Integrated solid waste management in Japan
- CSI Resource Systems, Boston, MA (United States)
The Japanese, through a combination of public policy, private market conditions, and geographic necessity, practice integrated municipal solid waste management as defined by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The Japanese have not defined a specific hierarchical preference for alternative waste management practices, i.e., waste reduction, reuse and recycling, combustion, composting, and landfill disposal. However, in marked contrast to the US approach, the Japanese system relies heavily on waste combustion, with and without energy recovery. {open_quotes}Discards{close_quotes}, as the term is used in this paper, refers to all materials considered used and spent by residential and commercial generators. That which is discarded (whether recyclable or nonrecyclable) by a municipality is referred to as MSW. This paper provides an overview of MSW management practices and private-sector recycling in Japan. Estimates of the total generation of residential and commercial discards and their disposition are also presented. Such an overview of Japanese practices can be used to assess the potential effectiveness of US integrated solid waste management programs. Of the estimated 61.3 to 72.1 million tons of residential and commercial discards generated in Japan during its 1989 fiscal year (April 1, 1989, through March 31, 1990), an estimated 55 to 64 percent was incinerated; 15 to 28 percent was recycled (only 2 to 3 percent through municipal recycling activities); less than 0.1 percent was composted or used as animal feed; and 17 to 20 percent was landfilled. Including ash disposal, 26 to 30 percent, by weight, of the gross discards were landfilled.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 140308
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/CP--200-5768-Vol.1; CONF-9308106--Vol.1; ON: DE93010050
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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