Nagoya City, where remarkable ground subsidence had occurred.

However, ground subsidence has still occurred in certain areas such as the Kujukuri plains in Chiba Prefecture. Some areas that are lower than sea level due to ground subsidence may face the danger of huge damages caused by high tides or floods. For this reason, besides imposing restrictions on the pumping of groundwater, measures are being taken to deal with high tides and to build facilities to protect the coastline.

### 4. Measures for Waste and Recycling

Since FY 1989, Japan has been generating municipal solid waste at an annual volume of approximately 50 million tons or more. These annual volumes have remained steady over the last several years. In FY 2001, of all municipal solid waste, direct incineration accounted for 78.2% and recycling accounted for 16.5%. The final volume disposed of at landfill sites was 9.95 million tons, a decrease of 560,000 tons from the previous year.

The total volume of industrial waste generated in Japan has also remained steady over the last several years. The volume in FY 2001 was approximately 400 million tons, a slight decrease from the previous fiscal year. Approximately 42 million tons were discarded at final disposal sites, a decrease from the previous fiscal year. Nationally, an average of 4.3 years of capacity in final disposal sites for industrial waste remained as of April 2002, presenting a serious situation.

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 as energy, and (v) appropriately dispose as final waste. The Law stipulated that the government should formulate the Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society to ensure that waste and recycling measures are implemented in a comprehensive and systematic manner. The Plan, formulated in March 2003, defined a specific image of a

Changes in the Total Volume of Municipal Solid Waste and Volume Generated per Person per Day

Note: "Volume of waste generated" = "volume of waste collected + volume of waste directly brought in + volume of self-disposal"

In the "Basic Guidelines for the Comprehensive and Systematic Promotion of Waste Reduction Measures and Other Appropriate Treatments," which is based on the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law, the volume of waste is calculated by subtracting "volume of self-disposal" from the "volume of waste" and adding the "volume of group collection." The volume of waste in FY 2001, in such case, was 54.68 million tons.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, Waste Treatment in Japan (March 2004)

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 2001 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. (For cases that contain specially controlled industrial waste, all cases are counted including cases with amount of dumping less than 10 tons.)

2. The state of FY 1993–1995 was obtained from a survey conducted in FY 1996. The state of FY 1996–1998 was obtained from a survey conducted in April 1999. The state of FY 1999 was obtained from a survey conducted in June 2000. The state of FY 2000 was obtained from a survey conducted in August 2001. And the state of FY 2001 was obtained from a survey conducted in June 2002.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, State of the Illegal Dumping of Industrial Waste, FY 2002