■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

JESC NEWSNo.11Jun.2008

G8 Environmental Conference Held in JapanThe G8 Environmental Conference was heldmaterial recycling and low carbon usage. Thisat Kobe under Japanese chairmanship on

encouraged the better use of materials andMay 24-26 this year. The Conference enabled

eventually lead to the creation of a sustainable

G8 Ministers of the Environment and EU

world economy.

Committee Members to exchange opinions
on environmental matters. The par ticipating

The aim was that the 3Rs Action Plan would

G8 countries are Japan, Canada, France,

provide a framework that could be usedGermany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom

to enhance and define measures taken byand the United States of America. In addition, 9

governments and international organizations.

other countries attended: Antigua & Barbuda,Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia,

Three aspects of the 3Rs Action Plan are

Mexico, Korea and South Africa. The agenda

currently being prepared for inclusion in thecovers Climate Change, Biological Diversity andConference agenda. The first is concerned withthe 3Rs Initiative.

implementing 3Rs-related policy and improving
the ef ficiency of resource use; the second is

At the second 3Rs Conference held in Bonn,about the formation of a sound material recycle

Germany, in October 2007, Japanese officials

economy worldwide, and the third covers thestated that Japan would put forward a 3Rs Action

promotion of mutual cooperation between

Plan at the 2008 G8 Environmental Conference.

countries, international organizations and their

It was intended that each G8 countr y wouldstaff, as well as capacity building in developing

take action to create economies based on soundcountries.

The Container and Packaging Recycling Law, Revised
The Japanese gover nment enacted theintended to reduce the generation of household

Container and Packaging Recycling Law in 1995

waste and to make effective use of resources.

in order to promote recycling of containers
and packaging waste, which accounts for 60 %Although the law has been in existence for(by volume) of household waste. This law is

10 years, the amount of household waste has

■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ②

not reduced and the ratio of container andand Packaging Recycling Law was approved inpackaging waste still remains high. The law wasJune 2007. The law has been partly enforced

due for reassessment in 2005, 10 years after its

since December 2007 and fully enforced sinceoriginal enactment. The reassessment process

April 2008. The major items that have been

started in 2005 and the revision of the Container

revised are as follows.

<Points of Revision><Concrete Measures>
Activities to raise public awareness, such as the promotion ofcarrying eco-bags and encouragement to avoid products withPromotion to reduce

excessive packaging.

container and packaging
waste

An obligation on business entities, such as supermarkets andconvenience stores, to set criteria for the use of containers andpackaging based on the standards set by the government. (Forinstance, charging customers for plastic bags and distributing
eco-bags to customers).

Lighten the cost

Establishment of a system in which business entities shareburden imposed on

the cost with municipalities. Business should shoulder part ofmunicipalities forthe disposal cost, as sorting, collection and separate storage ofsor ting, collection andcontainers and packaging waste impose an increased burden

separate storage

on municipalities.

Ensure fair ness to allbusiness entities by
preventing abuse of thesystem

Reinforcement of fines on free riders, which are business
entities that do not carr y out the duty of re-merchandisingcontainer and packaging waste.

As the price of crude oil and the value of recyclable materials
Facilitating the re-increase, there is the possibility that some collected PET

merchandising ofbottle waste will be exported. The government has therefore

container and packaging

clarified the policy concerning re-merchandizing container andwaste

packaging waste so as to make its transfer easier within thecountry.

■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ③Changes in Waste Management for the TokyoMetropolis
There are 23 cities in the Tokyo Metropolis. Thecurbside. Pilot projects were also conducted.

waste management in this area was changed

Although some residents were against the newsignificantly in April 2008.

system, saying that recycling plastics was notenough and incinerating plastics discouraged

Tokyo Metropolis is a huge city, the population

recycling, most understood the significance.

of which exceeds 11 million during the day. The

Generally, citizens have cooperated withannual amount of domestic waste generated

government to allow the successful introduction

within the area is approximately 3.4 million tons.

of the new system, which has now been running

Each resident is required to separate waste

since April 1.

into combustibles and incombustibles so thatit can be treated efficiently. Whole combustible
waste is incinerated in order to minimize thevolume that is landfilled. Incombustible waste
is pulverized and valuable materials such as
ferrous metals and aluminum recovered. Only
the residue is landfilled.

The plastics discharged as waste have beenclassified as incombustible waste for the last
35 years, mostly for environmental reasons.
However, in January 2006, the city governments

Final disposal site of Tokyo Metropolis (July 2007)
Plastic waste occupied the largest part of the waste
landfilled.

ordered that plastic waste should be burned inincineration plants.

