Kobe Declaration on Separation of Solid Waste
The participants in the Third 3R Conference for Asian Local Governments
held in Kobe recognized that discussions regarding the “ Separation andRecycling of Solid Waste” held on November 15, 2010, were very significant
for mutual understanding and the sharing of our experience of dealing withproblems.
(1)

Recognition of the current situation
The mass production and consumption culture gaining a foothold in ourlives has resulted in a rise in the amount of solid waste. It is expectedthat the worldwide amount of solid waste will increase from 12.7 billion
tons in 2000 to 27 billion tons in 2050. This waste includes items that
could still be used or have important value as a resource. It istherefore necessary to aim for the thorough collection and recycling ofvaluable materials to reduce the amount of solid waste that needs to bedisposed of.
Japan and other Asian countries have collected solid waste separately
and recycled part of it from old times, but this was an unstable
recycling system with a limited scope. To prevent environmental
pollution and greenhouse gases from increasing due to the future rise in
the amount of solid waste and the diversity in the quality of solid waste,
it is necessary to take measures to restrict solid waste by taking into
consideration of the circumstances of each municipality and to convert
the old methods into an effective separation and recycling system.

(2)

Role of each stakeholder and the initiative of the government
To convert an effective separation and recycling system, the citizens,waste handlers, and local governments have to fulfill their respectiveroles. Concerning the citizens, it is important to ensure that they areaware that solid waste is garbage if mixed but a resource if it isseparated and share information on the activities of other citizens inadvanced cities. Most recyclers are small companies but they play akey role in the actual recycling work, so they are expected to further
energetically pursue their business operations. Local governments
need to provide technical support and information to the recyclers. Inaddition, temporary workers, including waste pickers who collectvaluable materials, not only to contribute to recycling but also have acertain effect on the prolongation of the life of landfill disposal site.
Accordingly, it is recommended to work on what these sectors should bedoing. Local governments are required to take effective measures atvarious points in the life cycle of solid waste, which consists of thedischarging, collection, transportation, and final disposal of solid waste,
to enable the citizens and recyclers to understand and develop themotivation for the separation and recycling of solid waste, and todevelop a system with a practical effect.

(3)

Conclusions
Today’s participants have fully recognized, through reports fromvarious local government and the discussion about them, that theseparation and recycling of solid waste contribute to the conservation ofnatural resources and the living environment as well as to thereduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we have come to acommon view that to further increase these effects, we need to makeseparation and recycling more active and to involve the surrounding
municipalities governments in it.
We expect that every participants of the 3R Conference for Asian Local
Governments will keep the results of this conference in mind in order todemonstrate 3R activities in Asia and to promote 3R society, which will
result in the further development of this conference.
November 15, 2010