Teshima and Naoshima (Kagawa Prefecture) - Illegal Dumping Waste Disposal Plan and Its Historical Background December 2003

Teshima and Naoshima (Kagawa Prefecture) - Illegal Dumping Waste Disposal Plan and Its Historical Background December 2003
The illegal dumping of industrial waste that came to light on the Seto Inland Sea island of Teshima (located in the town of Dojo, Kagawa Prefecture) was considered a symbol of Japan's environmental problems. from the late 1970s through the 1990s, construction waste and shredder dust were brought into the island illegally, eventually amounting to over 500,000 tons. In 1990, a complaint by a resident brought the problem to the surface, and after a lengthy legal battle, a settlement was reached in 2000, with Kagawa Prefecture taking full responsibility for the disposal of the waste. The Ministry of the Environment approved a subsidy of about 10 billion yen. The plan called for incineration and melting of approximately 510,000 tons of waste at an intermediate treatment facility in the town of Naoshima. This facility has been in operation since September 2003, and the plan was set in motion as a long-term project to be completed in FY2012. At the time, the Basic Environment Law an
d the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law were being strengthened, the Ministry of the Environment was created in 2001, and the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-Oriented Society was enacted in 2000, making waste problems and global warming countermeasures national issues. The Teshima Incident was a national project symbolizing the shift to a recycling-oriented society, and the attempt to overcome the negative legacy of illegal dumping had a significant impact on later policies and legislation.