Silviase/jgov_v1.4_full_ann huggingface dataset:
reduced by approximately 98%, compared to 1997 figures (Fig. 2-17).

Fig. 2-17 Trend in the amount of dioxins emitted from waste incineration plants

Note: 2004 value and target value of reduction are percentages with respect to 2003. Source: Ministry of the Environment

The development and introduction of excellent technology in harmony with institutional reinforcement has greatly reduced the generation of dioxins. Dioxins are thought to be generated when carbon compounds that remain as unburned material react with chlorine in the course of combustion. For their reduction, it is necessary to keep combustion temperatures at $ 800^{\circ} $ C or higher and make combustion as complete as possible.

The aforesaid new guidelines require new furnaces to maintain a combustion temperature of $ 850^{\circ} $ C or higher for two seconds or longer. According to this requirement, the introduction of full continuous type incineration plants, which can maintain high-temperature combustion for a long period of time, have been promoted, in order to reduce the dioxins generated. Because dioxins are generated at a temperature of about $ 300^{\circ} $ C, under the catalytic action of copper, etc. contained in fly ash, a method is applied that quickly cools exhaust gases from $ 800^{\circ} $ C or higher to $ 200^{\circ} $ C or lower and collects dust in a bag filter. In addition, the technology of spraying activated carbon powder in the inlet of bag filters to adsorb dioxins on the surface of the activated carbon and the technology of letting the exhaust gas flow through a tower filled with activated carbon powder after dust collection to adsorb dioxins, have been introduced. Additionally, for soot and dust (fly ash and soot) that are generated in the course of incineration, dioxins criteria (3 ng-TEQ/g or less) have been established. To achieve this, technology has been introduced that heats fly ash from $ 350^{\circ} $ C to $ 450^{\circ} $ C in oxygen deficient conditions to pyrolytically decompose dioxins.

## (3) PCB

PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) is an industrially synthesized compound that is less susceptible to thermal decomposition and has other excellent properties, such as high electric insulation and chemical stability. So, it has been used as insulating oil in electric equipment, such as high-voltage transformers, high-voltage capacitors and ballast and as a heating medium in heat exchangers, etc. (Fig. 2-18). However, the Kanemi Oil Poisoning Incident of 1968 brought its toxicity to light and led to a ban on the production, import and use of PCBs in 1974. After that, although the treatment standard by high-temperature incineration was established in 1976, there was no progress in its treatment, except in some areas, due to
objections by residents. So, waste PCBs continued to be stored in enterprises for more than 30 years. There was anxiety that waste PCBs, as a negative legacy, could go missing or leak out during long-term storage and cause environmental pollution.

Fig. 2-18 Chemical structure of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)

Note: Chlorine atom is bound to the numbered section.

On the other hand, activities against organic pollutants were progressing internationally and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Convention) took effect in May 2004 (Japan ratified the Convention in August 2002). Concerning PCBs, the Convention requires a ban on their use by 2025 and appropriate treatment of these substances by 2028.

In these circumstances, the Law Concerning Special Measures against PCB Waste (PCB Special Measures Law) was enacted in 2001, requiring enterprises to dispose of their PCB waste by 2016. Therefore, a nationwide PCB waste management system based on regional disposal facilities is now being established, utilizing the Japan Environmental Safety Corporation. As technologies for safely and surely disposing of PCBs, five methods (dechlorination decomposition, hydrothermal oxidation decomposition, reductive thermochemical decomposition, photodecomposition and plasma decomposition) are stipulated, in addition to high-temperature incineration (Table 2-3).

Table 2-3 PCB treatment methods

Name	Method	Features
High-temperature incineration	PCB is made into fine droplets to be sprayed in a furnace and incinerated.	Cost-effective method but combustion gas is generated by incineration.
Dechlorination decomposition	Sufficiently mixed with chemicals, etc. to be decomposed by dechlorination reaction.	Main product is dechlorinated treated oil. This method also includes catalytic decomposition.
Hydrothermal oxidation decomposition	Decomposed in high-temperature high-pressure water	Organic matter containing PCB is decomposed into inorganic substances, i.e. carbon dioxide, water and salts. The main product is treated water.
Reductive thermochemical decomposition	Decomposed in a reducing atmosphere	The main product is reducing gas of methane, carbon monoxide, etc.
Photo-decomposition	Decomposed by photochemical reaction	PCB is low-chlorinated by photodecomposition, and the mixture after reaction is treated by dechlorination decomposition or biological decomposition. The main product is treated oil or treated water.
Plasma decomposition	Decomposed by plasma at high temperature	The main products are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen, etc.

