Lawmakers partially amended the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law in February 2006 with the intention of encouraging smoother but safer disposal of asbestos waste. The amended legislation aims to introduce a new scheme (detoxification process accreditation scheme). Under this new scheme, waste disposers do not have to obtain a license from the prefectural governor if the Minister of the Environment recognizes that these disposers employ an advanced technique such as meltdown for making asbestos harmless.

In FY2004 there were 673 cases of illegal dumping of industrial waste in Japan, continuing the downward trend of the consecutive two years. However, including the 204,000-tonne illegal dumping in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, this amounted to approximately 411,000 tonnes of illegally dumped industrial waste, (Waste disposers probably started illegally dumping industrial wastes in Numazu City much earlier than FY2003.)

If illegal dumping is to be detected and prevented from increasing, the monitoring system needs to be improved. To achieve this, the Ministry of the Environment increased the number of staff responsible for waste and recycling when the ministry restructured the organization at the Regional Environment Office level in October 2005. The ministry hopes to enhance cooperative relations with prefectures by sending these staff to assist with on-site inspections.

### 5. Measures for Chemical Substances

To prevent adverse environmental effects from the production, distribution, use, or disposal of the several tens of thousands of chemical substances that are traded in Japan, it is necessary to evaluate and properly address their environmental risks (i.e., possible negative impacts from an environmental conservation perspective). For this reason, the Ministry of the Environment conducted a survey to identify the existence of chemical substances in the environment (Environmental Survey and Monitoring of Chemicals). The ministry has evaluated the possible impacts on human health or ecosystems of 93 chemical substances in circulation in Japan in 2005.

In accordance with the Chemical Substances Control Law, the government controls new chemical substances that are manufactured or imported based on an examination of their biodegradability, bioaccumulation, and toxicity to human, plants and animals. As of the end of FY2005, the manufacture, import or use of 15 kinds of chemical substances, including PCBs, is virtually prohibited. In addition, manufacturers must report scheduled production volumes of 23 kinds of chemical substances such as trichloroethylene. For another approximately 800 kinds of chemical substances, it is necessary to report production or import volumes.

In 2004, Japan successfully achieved its reduction target for emission of dioxins. The ministry also amended the reduction plan in 2005, with the aim of achieving a 15% reduction from the 2003 level in 2010 at the latest. It is estimated that the total emission of dioxins in 2004 was 10% less than that in 2003. Daily dioxin intake per person has been decreasing every year. It is now below the tolerable daily intake level (4pg-TEQ/kg/day), which is low enough that even if this amount was taken throughout one’s lifetime it would not cause adverse health effects.

Changes in Total Emission of Dioxins

Reduction rate to 1997 level (\%)

Base year	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
49.0 - 51.9	60.6 - 62.6	68.8 - 68.9	75.2 - 75.3	87.7 - 88.1	95.1 - 95.2	95.5 - 95.6

Source: Ministry of the Environment

Chronological Changes in Daily Intake of Dioxins from Food

Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Total Diet Study for Dioxins