Recycling and Environmental Management for the Future - June 1998

Recycling and Environmental Management for the Future - June 1998
Instead of making a lot of things and throwing them away, it is important to recycle or repair them and keep using them!
For example, **Tokyo** and **Osaka** produce 3 million tons of garbage every year.
But if we reuse it, we can protect the future and the earth.
It's amazing!
It is an example of successful recycling!
The Dowa Group's Kosaka Smelter and Refinery recycles 20,000 tons of scrap metal every year to recover lead and copper.
And Mitsubishi Materials' Naoshima Smelter & Refinery will process 7,211 tons of e-waste by 2020.
These efforts will help protect our future!
Companies are doing their best, too!
Companies have also obtained the ISO 14001 certification for environmental management, and are conducting earth-friendly management.
Companies in Nagoya and Tokyo have also obtained this certification, and in 2018, 1,200 companies in Japan had obtained it.
They are all really great!
They also manage e-waste properly!
But e-waste contains hazardous substances such as lead and mercury**, and if we don't dispose of it properly, the earth will be in trouble.
In 2020, Japan imported 72,112 tons of hazardous waste.
So it is important that we all work together to collect and dispose of it properly!
We must work hard for the future!
Protecting the environment is not just a cost, it is an important initiative to create a better future!
I want young entrepreneurs to start their own eco-friendly businesses.
Let's all work together and do our best for the future!