Source: Ministry of the Environment
As a pioneer project in Japan, in the Kitakyushu PCB waste management facility (first phase) of the Japan Environmental Safety Corporation, which started operation in December 2004, the decomposition of PCBs by the dechlorination decomposition method and, as its pretreatment, solvent cleaning and vacuum heating separation for removing PCBs from transformers, etc., have been enacted for electric equipment, such as high-voltage transformers and high-voltage capacitors, which have been installed to the west of Okayama. For these facilities, sufficient safety measures are taken, such as measures for environmental preservation during operation, appropriate responses to abnormalities and the monitoring of the surrounding environment (Fig. 2-19, Table 2-4, Fig. 2-20).

Recently it was found that a large amount of electric equipment is being used in transformers, which were said to contain no PCBs, and so insulating oil is contaminated with a small amount of PCB. So, it has become important to establish a system for safely disposing of these substances. In these circumstances, incineration verification tests have been performed since March 2006, in existing industrial waste management facilities that are capable of high-temperature incineration, in order to prove that such equipment can safely and securely be disposed of.

Fig. 2-19 Treatment process diagram of Kitakyushu PCB waste management facility of the Japan Environmental Safety Corporation

Source: Japan Environmental Safety Corporation
Table 2-4 PCB waste management plan

Office name	Kitakyushu	Osaka	Toyota	Tokyo	Hokkaido
Location of office	Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu-shi	Konohana-ku, Osaka-shi	Toyota-shi, Aichi-ken	Koto-ku, Tokyo	Muroran-shi, Hokkaido
Districts covered	Okinawa, Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku (17 prefectures)	Kinki (6 prefectures)	Tokai (4 prefectures)	Minami-Kanto (1 metropolis and 3 prefectures)	Hokkaido, Tohoku, Koshinetsu, Kita-Kanto, Hokuriku (Hokkaido and 15 prefectures)
Target of disposal	High-voltage transformer, waste PCB, etc.	High-voltage transformer, waste PCB, etc.	High-voltage transformer, waste PCB, etc.	Waste transformer, waste capacitor, waste ballast, waste PCB	High-voltage transformer, waste PCB, etc.
Amount of PCB decomposed	0.5 t/d (1st phase)
About 1.3 t/d (2nd phase)	2.0 t/d	1.6 t/d	2.0 t/d	1.8 t/d
Treatment method	Chemical treatment (dechlorination decomposition)	Chemical treatment (dechlorination decomposition)	Chemical treatment (dechlorination decomposition)	Chemical treatment (hydrothermal oxidation decomposition)	Chemical treatment (dechlorination decomposition)
Contractor	Nippon Steel Corp., etc.	Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., etc.	Kubota Corp., etc.	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., etc.	Nippon Steel Corp., etc.
Disposal commencement	December 2004 (1st phase)	October 2006	September 2005	November 2005	October 2007
Project completion	March 2016	March 2016	March 2016	March 2016	March 2016

Source: Ministry of the Environment

Fig. 2-20 Map of regional PCB disposal facilities

## (4) Asbestos

Because of its excellent heat resistance, etc., asbestos has been used in many products, including construction materials. But it is now regarded as a cause of pneumoconiosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma, etc., so the production, use, etc. of asbestos and products containing it have been prohibited. The Waste Management Law designates waste asbestos, i.e. substances that represent a danger of asbestos being dispersed in the air, such as structural members sprayed with asbestos and heat insulating materials made of asbestos, as industrial
waste under special control. Waste asbestos-molding panels, such as waste asbestos slate, are classified into non-scattering waste asbestos, but there is a danger that asbestos will disperse when such waste is destroyed or broken in the course of disposal. Accordingly, a technical guideline for appropriate disposal was published in March 2005.

In February 2006, the Law for Revising Part of the Air Pollution Control Law, etc. to Prevent Damage to Health, etc. due to Asbestos was promulgated and the Waste Management Law was partly revised. Specifically, in order to promote safe and rapid disposal of waste containing asbestos, a new system (detoxifying treatment qualification system) was established. In this system, an enterprise that executes detoxifying treatment using high technology, such as melting, requires no approval by the metropolitan or prefectural governor for industrial waste management business or the installation of an industrial waste management facility when approved by the Minister of the Environment.

There are two methods available for the final disposal of scattering waste asbestos: one is disposal in a controlled landfill site after scattering-preventive treatment, such as packing or solidifying with concrete, etc., and the other is disposal in a controlled landfill site or an inert controlled landfill site as a general industrial waste, after melting the waste and thus removing its property as an industrial waste under special control.

Today, non-scattering waste asbestos is mostly subject to landfill disposal. But it is expected that a large quantity of non-scattering waste asbestos will be generated as the number of buildings to be demolished increases in the future. Therefore, studies are progressing on the utilization of existing industrial waste melting facilities or on treatment using production facilities, such as a cement kiln (Fig. 2-21).

