### 2. Cases of improper disposal of waste

Economic activity in Japan has continued even after the period of high economic growth, bringing about a society with high material affluence. In addition, social changes have led to the large-scale consumption and normalization of disposable products in daily life. Growth in the volume of waste and the diversification of waste substances reflecting these changes made the appropriate disposal of waste very challenging. Thus, it became the case that officials who faced waste well in excess of forecasts-took an approach of “well, in any event we need to get this off the streets” and had little choice but to deal with this problem in an after-the-fact and stopgap manner.

#### 2.1. The problem of improper waste disposal, as typified by illegal dumping

Improper waste disposal, including illegal dumping, causes water contamination, soil pollution, and other forms of environmental pollution, as well as unnecessary financial burdens for the rehabilitation to its original state of soil that has been subjected to dumping.

## Typical examples of inappropriate disposal

Example of intentional inappropriate disposal	Example of unintentional improper storage
- Illegal dumping on Teshima Island, Kagawa PrefectureFrom 1983 to 1990, an industrial waste disposal company on Teshima Island, Kagawa Prefecture, labeled a large quantity of remnant materials, waste oil, sludge and other forms of industrial waste labeled as “having value” and brought it to a disposal site on the island managed by the company. This waste (approximately 560,000m³) was illegally disposed of through repeated controlled burns and landfilling. The waste contained not only heavy metals such as lead, chromium, and cadmium but also hazardous substances including PCBs and dioxins.Although the company’s actions were discovered in 1990, measures to dispose of the waste and to prevent leakage of contaminated groundwater remains underway in Kagawa Prefecture. It is expected that the cost of disposal will reach some 45 billion yen.	- Improper storage in Iwaki, Fukushima PrefectureFrom 1985 to around 1998, an industrial waste disposal business in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, illegally stored some 55,000 drums containing waste oil, waste alkali, and other contaminants in the open in forests and farmland covering approximately 5,000m² within the city. Because the drums, which had been left in the open for many years, began to leak waste oil and cause environmental pollution in the surrounding area, the prefecture issued a subrogation for removal and disposal of the drums as well as removal of contaminated soil. This resulted in a cost of some 3.6 billion yen.

Source: Ministry of the Environment

At the time, however, there was a tendency to select waste treatment businesses that would undertake their operations as cheaply as possible despite the risks of inappropriate treatment. This was the tendency towards what is sometimes called “bad money drives out good.” Moreover, the legal system at the time was characterized by the following aspects:

1) There was no system to confirm proper treatment of the industrial waste at each step of the treatment process.

2) A management system for proper treatment by businesses that generate large quantities of waste had not been established.

3) Inferior businesses with malicious intent, such as those who have connection with gangsters in their management, had not been excluded from the market.