materials, etc. as resources, technology to reduce the odor of cattle excrement, etc. and recycle them, and technology for recycling organic waste such as food processing remainder and waste from facilities in the agricultural, forestry and fishery industries.

### 2. International Contributions on the Basis of 3R and Waste Management Technology

As shown in Section 1, the movement of recycled resources, including waste, is not limited to Japan, but extends beyond country borders. Further, resources and energy are becoming increasingly tight on a global scale, and the international community must make concerted efforts to address global environmental problems, particularly global warming. Therefore, the establishment of a SMS that restricts the consumption of natural resources and eases the burden on the environment through 3R must be promoted not only in Japan, but also on an international basis. Japan must play a leading role in promoting international efforts to build a SMS, and disseminating the 3R and waste management technology owned by Japan on an international scale will be the core of such cooperation. International contributions on the technical side using Japan’s strengths will create a virtuous circle of the environment and the economy. The technologies for 3R and waste management also include some that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions as clean development mechanisms (CDM) projects under the Kyoto Protocol.

The international development of 3R and waste management technology will advance on a broader and deeper level by focusing on the following two points. The first is that technology transfer requires identifying the economic and social situation in each country in advance while protecting intellectual property rights. In a country with an economic development level and a productivity that is largely different from Japan, the most advanced technology is not necessarily required, but rather a technology that matches the environment and economy and that is accepted by society.

Active bilateral and multilateral policy talks and information exchanges are needed to grasp the technical needs of these countries.

The second point is that technology only functions if it is incorporated into a suitable system. This system includes the human resources that actually operate the technology, as well as schemes, etc. to accelerate the introduction of that technology. In other words, to transfer technology, it is crucial to also transfer experience and know-how related to its operation, and to train human resources in the local country. As shown in Section 3, the development and introduction of technologies requires schemes providing backup and incentives in many cases. For example, if waste-emitting enterprises are not made fully responsible, then they will probably select cheap but inferior treatment instead of paying the cost necessary for proper treatment or recycling of the waste. Thus, the role of technology within the entire system must be considered when rolled out on an international basis.

### 3. Our Role in Using Technology

The 3R and waste management technologies, the policies and schemes to accelerate their development and introduction, and efforts and collaboration of the respective entities operating them described in this document, are the “Japanese model for a sound material-cycle society”. Particularly, technology for 3R and waste management is a valuable asset of Japan. The development and introduction of these technologies are backed by solid efforts of countless engineers and experts to resolve various technical issues, as well as Japanese culture that does not tolerate waste and strives to use the true worth of things.

To promote our 3R efforts, including the development and introduction of these technologies, the “3R Promotion Forum” (Chairperson: Hiroshi Komiyama, Ph.D., President of Tokyo University) was established in Japan to engage in various activities.

With the shrinking population and changing attitudes to life, Japan will become a more mature country. In the future, it will be important to develop and introduce more efficient and effective 3R and waste management technologies befitting a mature country, and to create frameworks for these technologies. Even more important in such a society is to use technology appropriately without allowing technology to dominate. In other words, not everything can be solved with technology. Instead, we all need to lead a sustainable lifestyle ourselves. For example, to use recycling technology more effectively, the recycling resources delivered to a recycling facility should be of stable quality. To achieve this, we must separate waste properly in the emission phase. The utilization of technologies related to “reduce” and “reuse”, which have a high priority among the 3Rs, also depends on reforming our economic and social activities. This reform of our lifestyles will extract even more of the intrinsic value of technologies, sending out more excellent technologies into the world.

About 6 years have passed since the first white paper on the sound material-cycle society was published on the basis of the Basic Law for Establishing the Sound material - cycle Society in June 2001. The introduction of this first white paper on the sound material-cycle society closes with the remark "For a truly affluent 21st century, for a second millennium that enables a striking