Fig. 2-21 Flow of asbestos treatment facility
## (5) Infectious waste

In order to prevent infection, hypodermic needles, scalpels and specimen containers that are used in medical institutions, etc. must be disposed of properly when they become waste. The Waste Management Law designates infectious waste (waste containing infectious pathogens or to which an infectious pathogen is adhered, or waste having such probability) generated in medical institutions, etc., as waste under special control (industrial waste under special control or general waste under special control).

For infectious waste, the disposal standard is stipulated in the Infectious waste management Manual that was published in March 2004, whereby it is required to remove infectiousness with an incinerator, melting facility, etc. It is also mandatory to use an incinerator or a melting facility that can completely incinerate or melt waste and to prevent the living environment from being polluted by the exhaust gases of such facility.

In order to appropriately treat infectious waste, various technologies have been introduced. For example, a rotary kiln type incinerator is used, in which infectious waste is burned together with other industrial waste that plays the role of combustion improver, etc. to destroy infectious bacteria, to detoxify infectious waste, and to reduce its volume (Fig. 2-22).

Fig. 2-22 Incineration treatment flow

Source: Kureha Ecology Management Co., Ltd.

## 3 Technologies for the 3Rs

To construct a sound material-cycle society, it is necessary to implement the 3Rs: reducing (controlling the production of wastes), reuse, and recycling. Specifically it is necessary to first limit as much as possible the production of waste and at the same time, reuse, recycle, and thermal-recycle wastes produced, as much as possible, in this order of priority, i.e., use them cyclically to ensure that improper disposal or treatment of them is prevented and their environmental loads are reduced. The implementation of the 3Rs is also based on related technologies. This section discusses waste-reducing technologies, waste-reusing technologies, designs for recycling, material-recycling technologies, and thermal-recycling technologies.
## (1) Material-reducing or reusing technologies

Efforts to reduce waste include making more efficient use of materials and extending the lives of products. An example of using materials more efficiently includes making the walls of PET bottles thinner. That structural improvement has so far made the 10 to 40% lighter containers.

For containers and packagings for soap and detergent, the use of plastic materials has been reduced by concentrating the soap or detergent to make it smaller and by developing and selling refilled bottle products and replacement bottle products. According to a survey by the Environment Committee of the Japan Soap and Detergent Association, the shipments of refilled bottle products and replacement bottle products have increased fivefold in the past nine years. The quantity of plastic materials used in 2004 was 52,500 tons, half of the 113,000 tons that is assumed to be the case if the products had not been made more compact.

For home appliances, products have been made lighter by reducing the numbers of their parts and making them as units. For automobiles, the body has been made lighter by using much more aluminum, high-tension steel plates, and so on.

Efforts to extend product life include making longer lasting liquid-crystal backlight, hard disk, and so on for personal computers, for example. For automobiles, the specified times for replacing engine oil, engine coolant, and so on have been extended.

Reuse has priority over recycling because the former uses less additional energy and causes less environmental contamination than the latter. Efforts to reuse products include reusing copy machine parts. Internal parts such as the drive device and exposure devices have been reused for some time; but more recently external parts are increasingly becoming the focus for reuse because technology for scraping stains off the surface by blasting grains at high speeds has been developed.

For the slot game machine, a structure by which it can be separated into the upper component (rotating component) and the lower component (housing) has been adopted. For new models using this structure, only the upper component is replaced while the lower component is reused, thus reducing the resources used to produce the new model.

Furthermore, for automobiles, components taken from end-of-life vehicles are used as a base and reassembled with new parts to replace worn and deteriorated parts, and checked for quality to recover their original function.
## Column

## Reusing technology

According to a recent report, the reusing technology where a special toner is used with which the printed faces of paper sheets used with office equipment can be erased so that the sheets can be reused has been developed. That technology makes it possible to reuse a paper sheet five to ten times. It is reported that it has reduced the amount of paper used.

Copying machine for erasable toner

Source: Toshiba Corporation

Erasable toner

Erasing device for erasable toner

## (2) Product design for recycling

Techniques in the design stage to improve the ease of decomposition of products and the possibility of making them into resources again in the recycling stage have been developed. Such technologies are called “environmentally conscious design”, which are combined with waste-reducing and waste-reusing technologies.

Of such techniques, the ease of decomposition reduces the labor and time for decomposing used products and contributes to their reuse and recycling.

Such designs for containers or packagings involve changing composite materials to a single material, using shrink labels with a perforated line for easier removal, using recycled materials, and introducing biodegradable materials.

