Environmental Protection announced that waste batteries could cause environmental pollution in the process of incineration and landfill. This issue became a major public concern.

In order to improve the management of the mercury contained in batteries, the government subsequently promoted source-oriented measures and recycling in cooperation with all parties concerned.

One of these source-oriented measures was stopping the use of mercury for manganese batteries (April 1991) and alkaline batteries (January 1992) through joint efforts with the Battery Association of Japan. This has enabled significant reductions to be made in the amount of mercury used in batteries sold in Japan.

Japan has also established a collection and recycling system to prevent the mercury contained in household batteries, as well as the mercury in waste fluorescent lamps, from being released into the environment. Many municipal governments now participate in the Liaison Meeting for the Amalgamated Treatment of Waste Batteries, etc., organized by the Japan Waste Management Association, and jointly collect waste batteries and fluorescent bulbs (by means of sorted collection) and then dispose of them (through mercury recovery and recycling).

As these examples show, one effective measure to minimize the release of the hazardous substances contained in these products is to establish a system for environmentally responsible recycling, in conjunction with other source-oriented approaches. It is also essential that countries with no appropriate disposal facilities at hand consider a wide-area recycling system in which hazardous wastes can be exported under the Basel Convention and then recycled overseas. (For example, Japan imports mercury-containing wastes from Thailand, the Philippines and other countries and recycles them.)

## B Introduction of recycling laws

As shown above, the government set out specific poli-

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# The hexavalent chromium problem and the amendment of the Waste Management Law

The Waste Management Law, enacted in 1970, provided a clear definition of industrial waste and positioned it within the legal framework. However, because of the lack of an appropriate mechanism to accurately keep track of activities concerning industrial waste disposal, the monitoring and directions provided by the authorities were incomplete, leading to problems such as the frequent occurrence of illegal dumping and other violations, along with failures by the waste-generating businesses in exercising their responsibility. In addition, as the shortage of final disposal sites worsened, a growing number of companies simply piled up their waste out in the open, within their factory premises.

In the summer of 1975, an inappropriate disposal site for slag containing hexavalent chromium was found at a Tokyo factory that manufactured hexavalent chromium compounds, such as bichromate of soda. Environmental pollution was also discovered in the area around this site, along with potential health hazards to local residents. This incident developed into an issue of major public concern since pollution from hexavalent chromium slag was identified in many other regions following this initial discovery.

In light of public concern over waste disposal problems, the government amended the Waste Management Law in 1976. This amendment was mainly aimed at tightening regulation and supervision in order to ensure responsible final disposal.

Specifically, these amendments included redefining final disposal sites as waste disposal facilities, instituting a registration system, and introducing prior assessments based on technical standards. To enforce appropriate outsourcing practices concerning waste disposal, the amended law set up standards for the outsourcing of disposal work and banned companies from subcontracting any disposal work they have undertaken to another company. To keep track of industrial waste disposal activities and provide appropriate supervision and instructions, the amended law obliged enterprises and disposal companies to create and maintain disposal records, and added provisions on restoration orders to be issued in the event of any incident harmful to the conservation of the living environment.

This hexavalent chromium problem awakened Japan to the need to take environmental effects into consideration when addressing the final disposal of any waste, including industrial waste. It was also the starting point for efforts that have since led to Japan’s success in reducing the amount of waste disposed of in final landfill sites by about 70% since the 1990s.