The governmental authority in charge reported
that the new system would reduce the current

The rules concerning the discharge of waste

annual expense of ¥63 billion by ¥5.2 billion, in

have had a long history, so were very familiar

addition to reducing the amount of waste by 60%.

to citizens, well-established and therefore

Other benefits were an increase in the quantity

difficult to change. To smooth the introductionof electricity generated and lower landfill costs.

of the new system, each city government held aseries of town meetings in which they explained
the process of recycling plastics and the newrules concerning the collection of waste at the■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ④

4th Expert Meeting to be Held in Yokohama in 2008
The need for environmentally-sound solid waste

The 4th Exper t Meeting will be held inmanagement has increased as the quantity

Yokohama on July 16-18 in 2008. The objectives

and variety of solid waste has grown. As aof the Meeting are to discuss specific activity, toconsequence, the promotion of the 3Rs (Reduce,share knowledge on solid waste management,Reuse and Recycle) Initiative in Asia and theto discuss how to raise the level of solid waste

Pacific Islands region is becoming increasinglymanagement in Asia and Pacific Islands, and toimportant, as is the formation of a network ofpromote international research cooperation.

solid waste management experts in the area.

The need for this was recognized by the 1stExpert Meeting held in Tokyo in 2005. In the2nd Exper t Meeting in Kitakyushu in 2006,
it was agreed to set up the Society of SolidWaste Management Experts in Asia & PacificIslands (SWAPI) as a network of exper ts. In
the 3rd Expert Meeting in Okayama in 2007,

The 3rd Expert Meeting was held on Dec. 7-9 in

the rules and mode of operation of SWAPI wereOkayama in 2007.

formulated.

JICA Training on the Comprehensive Waste
Management: Follow-up Project– Improvement in the Santiago Landfill Site –1. Background to the Follow-up Project

landfill site. This required the constr uction

Mr. Edward M. Moreta, the technical adviserof a new landfill site based on the Fukuoka

of the Santiago Public Cleansing Public Co.

approach. The action plan was selected by JICA

Dominican Republic (CASA), was a participant

as a follow-up project. It was put into operationin the Comprehensive Waste Managementin FY 2007.

Seminar held by Japan International Cooperation

Follow-up projects are the new JICA initiative toAgency, JICA, in FY 2006. He developed themake the results of training visible.

action plan for the improvement in the Raffey

■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ⑤The city of Santiago is located almost in theMr. Moreta’s action plan. The other was to act

center of the Dominican Republic. It has aas the technical advisor in an open seminar

population of approximately 900 thousand

held by the Santiago city authorities to promotepeople. The city thrives primarily on agriculturecommunication between their staf f and theand manufacturing. The whole waste generated

JICA par ticipants, and to provide a betterin the city is carried to the Raffey landfill site,

understanding to citizens. The follow-up project

which has an area of approximately 14.5 ha.

actually included (1) technical support for theTr uck scales are available at the site. The

action plan (2) technical advice presented at

amount of waste carried daily is 800 to 850 tons

the open seminar, and (3) the formation of aand the site has been in operation for 27 years.

network among the JICA participants on the300 to 400 pickers recover valuable materials

environmental issues.

from the rubbish, including cardboard, bottles,
cans, ferrous metals, PET bottles and plastic

3. Schedule and Staffwares. The materials recovered from the landfill

The JICA delegation visited twice. In the firstsite are taken and sold to dealers.

visit, from August 18 to 27, 2007, the team wasMasumi Furusawa, Takashi Miyagawa and Ken-The landfill site uses open dumping, without aich Yokota. In the second visit, from January 5 toleachate treatment system or gas exhaust pipes.

14, 2008, the team was Prof. Yasushi Matsufuji,Fires, smoke, flies, and river contamination by

Yukihito Yoshimura and Masumi Furusawa.

the leachate are common. Neighbours complainand reports appear in the mass media about thenuisance. The situation is recognized as a socialproblem.

2. Objectives and Outline of the Project
The action plan developed by Mr. Moreta
comprised 2.5 years of planning, from June 2006
to December 2008, and a budget of U$ 9.34
million, financed by national subsidy and bankloans, together with the involvement of CASA as

The 2nd delegation team members & JICA exparticipants

the implementing body.
The follow-up project had two objectives. One

4. Result of the Follow-up Works

was to provide direct technical suppor t forWhen the first delegation team visited, somethe construction of a new landfill site and theparts of the action plan had been implemented

closure of the existing one, in accordance withby the participants who had returned about a■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ⑥by the first team. During the second visit, themanagement plan on the Raffey landfill site wasrevised so that the site area to be closed could
be reused. Trees were planted in residential
areas and the landfill work finished. In theopen dumping site, further work to extinguishfires was carried out. Almost all of the areawas covered with soil and smoke was scarcelyvisible. In the area covered by soil, grass andSmoke problem almost perfectly solved (January 2008)

tomato plants had star ted to grow. In the
new landfill site area, a terrace to prevent theingress of rainwater had been built. Work on theinstallation of the leachate collection pipe had
been halted until the arrival of the delegation
team. Local staff reported that the constructionof the access road had been delayed by a storm.

