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Press Release

State of PCB Waste in Storage under the PCB Special Measures Law

October 24, 2003

The Ministry of the Environment has released the state of PCB waste in storage that has been reported under the Law Concerning Special Measures for Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Waste (often referred to as "PCB Special Measures Law"). The data on the storage and disposal status of PCB waste as of March 31, 2002, was submitted from businesses to prefectural governments and municipal governments with public health offices.

The results differ slightly from those compiled as of July 15, 2001, and made public on October 23, 2002, because of newly identified PCB wastes and adjustments in the amount of PCB waste previously categorized incorrectly. An accurate accounting of current PCB waste items is necessary so that PCB wastes can be properly and systematically managed. The Ministry, therefore, requested local governments to make further effort to ensure that businesses understood this reporting system under the PCB Special Measures Law, to obtain accurate information of storage sites, and to instruct businesses to continue to store PCB waste properly so that improper disposal of PCB waste does not occur.

Compared with the previous report compiled as of July 15, 2001, the amount of stored PCBs has increased while the use of PCB-laden equipment has declined, with some variations according to the type of equipment. These results can be attributed to more thorough surveys that included data that had not been previously counted. These results mark the shift from using items containing PCBs to storing those items. The status of PCB wastes that experienced large increases or decreases are described below.

1.   High-voltage transformers and high-voltage capacitors

The number of high-voltage transformers in storage decreased by 1,419 from the previous survey because many were not categorized as high-voltage transformers in the present survey. The number of high-voltage transformers in use increased by 950. The number of high-voltage capacitors in storage increased by 21,994 from the previous survey. Because the number of high-voltage capacitors in use also increased by 1,151, the results can be attributed to the increased thoroughness of the surveys.

2.   Low-voltage transformers and low-voltage capacitors

The number of low-voltage transformers in storage increased by 7,709 from the previous survey, while the number of storage sites that have such equipment decreased by 60. This result is because of errors in categorizing equipment. The number of low-voltage capacitors in storage also increased by 221,341 from the previous survey. This increase can also be attributed to the increased thoroughness of the surveys.

3.   Ballasts

The number of ballasts in storage increased by about 650,000 from the previous survey. Because the number of ballasts in use decreased by about 200,000, the results are attributed to a possible shift from use to storage of ballasts as well as to more thorough surveys.

4.   PCBs and oil containing PCBs

The amount of PCBs in storage decreased by about 13,000 tons from the previous survey, and the amount of oil containing PCBs in storage increased by about 21,000 tons. This result is attributed to the fact that some oil containing PCBs was previously mistakenly classified as PCBs.

5.   Other appliances

The number of units of appliances laden with PCBs in storage increased by about 34,000 from the previous survey, and those in use decreased by about 33,000. This result is primarily due to the shift from using to storing such appliances.

State of PCB Waste in Storage and PCB-containing Equipment in Use
Type of waste or
equipment
In storage In use
July 2001 March 2002 July 2001 March 2002
High-voltage
transformers
sites 1,583 1,804 339 339
units 16,496 15,077 1,689 2,639
High-voltage
capacitors
sites 35,655 40,412 6,033 6,996
units 220,345 242,339 30,502 31,653
Low-voltage
transformers
sites 330 270 52 69
units 30,412 38,121 616 453
Low-voltage
capacitors
sites 2,388 2,624 335 257
units 1,146,383 1,367,724 17,510 33,093
Pole-mounted
transformers
sites 111 103 7 7
units 1,713,291 1,772,563 1,967,000 1,952,500
Ballasts sites 8,736 11,273 2,705 2,173
units 4,170,839 4,824,973 868,256 664,947
PCBs sites 156 186 4 8
units 12,955 171 0.055 0.079
PCB-containing
oil
sites 479 599 8 12
units 142,261 163,632 0.003 0.003
Carbonless
copying paper
sites 347 363    
units 679 662    
Waste cloth sites 401 494    
units 215 239    
Sludge sites 106 138    
units 17,698 19,005    
Other appliances sites 955 1,474 123 160
units 199,873 233,534 42,067 8,928

Note : Data that cannot be represented as a weight or number of units, such as PCBs stored in drums, is listed in the sites section only. PCBs, PCB-containing oil, carbonless copying paper, waste cloth, and sludge were represented either in volume or weight, and the data in volume was converted to values in weight, by calculating one liter as one kilogram.

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