August 6, 2004
The Ministry of the Environment released a report on the FY 2003 survey on illegal dumping of post-consumer use home appliances based on the Law for the Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances (hereinafter referred to as the "Home Appliance Recycling Law" ) which came into effect in April 2001.
Since recovery of post-consumer use personal computers by manufacturers started from October 2003, status of illegal dumping of such personal computers was also surveyed.
1. Illegal dumping of post-consumer use home appliances
Illegal dumping of the four specified post-consumer use home appliances (air conditioners, television sets, refrigerators, and washing machines) for FY 2003 and comparison with to that of FY 2002
(1) Status of illegal dumping by municipalities
The comparisons were made between number of units illegally dumped for FY 2002 and FY 2003 for 3,098 municipalities keeping the data for these two years. As for the total of the illegal dumping of the four specified post-consumer use home appliances, number of municipalities with increase was 1,413 (45.6%), no changes was 427 (13.8%), and decrease was 1,258 (40.6%) (Table 1). Comparing these figures with that of FY 2002, the number of municipalities having increased illegal dumping declined from 52.1% to 45.6% and the number of municipalities with decreased illegal dumping went up to 40.6% from 37.7% (Fig. 1).
Looking at the number of municipalities having increase or decrease in the range of ±10 units is; 2,936 municipalities (94.8%) for air conditioners, 2,238 municipalities (72.2%) for television sets, 2,718 municipalities (87.7%) for refrigerators, and 2,757 municipalities (89.0%) for washing machines (Table 2). Majority of municipalities has fluctuation within single digit, keeping a constant trend.
(2) Changes in the number of units in illegal dumping
Among 3,110 municipalities*1 keeping track of the number of the illegal dumping of the four specified post-consumer use home appliances, the figures in FY 2003 are as follows: 17,138 units for air conditioners, 88,331 units for television sets, 38,006 units for refrigerators, and 31,505 units for washing machines. The total of these four is 174,980 units.
For 3,098 municipalities*2 having the data on the illegal dumping for these four appliances in FY 2002 and FY 2003 (the total number of illegal dumping of these four is 174,934 units in FY 2003), changes can be seen as follows: 698 units air conditioners decreased (3.9% decrease from FY 2002), 5,829 units television sets increased (7.1% increase), 2,511 units refrigerators increased (7.1% increase), and 2,614 units washing machines increased (9.0% increase), resulting to the total increase of 10,256 units (6.2% increase) (Table 3).
The ratio of units illegally dumped to the units relinquished of the four specified used home appliances (the sum of units recovered at designated collection sites and units illegally dumped) in FY 2003 is 1.66% (1.61% in FY 2002). Although the ratio of units illegally dumped to units recovered is shifting between 1-2%, just as FY 2002, but the comparison shows an increase. In this sense, it is essential to give a close look on the situation.
| Notes: | 1. | The total population of the 3,110 municipalities is approximately 126,720,000 (99% of the total population of Japan). |
| 2. | The total population of the 3,098 municipalities is approximately 126,670,000 (99% of the total population of Japan). |
2. Illegal dumping of post-consumer use personal computers
Illegal dumping of post-consumer use personal computers during the latter half of FY 2003 (October 2003 - March 2004) and comparison to the same period in FY 2002.
(i) Changes in the number of units illegally dumped
In 2,634*3 municipalities maintaining the data for the latter half of FY 2003, the figures of illegal dumping are; desk-top type 1,315 units, note-book type 368 units, CRT displays 1,324 units and liquid crystal displays 88 units. The total of these four items is 3,095 units (Table 4).
In 961 municipalities*4 having the data on the illegal dumping for the latter half of FY 2003 and of the same period of FY 2002, the comparison of the data shows the following increase; 58 units increase in desk-top type, 15 units increase in note-book type, 79 units increase in CRT displays, and 7 units increase in liquid crystal displays. The total increase is 159 units (Table 5).
| Notes: | 1. | The total population of 2,634 municipalities is 94,160,000 (73.6% of the total population of Japan). |
| 2. | The total population of 961 municipalities is 18,950,000 (14.8% of the total population of Japan). |
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