Deadline is visible beyond the smoke 2002

Deadline is visible beyond the smoke 2002

At the end of 2002, the provisional period of the Law Concerning Special Measures against Dioxins came to an end. However, approximately 70% of incinerators in Japan are not expected to meet the standards, and the situation on the ground is worrisome. Business operators unable to renew their facilities are looking at changing their business or withdrawing from the market, and the cost of treating liquid waste that has nowhere to go may jump. The regulatory clock is ticking, but equipment and funds are not keeping pace. The sound of cracks in the spine of society can be faintly heard.

In the background is the economic downturn. While investment decisions are slowing down, the system is not waiting for us. Amendments to the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law make manifests mandatory for all industrial waste, individual recycling laws are expanding, and the Dioxin Law is forcing a redesign of incineration itself. Municipalities, preoccupied with the tightening situation at final disposal sites, rushed to expand the area and systematically improve it. The responsibility for preventing illegal dumping also falls heavily on the shoulders of waste generators.

Regulations are not only aimed at the atmosphere. Water standards will also be strengthened. The number of facilities subject to the regulation has been added, and dioxin emissions have been set at 10 pg-TEQ per liter, a figure from which there is no escape. Looking at both smoke and water. This has become the new norm.

The short-term prescription is clear. Complete combustion at high temperature, sufficient residence time, and rapid cooling. Combination of activated carbon spraying and fabric filters, catalytic decomposition. Fly ash should be contained by chemical treatment or melting. Refining existing furnaces as much as possible. In the mid- to long-term, strengthen recycling, expand the area, and reduce dependence on incineration by consolidating facilities and increasing efficiency. We have no choice but to proceed in a two-step approach.

Are stricter regulations a burden? Or is it a signal for a shift? The shadow of failure to meet the standards is heavy. But if we change the way we burn, the way we collect, and the way we rearrange regional flows, we can simultaneously reduce environmental impact and costs. 2002 was a year that challenged not only the color of the smoke, but also the hand of industry and self-governance.