Figure 2-7 Cyclical Use and Disposal Status of Wastes, etc. (fiscal year 2007)

Figure 2-8 Changes to Resource Productivity

Source: Ministry of the Environment

ing materials for construction and as a reducing agent of iron ore and an alternative to coke in the shaft furnaces of the iron and steel industry. Occasionally they are recycled as plastics material, however, as presently different grade resins and additives are contained in cyclical used waste plastics, they are mostly used by cascading (downsize recycling). The input amount of fossil type resources in our country is 520 million tons; the amount of cyclical use is 10 million tons, therefore, the proportion of cyclical use against the total material input of fossil type resources is 1%.

When looking to increase the amount of fossil type circulative resources and decrease the amount of final disposal, factors to consider are to expand the collection of used products and to develop engineering to enable recycling, through the drafting of legislation, such as the “Law for the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging” (abbreviated to: Containers and Packaging Recycling Law) and the “Law for the Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances” (abbreviated to: Home Appliances Recycling Law).

### C. Target setting for the material flow index of our country

The Second Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society has set new targets for the three indices concerning the “Inlet”, “Outlet” and “Cycle” of the material flow.

The target year of each index is assumed to be fiscal 2015.

Figure 2-9 Changes to the Cyclical Use Rate

Figure 2-10 Changes to the Final Disposal Volume

The latest achievements for each index are as follows.

1) Resource productivity (equals to GDP divided by the input of natural resources and others)

The target for resource productivity in the Year 2015 has been set as 420 thousand yen per ton. (Double the index of Year 1990; 210 thousand yen per ton; a 60% improvement on Year 2000; 260 thousand yen per ton.) In Year 2007 it was about 361 thousand yen per ton (Figure 2-8).

2) Cyclical use rate (equals the amount of recycling utilization divided by the amount of circulative utilization + input amount of natural resources and others)

The target of the recycling utilization rate in the Year 2015 has been set as about 14 to 15 %. (An 80% percent improvement from the index for Year 1990; about 8% for that year; a 40 to 50% improvement on Year 2000; about 10% for that year.) Year 2007 was about 13.5% (Figure 2-9).

3) The amount of final disposal (equals the amount of land filling of waste)

The target for final disposal in the Year 2015 has been set at around 23 million tons. (An 80% decrease on Year 1990; about 110 million tons for that year; a 60% decrease from Year 2000; about 56 million tons for that year.) Year 2007 was about 27 million tons. (Figure 2-10)

## (2) Amount of waste generated

### A. Classification of wastes

The “Waste Management and Public Cleaning Law” defines “wastes” as: unwanted materials or items which are no longer used personally or which are not delivered for value, and such materials or items can be described as, for example, garbage, bulky waste, burnt residue, polluted mud, feculence such as night soil and waste, either in solid or liquid form. Radioactive material and radioactive pollutant