For home appliances, an example of techniques implemented is the introduction of product assessment where the producer researches a product to predict its safety, resources used and environmental effect in the stages of production, distribution, usage, disposal, recycling/processing, and final disposal, and in the stage of design before it is put into the production. There are cases of ease of decomposition design where parts that could only be decomposed by means of special tools have been made decomposable using common tools and where parts are labeled to indicate their materials so that those of the same material can be treated accordingly when they are decomposed. (Fig. 2-23)
Fig. 2-23 Environmentally conscious design of a washing machine

For the production of automobiles, there are cases where recycled materials or recyclable resources are used for recycling and where components of the body are structured for easier disassembly to improve recyclability in the design stage. For example, in order to dismantle end-of-life vehicles, the suction hole of a fuel-removing device has been made larger in the diameter to shorten the work time for removing the fuel of them and an air saw capable of quickly cutting windshield glass has been developed that reduces work time by 45%. Furthermore, in order to design easy to dismantle automobiles, a technique that makes it possible to simulate the status of pulling resin parts off an automobile on a computer has been developed. Thus, the status of breaking down an automobile can be known without testing on real vehicles. (Fig. 2-24)

Fig. 2-24 Environment-conscious design of a hybrid car

## (3) Wastes to resources: material recycling technologies

Material recycling recycles waste into usable material. This section discusses the recycling of waste containers and packagings, end-of-life vehicles, discarded home appliances, construction waste, paper, and so on as typical types of material recycling introducing technology that recycles waste into resources.
## a) Recycling of waste containers and packagings

The Law for the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging (hereinafter referred to as “the Container and Packaging Recycling Law”) defines containers and packagings as “containers and packagings for commercial goods (including such container or packaging for which money is charged) that are unwanted when the goods have been consumed or when they are separated from the goods.” “Containers”, which include glass containers, PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles, paper containers, plastic bottles (including styrene foam trays for foods and food bags), and “packagings”, which include package paper and wrapping, that households dispose of are to be made once again into commercial goods. Such containers and packagings account for about 60% by bulk and about 20% by weight of total household garbage. Of those containers and packagings, this section addresses waste plastic and PET bottles and discusses technologies for recycling them. Although there are many kinds of waste plastics, only PET bottles and foam styrene food trays are collected as separate categories.

The technologies for recycling waste plastics are categorized into material recycling that uses the materials in their original plastic form and chemical recycling that chemically treats the material for use as a chemical material.

In material recycling, collected waste plastics are made into materials for plastics in the form of flakes, fluffs, and pellets through the processes such as removal of foreign matter, sorting, and cleaning. They may then be mixed with new materials for necessary component adjustment to make them into materials such as pellets. (Fig. 2-25)

Fig. 2-25 Material recycling of waste plastics

On the other hand, waste containers and packagings and waste PET bottles are recycled into textile products such as working clothes and carpet, sheet products, such as egg packs, and containers for cup noodles, hangers, and planters. A technology to make PET bottles from waste PET bottles has also been put into practical use, with about 12,000 tons of PET bottles manufactured in this way in 2005. (Fig. 2-26)
Fig. 2-26 Bottle-to-bottle recycling process

Source: Teijin Fibers Co., Ltd

For PET bottles, a technology to separate the body from the cap and the ring (i.e., the thing left on the main body when the cap is screwed off) has also been put into practical use. This technology involves flattening a PET bottle with gears and cutting it in a longitudinal direction so that it is easy to separate the body from the cap and ring manually. (Fig. 2-27)

Fig. 2-27 PET-bottle bulk reducer

Source: Meiwa Kousakusyo Corporation

Chemical recycling has been implemented particularly in the fields of steel manufacturing and chemicals. In steel manufacturing, coke is used to reduce iron ore to iron in a blast furnace, and waste plastics can be substituted for coke after they are processed into grains. This is because carbon and hydrogen contained in plastics can function as a reducer. Plastics blown into a blast furnace decompose into hydrogen and carbon monoxide at high temperatures of about $ 2000^{\circ} $ C and react with iron oxide as the main component of iron ore to reduce it to pig iron. The residual hydrogen and carbon monoxide after the reduction reaction are recovered as blast furnace gases and used as a fuel for power generation. (Fig. 2-28)
Fig. 2-28 Waste plastics recycling by a blast furnace

For a coke furnace, there is also technology to thermally decompose waste plastics and reuse them as resources. This technology involves heating waste plastics in a closed chamber, called a carbonizing chamber, in a coke furnace without oxygen at about $ 1,200^{\circ} $ C, thus generating hydrocarbon oils (light oils and tar) and coke furnace gases (hydrogen, methane, etc.) from the hot gases produced in the heating and recovering coke as the residue. The hydrocarbon oils are used as chemical materials in chemical plants, and the coke furnace gases as fuel gases to power steel plant generators. (Fig. 2-29)

Fig. 2-29 Waste plastics recycling by a Coke oven

Source: Nippon Steel Corporation

In the chemical industry, a technology to thermally decompose waste plastics into gases for materials contributes to the saving of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Specifically, in a