municipal solid waste, direct incineration accounted for 78.1%, while recycling accounted for 18.3%. The final volume disposed of at landfill sites was 8.45 million tonnes, a decrease of 580,000 tonnes from the previous year.

The total volume of industrial waste generated in Japan has also remained steady over the last few years. The volume was approximately 412 million tonnes in FY2003, up 4.7% from the previous fiscal year. Approximately 30 million tonnes was registered as final disposal volume in FY2003, a significant decrease of about 10 million tonnes from the previous fiscal year. Nationally there is a lack of disposal capacity, with final disposal sites having an average capacity of only another 6.1 years.

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

Notes: “Total volume of municipal solid waste generated” = “volume of wastes collected” + “volume of wastes directly brought in” + “self disposal volume” In accordance with the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law, the government setup “Basic Guidelines for the Comprehensive and Systematic Promotion of Waste Reduction Measures and Other Appropriate Treatments.” According to these Basic Guidelines, total volume of municipal solid waste is defined as “total volume of municipal solid waste generated” less “self disposal volume” plus “recyclable waste volume collectible by groups.” The amount of municipal solid wastes (as defined above) stands at 54,270,000 tonnes in FY2003.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, Waste Treatment in Japan

Trend of Illegal Dumping Cases and Illegally Dumped Waste Volume

Notes:

1. The chart above illustrates illegal dumping of industrial wastes (at least 10 tonnes per case) identified by prefectures or cities with public health offices. (However, cases that involve specially controlled industrial waste are all included in the chart)

2. As shown in the chart above, the illegal dumping case in Gifu City was discovered in FY2003, while that in Numazu City was detected in FY2004. Because waste disposers illegally dumped industrial wastes for several years before that, these two cases were identified as large-scale dumping cases in said years.

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

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) reducing wastes; (ii) reusing end-of-life products and parts; (iii) recycling wastes as raw materials; (iv) recovering heat; and (v) appropriate disposal as final waste. In line with these basic principles, the government will implement the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law as well as other recycling-related legislation.

Changes in the Volume of Industrial Waste Generated

Notes: (*1) The 1996 data indicate the waste volume in FY 1996, as defined in the “Target of Waste Reduction” (government decision, September 28, 1999). In the “Target for Waste Reduction,” the government aims to achieve its targets at the latest in FY2010 based on the “Basic Policy for Dioxin Measures,” which was decided by the Ministerial Meeting on Anti-Dioxin Measures. (*2) The amount of waste from FY 1997 onward was calculated using the same calculation approach as *1 above.

Source: Compiled from the Ministry of the Environment, State of the Generation and Treatment of Industrial Waste.