the traditional frameworks that had previously been used for waste disposal.

In 1963, the government set up the First Five-Year Plan for Development of Living Environment Facilities, presenting the principles of its new urban waste disposal policy involving incineration, with residues disposed of in landfills. This prompted municipal governments in urban areas to construct incinerators. By defining incineration and residue landfill as the basic method for urban waste disposal, the government aimed to both stabilize waste in a sanitary manner and reduce the volume of waste.

## Column

## The history of composting

Since ancient times, Japanese farmers had been using waste as fertilizer, either incorporating kitchen garbage into the soil through plowing, for example, or distributing incineration ash over the fields. Even in the postwar era, urban waste was still used as fertilizer in rural farming villages until the Showa 30s (1955-1964) because only small amounts of plastic and metal were included in the waste in those days.

However, as more rapid changes occurred, such as the outgrowth of cities, the widespread use of chemical fertilizers, and the aging and exhaustion of farming villages, urban waste management reached a major turning point.

In Japan, a mountainous country with little spare land for landfill use and a climate often characterized by high temperature and high humidity, incineration became more common in the Showa 40s (1965-1974) for the sake of sanitation and to reduce the volume of waste. There was also a move by municipal governments towards the machine composting of kitchen garbage (a process also known as fast composting) so that the compost produced could again be used by rural farmers, as before. Many such composting facilities were built and operated by municipal governments in the Showa 40s to 50s (1965-1984).

However, composting projects involving urban waste, especially household waste, encountered several problems, as described below. As a result, no users could be found for the compost produced and it had to be eventually disposed of in landfills, forcing municipal governments to withdraw from those projects.

## (i) Foreign substances

As living standards rapidly improved in the Showa 30s to 40s (1955-1974), consumers started to buy a wider variety of goods. This resulted in the inclusion of greater amounts of foreign substances in waste, such as glass from glass bottles, metals from cans, and plastics from containers and other sundry items. Since the idea of sorting wastes was not common in those days, compost made from waste inevitably contained foreign substances. Farmers noticed that a field fertilized with compost made from such waste glittered in the sunlight. As a result, farmers began to avoid using compost made from waste.

## (ii) Odors

Since Japan has a hot, humid climate, kitchen garbage easily goes rotten. For this reason, composting requires that appropriate measures be taken to minimize odors. Since insufficient measures to control odors were taken at composting facilities during this era, local people often regarded these facilities as an annoyance.

## (iii) Farmers' labor

The Showa 30s to 40s (1955-1974) was a period in which young workers moved from rural to urban areas, leaving behind an aging population of farmers. Although the farmers knew that organic fertilizer was needed for sustainable agriculture, they found it increasingly difficult to apply organic fertilizer because of the heavy workload required. Older farmers preferred to use chemical fertilizer because it