To solve these problems, it is necessary to implement waste and recycling measures, taking into account the following priorities stipulated in the Fundamental Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society: (i) reduce waste, (ii) reuse end-of-life products and parts, (iii) recycle as raw materials, (iv) recover heat, and (v) appropriately dispose as final waste. In line with this basic principle, the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law and various recycling laws have been steadily enforced.

In terms of the illegal dumping of industrial waste in Japan, the number of cases with volume over 10 tons was 894 in FY 2003, showing a decline following the previous year. The total volume of illegal dumping, on the other hand, reached 745,000 tons, including about 567,000 tons found in Gifu City in March 2004. This volume set the record as the highest total since the survey started in FY 1993.

To tackle these issues, the government made a partial amendment to the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law in 2004. The Law strengthens the government's role to help resolve cases of improper disposal of waste. It also establishes provisions to punish those who improperly dispose of specified hazardous waste (sulfate pitch) and those who collect and/or transport waste with the intention of illegal dumping. These various provisions of the Law were enforced in succession until all were in force by April, 2005. In March of the same year, a bill to make another partial amendment to the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law and Other Laws was submitted to the 162nd Diet in order to step up measures to tackle improper disposal of waste, such as large-scale illegal dumping and unauthorized export, and to establish more effective administrative systems. The bill proposes streamlined administrative practices in cities with public health offices, a strengthened industrial waste manifest system, and

Changes in the Volume of Industrial Waste Generated

(*1) indicates the amount of waste generated in FY 1996, calculated based on the “Target of Waste Reduction” (government decision, September 28, 1999) - target for FY 2010-compiled pursuant to the Basic Policy for Dioxins Measures.

(*2) The amount of waste after FY 1997 was calculated using the same calculation conditions as *1.

Source: Compiled from the Ministry of the Environment, State of the Generation and Treatment of Industrial Waste (FY 2002 Results).

Changes in the Number of Cases and Amount of Illegal Dumping

1. The number of dumping cases and the amount of dumping are derived by counting cases in which, from among the illegal dumping of industrial waste identified by prefectures and cities with public health offices, the amount of dumping is 10 tons or more. (Cases that involve specially controlled industrial waste are all included.)

2. For cases identified in the transboundary area between Aomori and Iwate prefectures, the totaled 16,000 tons are included in the FY 1999 data. The remaining 860,000 tons, identified during FY 2002 and FY 2003, were not included in the respective fiscal years. The case in Teshima, Kagawa Prefecture (510,000 tons) was identified in FY 1990, and therefore was not within the scope of the above Figure 2.

3. The amount of waste in the case in Gifu Prefecture was in fact 753,000 tons, as was determined by later studies conducted by Gifu municipal government in March 2005.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, State of the Illegal Dumping of Industrial Waste, FY 2003

harsher penalties for waste exports that have evaded mandatory authorization procedures.

### 5. Measures for Tackling Environmental Risk from Chemical Substances

Among the more than several tens of thousands of chemical substances in circulation in Japan today, some may be harmful to human health and to ecosystems if they are not properly managed and may pollute the environment during the various stages of production, distribution, consumption, and disposal.

In order to prevent these harmful effects, the environmental risk (possible interference with environmental conservation) of these chemical substances must be assessed and appropriate measures must be taken.

The partial amendment to the Chemical Substances Control Law, which came into force in April 2004, introduced prior evaluation procedure and regulation of chemical substances from the viewpoint of eco-toxicity in addition to human health. It also introduced measures for persistent and highly bio-accumulative existing chemical substances and