Table 4-3-2 Major technologies to support a SMC Society

Technology	Description
Improvement in hygiene	Johkasoh	A purification tank for treating night soil and miscellaneous domestic waste water to discharge treated water
Mechanical collection vehicle (packer truck)	Packer trucks to efficiently collect and transport wastes without any leakage or spillage
Intermediate treatment (incinerator)	Incineration technology, suitable for use under Japanese conditions (during hot, humid summers and in areas where final disposal sites are scarce), to reduce the volume of waste and kill bacteria
Intermediate treatment (gasification and melting furnaces)	Melting technologies that will reduce dioxin generation: ensuring complete high-temperature combustion, rendering incineration ash harmless by melting and solidification, and allowing the effective use of molten slag
Final disposal	Technologies for the final disposal of the waste residue remaining after intermediate treatment
Manifest control	A manifest control system that will improve transparency and accuracy when monitoring and managing waste flows, and the adoption of electronic manifest control technology
Measures against hazardous substances	Measures to reduce waste mercury levels	Recycling technologies for waste batteries and fluorescent bulbs
Measures to reduce waste dioxins levels	Systems and technologies to reduce the amount of dioxins generated during waste incineration
Measures to reduce waste PCBs levels	Methods and programs to ensure the responsible disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
Measures to reduce waste asbestos levels	Systems, final disposal methods, and studies concerning the responsible management of asbestos
Measures to reduce infectious waste	Incineration for infectious waste from medical facilities
Container and packaging reductions	Measures to reduce waste through the use of thinner PET bottles, the development of refillable bottled products, and the adoption of replacements for bottled products (e.g., liquid soap, detergent)
Home appliance-related reductions	Technologies to reduce the number of component parts, produce smaller parts, reduce weight by means of modularization, and extend the useful life of PCs
Vehicle-related reductions	Technologies to reduce vehicle body weight through the increased use of aluminum, and extend the useful life of engine oil by increasing designated replacement intervals
Reuse of copiers	Initiatives to reuse exterior components through the development of improved cleaning technologies, in addition to the drive unit and other interior components, which have already been used.
Reuse of slot machines	Initiatives to reduce the amount of resources needed to manufacture new models of “pachislo” slot machines by encouraging their reuse
Reuse of vehicles	Initiatives to restore and recondition vehicles by replacing worn or broken components with new ones based on parts removed from end-of-life vehicles
Eco-design home appliances	Designs incorporating “ease of decomposition,” using product assessment projects and washing machines as pilot cases
Technologies to support	Eco-design vehicles	Adoption of recycling-conscious resources, such as recycled materials and recyclable resources, and the use of the “Easy Disassembly Mark” labeling system
Recycling of waste containers and packaging	Material recycling and chemical recycling for waste plastic and PET bottles
Recycling of end-of-life vehicles	Recycling for aluminum wheels, shredder dust, and waste tires
Recycling of end-of-life home appliances	An end-of-life home appliance recycling flow, and the utilization of recycling to provide more added value (closed recycling)
Recycling of construction waste	Technologies to sort mixed construction waste and recycle construction sludge
Recycling of food waste	Technologies to produce compost and eco-feed and to recycle food waste for other uses, such as fuel
Paper recycling	Technologies to manufacture pulp from used paper in order to produce recycled paper
Recycling technology for non-burnable waste and large discarded articles	Technologies to crush/shred and sort non-burnable waste and large discarded articles in order to effectively recycle valuable waste
Recycling of incineration ash	“Eco-cement,” manufactured mainly (50%) from wastes such as urban waste incineration ash and sewage sludge
Waste power generation	Waste power generation systems utilizing the waste heat from waste incineration facilities
Biomass power generation	Power generation systems using biomass materials such as wood chips and bagasse (sugarcane chaff)
RDF	Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), produced by shredding and drying burnable waste and removing any impurities
RPF	Refuse-derived paper and plastic Fuel (RPF), produced mainly from the used paper and waste plastic (difficult to recycle) included in industrial waste
Biodiesel fuel	Biodiesel fuel (BDF) as a substitute for light oil in automotive diesel engines
Bioethanol	Bioethanol, produced mainly from waste construction wood with other wastes such as waste paper and food residues added
Technology	Iron, copper, aluminum	Technologies and material flows to recycle iron, copper and aluminum scrap
Rare metals, heavy metals	Technologies to recover and recycle rare metals and heavy metals from waste, as an extension of existing smelting technology

Source: Ministry of the Environment