Resources for International Cooperation

  • Evaluation
    • Japan is in a very challenging situation concerning waste management. The shortage of landfill capacity due to the very high population density has led to reliance on incineration as the main way to eliminate waste.
    • In the 1990s, Japan stabilised its waste generation rates (for both total industrial waste and municipal waste) and decoupled them from GDP growth.
    • The 2000 Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-Based Society, and related recycling regulations (e.g. for containers and packaging, household appliances, construction and demolition waste, and food waste) have strengthened the regulatory framework for waste management.
    • The principle of extended producer responsibility has been incorporated into national legislation on containers and packaging and on some appliances. Recycling ratios for certain streams of municipal waste further increased in the 1990s. Voluntary initiatives by business have helped reduce generation and land filling of industrial waste.
    • Only 6% of the total cost of municipal waste services is recovered through waste charges nationwide: the use of waste management charges should be extended and increased.
    • Municipalities are not yet obliged to join the recycling programme under the packaging and containers law, and quantitative targets are lacking.
    • The current "pay at disposal" scheme for electrical appliances may not be very effective.
    • Japan must also address its final-disposal needs, as it has very little landfill capacity left.
  • Recommendations
    It is recommended to:
    • implement the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-Based Society and related recycling regulations, develop quantitative targets, monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of their implementation, and broaden the application of extended producer responsibility (e.g. to automobile producers);
    • expand the use of economic instruments for waste management, especially user charges for cost recovery in municipal waste services;
    • develop more efficient municipal waste management services and companies, increasing the setting up of inter-municipal treatment and disposal facilities;
    • improve the accountability of industry concerning voluntary initiatives on waste reduction and recovery;
    • increase capacity for treatment and disposal of industrial waste, with appropriate public access to information and participation.