling from the standpoint of efficient use of resources and energy, as well as economic efficiency. The Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society places reducing first as a policy priority, followed by reusing and material recycling, and finally thermal recycling.


The Law for Promotion of Utilization of Recyclable Resources (Recycling Law), which requires manufacturers to use recycled resources as raw materials, use easily recyclable materials, and label materials, has been fundamentally revised as the Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources, adding Reduce and Reuse as new pillars. Starting in January 2001, 14 types of products, including automobiles and personal computers, will be required to implement reduce measures, such as reducing product weight, improving durability, enhancing repair systems, and designing for upgrades, and reuse measures, such as designing and manufacturing products that can be easily reused and reusing recovered parts.

This will have no small impact on product manufacturing ideas and technologies in industry, as well as on business methodologies, including recovery. In the development of recycling-oriented technologies, including those at the private sector level, the focus has been on the recycling and proper disposal of materials, with little emphasis on value-added technologies, such as functional renewal and reuse. In the future, the promotion of reduce and reuse will require the development of technologies that are different from recycling, such as materials that can be reused with less deterioration due to scratches and wear, product design technologies that enable functional renewal, technologies to manage the usage history of each part, maintenance technologies that enable long-term use, and information systems that enable sharing of product information related to life prediction, inspection, and circulation. This is different from recycling.

Energy Conservation Measures

Japan's current energy sources consist of 35% nuclear power and 10% hydroelectric power, with the remainder coming from fossil fuels such as oil and coal. In view of the depletion of supply sources and the environmental burden of conventional energy sources, it is necessary to expand the development of new energy sources and their efficient use during energy supply. The "Act on Special Measures Concerning the Promotion of New Energy Use, etc." (New Energy Act) is in effect to promote the development of new energy technologies and businesses. The Law establishes and publicizes a basic policy to comprehensively promote the use of new energy, clarifies the obligation of energy users, suppliers, and manufacturers/importers to make efforts, and provides financial support (debt compensation, subsidies, interest-free loans, etc.) for businesses selected by the Minister of International Trade and Industry to formulate a new energy use plan. ) for businesses selected by the Minister o
f International Trade and Industry to formulate new energy use plans. The following new energy sources are envisioned: (1) solar power (2) wind power (3) solar heat utilization (4) thermal energy utilization (5) natural gas cogeneration (6) fuel cells (7) recycled waste fuel (8) waste heat utilization (9) waste power generation (10) electric vehicles (11) natural gas vehicles (12) methanol Automobiles are envisioned.

Furthermore, a "Renewable Energy Promotion Bill" is currently under consideration. On the other hand, there is the "Amendment to the Law Concerning the Rational Use of Energy" (Revised Energy Conservation Law), which was enacted in April 1999 to promote highly efficient energy use. This law came into effect in April 1999, as the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change Prevention (COP3) triggered a full-scale movement in Japan toward reducing CO emissions reduction target (6% reduction in 2010 from 1990 levels) imposed on Japan at the COP3, the law aims to improve energy efficiency of factories and major products such as electrical equipment and automobiles.

Control of Hazardous Chemical Substances."

Chemical substances are contained in an extremely wide range of products, from raw materials for the chemical industry to pesticides, fertilizers, detergents, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, and have rapidly spread into our daily lives due to their convenience. Currently, there are 70,000 to 80,000 chemical substances circulating in the world, with production amounting to 400 million tons annually, and another 1,000 to 2,000 new chemical substances are synthesized each year. However, as research on the effects of chemicals on the human body and the natural world continues to advance, a major theme is how to prevent the release of hazardous chemicals into the environment. Laws are being developed to minimize the impact of chemical substances on the environment by strictly controlling and regulating their emissions.

New laws include the "Act on Confirmation, etc. of Release Amounts of Specific Chemical Substances in the Environment and Promotion of Improvements to the Management Thereof" (PRTR Law, to be implemented in stages from April 2000) and the "Act on Special Measures against Dioxins" (to be implemented in 2001), while existing laws are also being strengthened. The Ministry of the Environment plans to substantially revise the Air Pollution Control Law by 2001. In addition, the Ministry of the Environment has decided to introduce total volume controls for Tokyo Bay, the Seto Inland Sea, and Ise Bay, and plans to add nitrogen and phosphorus to the fifth round of total volume control of water quality in fiscal 2001. The addition of nitrogen and phosphorus to the fifth set of total water quality regulations is planned for FY2001.

Conservation of the Natural Environment."

This is an effort to maintain and preserve the existing natural environment and pass it on to future generations, while at the same time restoring and restoring the natural environment that has already been destroyed by human hands and restoring the ecosystem. The Environmental Assessment Law was enacted in June 1999. The Environmental Assessment Law is strictly designed for nature-destroying development projects. Until now, assessments (based on ordinances, etc., rather than laws) were "environmental assessments" that justified development projects. However, from now on, regardless of the size of the project, if the impact on the natural environment is significant, an assessment that understands even the biological ecosystem is required from the planning stage. Recently, many nature-destroying public works projects have been cancelled. We will be forced to change our way of thinking about the preservation of the natural environment.