include a new category of waste under special control, which requires stricter management. Waste that is explosive, toxic or infectious or that may be harmful to human health or the living environment is designated as waste under special control. Concretely, parts from home electric appliances that contain PCB, soot and dust generated in municipal waste incinerators and infectious waste generated in medical institutions are designated as general waste under special control. Waste PCB, PCB contaminated matter, waste asbestos and matter containing concentrated hazardous substances, such as mercury, the criteria concentrations of which exceed a certain value, are designated as industrial waste under special control.

In this paragraph, countermeasure technologies against hazardous substances are introduced, taking as examples mercury, PCB and asbestos as representative hazardous substances contained in waste, dioxins as secondary pollutant substances generated in the waste management process, and infectious waste. In addition to these, various technologies are used as countermeasures against exhaust gas in order to control sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, etc. that are generated by incineration facilities or to treat drain water from incineration facilities and landfill sites, thus preventing the occurrence of secondary pollution in the waste management system. In order for the site selection for a waste management facility to be accepted by the people living in the area, secondary pollution prevention measures need to be taken.

## (1) Mercury

In 1983, a major social problem came to light as a result of a study by the Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection on the risks of environmental pollution caused by mercury through the processes of incinerating or disposing of discarded dry-cell batteries that contain mercury. As measures against this problem, the use of mercury has been banned in manganese batteries since April 1991 and in alkaline batteries since January 1992. The amount of mercury contained in batteries marketed in Japan today has thus been greatly reduced.

On the other hand, fluorescent bulbs are commonly used for lighting in Japan and the annual production of these amounts to approximately 400 million pieces. The radiation of fluorescent lamps utilizes the discharge phenomenon that takes place when a current flows through mercury vapor, so fluorescent lamps current flows through mercury vapor, so fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury.

In order to prevent mercury from being dispersed in the environment when waste batteries and fluorescent lamps are disposed of, these are collected for recycling. Many local authorities participated in the Liaison Meeting for the Amalgamated Treatment of Waste Batteries, etc. of the Japan Waste Management Association to cooperate in

Table 2-2 Trend in the recovered amount of waste fluorescent bulbs and mercury

2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Amount recovered (t)	4,300	4,400	4,800	4,600	5,000
Amount disposed of (t)	2,303	2,196	2,555	2,345	2,470
Amount of mercury recovered (kg)	172	176	192	184	200

Source: Compiled by the Ministry of the Environment based on the material of the Japan Waste Management Association

Fig. 2-15 management flow of waste batteries and waste fluorescent bulbs for recycling