towards establishing a domestic SMC Society. A major challenge for many developing countries is how best to manage waste appropriately, for example, by establishing a public waste collection system or by ensuring the sanitary disposal of wastes. In contrast, rapidly growing economies, such as those of many typical East Asian countries, are faced with the need to curb waste generation and recycle waste materials because the amount of waste has increased, even when waste collection and disposal systems have already been developed, especially in urban areas. In addition, concerns about soaring resource prices and constraints on resource supply are creating a growing need to use resources more effectively. This means that an essential challenge for Asian countries is to step up their efforts toward responsible waste management, while also promoting the 3Rs. Another important approach to the urgent issue of global warming is to take measures that bring about co-benefits (measures that can benefit both public hygiene and global warming issues) by promoting CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects and other initiatives directed towards responsible waste management and the 3Rs in order to prevent global warming.

Japan’s new Fundamental Plan for Establishing a SMC Society stipulates that Japan should address the international dissemination of its systems, technologies and experience as follows :

“Japan will make its accumulated knowledge of advanced schemes and outstanding technologies and systems regarding the 3Rs and waste management, as well as the experience accumulated by domestic entities by means of relevant activities and collaborations, available to other countries. This will include rapidly developing Asian countries and potentially emerging African countries, and will thereby support these countries’ establishment of a domestic SMC Society. This accumulated knowledge will be provided in the form best suited to each country’s needs, such as assistance in formulating national 3R promotion plans, cooperation to help develop sound material-cycle cities modeled after Japanese Eco-towns, and support to help increase access to safe and sanitary night soil disposal systems. To this end, each country’s situation and needs will be assessed so that Japan’s 3R technologies/systems and training programs can be tailored to each country’s actual needs. Furthermore, Japan will foster international collaboration not only at the national level but also at a variety of other levels, including the public, enterprises and local governments.”

Japan has already been helping other countries solve their problems by engaging in policy dialogue and addressing their needs through frameworks such as the Tripartite Environment Ministers Meetings between China, Japan and Korea. Now that countries in Asia, especially in East Asia, are enhancing their waste management policies by introducing the concept of the 3Rs, in accordance with their social and economic situations, Japan should explore a specific vision of international cooperation that meets these countries' needs. In this way, Japan can offer East Asian countries the benefits of its experience, gained through past reforms for the promotion of waste management and recycling, and let these counties make use of this information as a valuable resource (Table 4-4-1).