日本における廃棄物リサイクル促進のための取り組み
Initiatives for promoting waste recycle business in Japan
民間企業・地方自治体によるエコタウンの取り組みに関する調査からわかったこと
Findings from survey on eco-town initiatives by private sectors and local governments

公益財団法人 地球環境センター
藤 田 眞
Makoto Fujita
Global Environment Centre (GEC), Osaka, JAPANBackground• The Global Environment Centre (GEC) is an organization in Osaka,
Japan that supports the United Nations Environment Programme’s
International Environmental Technology Centre (UNEP/IETC).
• The GEC began supporting the “UNEP Eco-Town Project” in 2004.
Under the objective of providing information to help developing
countries solve waste problems and transform themselves into
resource-recycling societies, the GEC has been introducing theconcepts, measures, and initiatives of Japan’s eco-towns, conducting
surveys on the state of waste management and recycling industries indeveloping countries, holding seminars on eco-towns, and creating
reports and publications.

Background• Under the objective of promoting and supporting the building of ecotowns in developing countries, in 2009 the GEC began the newactivity of creating an “eco-town and recycling technology database.”• The purpose of the database is to post information that will be ofreference when developing countries actually create policies, plans,and methods for eco-towns. The following types of information areplanned for posting in the database.
− What types of recycling technologies actually exist? What points must be
noted when applying such technologies?
− What types of initiatives and methods exist for promoting eco-towns?

Survey on Needs for Recycling Technologies
Necessary for Building Eco-Towns• Prior to creating an environmental technology database, a survey
was conducted to clarify the needs for recycling technologies tosupport the building of recycling societies. The survey wasconducted based on a list of recycling technologies used by ecotowns in Japan.
• The survey was conducted in 2009 in Bandung, Indonesia andPenang, Malaysia, which are cities subject to the UNEP eco-town
project. In Bandung the survey was conducted by the Universitas
Padjadjaran’s Institute of Ecology (IOE) and in Penang the survey
was conducted by the Socio Economic Research Institute (SERI).

Results of Survey on Needs for Recycling Technologies (1)Wasteclassification

Waste
plastic

Type of waste

Recycling technology

Waste plastic

Shredding / sorting/ manufacturing
recycled products

Waste plastic

Shredding / granulating / dechlorinating / dismantling / distilling /turning into oil

Waste plastic bottles

Sorting by label / sorting by bottle
color / shredding / washing

Waste plastic, waste plastic bottles

Turning into pellets

Used textiles, used clothes, waste
polypropylene

Cutting up / thermal compression

Waste plastic + waste timber

Breaking up / melting down / churning/ mixing / molding

Waste wood

Sorting / breaking up / carbonizing /board manufacturing

Waste wood

Molding using a needle machine

Food waste

Turning into bio-gas

Sludge + food residue + rice hulls

Mixing / processing

Waste woodResults of Survey on Needs for Recycling Technologies (2)Wasteclassification

Waste paper

Other

Type of waste

Recycling technology

Hard-to-recycle waste paper

Melting / removal of foreign materials/ bleaching / processing

Paper containers and wrapping

Shredding / manufacturing spreadingmaterials

Newspaper waste paper

Turning into cellulose fiber

Waste tires, waste rubber

Kneading / fabricating

Glass bottles (one-way bottles)

Cleaning / inspecting / turning intocullet

Used fluorescent tubes

Breaking up / sortingHousehold electric appliances,office automation equipment

Dismantling / breaking up / sorting
materials

Sludge and dust that contains
valuable metals

Drying / melting / reducing

Incineration ash + combustion
residue + sludge

Pre-processing / blending / burning

Survey on Japan’s Eco-Town Recycling Technologies• Based on the results of the survey on needs for recycling
technologies, in 2010 the GEC conducted surveys with the objectiveof gathering information on the following things concerning recycling
technologies adopted by Japan’s eco-towns.
(Eco-town recycling companies: 12)- Technology process- Background (Why did the company start the recycling business?)- Factors in success, difficulties faced, tasks and challenges(Local governments: 10)- Eco-town plans- Background (Why did the local government start the eco-town
program?)- Difficulties faced, unique methods and initiatives, tasks andchallenges

Results of Survey of Recycling Companies

Why did the Company Start the Recycling Business?
(Multiple answers given)• Asked to do so by the local government: 8 companies• Enactment of a recycling law (concerning household appliances orcontainers, wrapping, etc.): 7 companies• Securing or expansion of new business: 7 companies• The company president or parent company has a strong interest in
the environment: 6 companies• The company was collecting waste from the beginning:
5 companies (general trash, waste paper, waste timber, etc.)• Taking in new societal demands: 3 companies(Securing rare metals, disposing of confidential documents, etc.)

Points for Success Selling Recycled Products
 Was introduced to a company that would buy recycled products(PE/PP/PET, recycled oil, etc.)
 There was a group that would cooperate with selling recycledproducts.
 Found a company or local government that would actively
purchase recycled products from a CSR standpoint (products
recycled from waste paper, etc.)
 The parent company provided cooperation or support forcollecting waste materials or selling recycled products (recycledfluorescent tubes).
 The parent company or an affiliated company started purchasing
recycled products or residue (collected metals, slag, methanegas, etc.).