The technical support provided by the second
team included an assessment of progressSerious smoke problem before improvement(December 2003)

against the plan, the answering of questions
on detailed technical matters, onsite sur veytraining, an onsite demonstration of theyear earlier. Work to extinguish the fires by

economical operation of the leachate treatment

covering the area with soil was proceeding andfacility, and participation in the presentations

70-80% complete. Excavation work on a newand forum at the open seminar.

landfill site was complete and on schedule. The
overall state of the work referred to in the action

5. Conclusion

plan was checked, team members and local staff

This follow-up project, in which the technicalexchanged questions and answers on the plan’s

teams visited the site twice a year, was the first

implementation, and training on the installation

trial of the JESC training course provided forof the gas exhaust pipes was carried out onsite.

JICA. It is difficult to transfer detailed technical

Additional technical assistance on landfill wasinformation and knowledge using only training

provided in the subsequent open seminar.

in Japan. The need for the follow-up project
and the benefit it gave to par ticipants wereA further visit to the site was recommended

recognized by many of the staff members.

■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ⑦

It was impressive to see the improvements

would like a similar follow-up project, and makeachieved by participants using the knowledge

contact with the JICA office or JESC.

and skills they had learned in the training. I
by Masumi Furusawa

would be grateful if readers of this newsletter

3Rs East Asia Local Government Network
Conference*
Inter national relationships are being

Initiative.

deepened by sister city tie-ups with Japanese

The cities that participated in the symposium

municipalities. To foster such tie-ups, the“The Challenge of Asian Region Toward 3Rs”,

JESC is planning to hold an East Asian Inter-which was one of the programs in the Japanesemunicipality Network Conference to promote

Environmental Sanitation Meeting, are the most

3Rs activity in the region. The conference will

likely to attend.

be held at Saitama on October 28 this year.
The Japanese Ministr y of the Environment

Shanghai city in China, Busan city in Korea,

uses the inter-gover nment conferences toHanoi in Vietnam, Phitsanuloke city in Thailand

promote 3Rs policies and the 3Rs forums toand Japanese cities such as Yokohama, Sapporo,achieve a better understanding of the Initiative.

kawasaki and Saitama are all planning toThe suppor t provided by the Ministr y is

par ticipate and to exchange information andshifting from assistance on policy developmentcomment. The conference this year is the first of

to assistance on policy implementation, Soa series. It will be held annually with increasing

this conference is intended to initiate thenumbers of participants.

exchange between municipalities in East Asiaof information on the implementation of the 3Rs* tentatively entitled

Editor’s Comment
The Newsletter has not been published for 3

concern about global warming has made peopleyears. Although a sudden letter often brings arealize that drastic action on environmental

bad news, we hope this is not the case here. The

issues is now necessar y. The years after 2016

break has certainly not been caused by a lackare not covered by the Kyoto Protocol andof hard work in the secretariat. The increasing

are therefore expected to become politically■ Japan Environmental Sanitation Center

No.11 Jun.2008 ⑧important. The increased use of bio-fuels andJESC graduates, some information on the latest

shor tages in the food supply are of concern

situation in Japan. Please let me have any news

worldwide. Environmental issues are becoming

or opinions that might be of interest to others.

delicate. I am sorry that I cannot say otherwise

I shall be pleased to suppor t your work byin this letter. I hope that the letter gives you, theproviding publicity through this letter.

After word
The JICA training gave me the opportunity totake part in the lectures and study tours withthe JICA training par ticipants. It provided
me with an up-to-date picture of the current
situation in Japan. The par ticipants showedmuch enthusiasm, asked many questions
during the lectures and showed much selfmotivation and interest. It was a privilege forme to be able to share laughter and to interact
with the participants in friendly and informal

ICO Staff at JESC ( April 2008 )way. Masar u Tanaka, a Professor Emeritus
at Okayama University, told us that, with thePhotograph taken in front of the Old Building,help of JESC, he hoped to visit the participants’

JESC, on 16th April 2008. ICO Staf f: Fromcountries in 3 years’ time to see how the action

the left: Mr. Hayami, Technical Advisor; Mr.

plans prepared in the training course had

Miyagawa, Division Head; Mr. Fur usawa,

eventually been implemented. The participants

Manager; Dr. Fujiyoshi, Executive Director;

were pleased at this. As a news staf f of theMs. Plourde, Assistance Chief (former name:

ICO(International Cooperation Office), I shall

Kobayashi); Ms. Hoshi , Ms. Sasazaki

endeavor to try and meet their expectations.
by Hiroko Hoshi

JESC NEWS No.11June, 2008
■ Publisher : Yasuhiko KOBAYASHI■ Editor : Hideaki FUJIYOSHI■ Staff : M. Furusawa, T. Miyagawa,
S. Hayami, Y. Plourde, H. Hoshi■ Published by :Japan Environmental Sanitation Center (JESC)■ Address : 10-6 Yotsuyakami-cho,Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-city,
210-0828 JAPAN■ TEL : +81-44-288-4937■ FAX : +81-44-288-5217■ E-mail : miyagawa@jesc.or.jp