Points for SuccessTechnological Aspects
 Applied the company’s existing technology or know-how(iron-making, smelting, household electronics, papermaking, etc.)
 Had already developed or established recycling
technology (turning waste plastic into oil, recycling wastepaper, etc.)
 Was introduced to a company that has recycling
technology (turning waste plastic into flakes, recycling
waste timber, etc.)
 There was an organization that would cooperate intechnology development (recycling waste paper, etc.)Tasks in Common
Foreign materials mixed in Waste plastic, plastic bottles- Cans, bottles, glass, trash, leftover drink liquid, dirt
and sand, batteries, knivesTasks in Common
Foreign materials mixed in Food waste- Plastic bags, plastic containers, chopsticks, forks,spoons, plastic, paper, cardboard

 Waste paper- Clips, strings for binding paper, plastic, calculators

 Waste timber- Nails, clamps, nuts and bolts, chains

Tasks in Common◆Dirty collected items◆Clean collected items

Comments Common among Recycling Companies
Points for success in the recycling business How will you secure a constant amount of wastematerials?
 Is it possible to obtain waste materials that areproperly separated?
 How will you secure people or businesses to sell
recycled products to?

Results of Survey of Local Governments

Why did the local government start an
eco-town program?
Main reasons (multiple answers given)
Reasons related to waste management Lack of waste disposal facilities or incineration capacity (7) The agriculture, forest, or fishing industry generated a large volume oforganic waste (3)Reasons related to industrial development Decline of local important industries, necessity for rejuvenating the local
economy (4)Reasons related to leadership Leadership of the governor, mayor, or other local influential figures (3) Initiative of administrative officials (3)Influences of laws
 Legal obligation to form a plan to reduce waste (2) Government development of laws related to recycling (2)）

Original Advantages
Utilization of existing technologies
 Manufacturing and iron-making industries or research institutes wereconcentrated in one place, and private-sector companies had a reservoirof various technologies.
 Because of proximity to a metropolitan area, many intermediate waste
processing plants were located there and companies handling waste
disposal had a reservoir of intermediate processing technologies.

Understanding and cooperation of residents
 Because pollution had occurred in the past, residents were already very
environmentally conscious.
 In the process of overcoming past pollution, a structure in which thegovernment and residents hold dialogues had already been built.
 As a result of government guidance, residents were already used toseparating their trash before collection.
 As a result of government guidance, residents were already familiar withefforts to reduce trash and recycle.

Unique Initiatives by Local Governments (1) Promotion of cooperation among private-sector
companies Government arrangement of opportunities and meetings in orderto promote business-matching for resource-recycling led by theprivate sector
 Government hiring of private-sector company retirees to serve as
resource-recycling business coordinators

 Utilization of local universities
 Promotion of local university support for research anddevelopment of private-sector businesses’ recycling
technologies
 Commissioning of local universities to evaluate theappropriateness of recycling businessUnique Initiatives by Local Governments (2) Support for procurement of information necessary for starting
recycling business Government research on the amount of recyclable waste produced andprovision of information to private-sector companies
 Government provision of grants for research conducted by privatesector companies concerning how to secure waste materials and sales
channels for recycled products
 Broad disclosure to private-sector companies of prefectural information
concerning amounts of waste generated and amounts disposed of Identification of problematic waste items in each area, and privatesector company and government consideration of methods of recycling
such waste Classification of waste items according to whether they should berecycled by the prefecture as a whole or by each respective area, andpublic announcement of policies

Unique Initiatives by Local Governments (3) Securing finances for eco-town programs
 Introduction of a tax for disposing of industrial waste, and using it
to operate a system to promote resource recycling and for grants
to private-sector companies

 Prioritizing recycling companies
 Prioritizing procurement from the city government office andrecycled products from public projects
 Designating recycling companies as places to take generalwaste Using waste plastic recycled fuel for sludge incineration facilities
at public sewage-treatment plants
 Urging prefectural and city engineering departments to use
recycled cement

Unique Initiatives by Local Governments (4) Improvement of incentives for recycling companies
 Establishment of a system for local government endorsement ofrecycled products
 Awards recognizing companies that are outstanding inpracticing the 3Rs

 Other forms of support for recycling companies Assignment of employees to provide support to each recyclingcompany

Unique Initiatives by Local Governments (5) Cooperation by residents for securing recyclable waste materials
 Holding symposiums in various areas of the prefecture in order to obtaina consensus among residents concerning a resource-recycling society Television appearances by the mayor to urge residents to recycle theirtrash
 Visits by elementary school students to tour recycling companies as partof their social studies classes
 Training for resident representatives, and cultivation of area leaders forpromoting separation of trash and recycling
 Formation of a patrol team of city employees to provide residents withguidance about separation of trash
 Display of a trash-separation slogan and logo on trash collection trucks
and the uniforms of trash collection employees
 Promotion of separation of household trash according to the respective
collection days for waste plastic and those for cans, bottles, and plastic
bottles Implementation of a unique collection system for small household electricand electronic devices such as mobile telephones

Summary• All local governments, private-sector companies, and residents are facing alack of waste disposal facilities. It is necessary for all cities to reduce andrecycle trash.
• There are a wide variety of methods for creating plans, selecting
technologies and implementing them, initiatives, partnerships, and support
systems aimed at achieving resource recycling. If such things are adopted
flexibly in accordance with the situation of the area, resource recycling will
be promoted.
• The cooperative leadership of the top leaders of both local governments andprivate-sector companies can be an important element in success.
• Involving a variety of stakeholders is extremely useful in securing things
such as business partners, financing, waste materials, sales channels forrecycled products, and technological support.
• It is extremely important to obtain residents’ understanding and cooperation(promoting separation of trash before it is collected, acceptance of recycling
companies, establishing regulations, etc.). For this reason, it is important toactively improve residents’ awareness and disclose information to them.

GEC will compile this information and use
it to build a database.
Thank you for your attention.