UNEP Report - Industrial Waste Management Lessons from Japan

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has published a report detailing the lessons which can be learned from Japan's experiences in overcoming vast industrial waste challenges since the 1960s. According to the report, in 1960s Japan, vast amounts of industrial and hazardous wastes, illegal dumping, air pollution and water contamination resulted in environmental and public health crises. The authors cited the well-known example of mercury contamination in the city of Minamata, where large numbers of people became seriously ill after eating contaminated seafood from Minamata Bay. However, the reported noted that much has changed since then. Today, Japanese cities such as Kawasaki and Kitakyushu, once heavily polluted by industry, are said to enjoy better air quality and suffer less pollution. Minamata meanwhile has remodelled itself as an eco-city, receiving international recognition for its wide range of recycling and environmental programmes. The report, The Japanese industrial waste experience: Lessons for rapidly industrialising countries, analysed the Japanese case and highlighted the potential relevance of the country's experience for sustainable development in rapidly industrialising countries. It finds that some of the approaches applied in Japan have already been echoed around the world. Recommendations According to the report, Japan’s experience shows that a mix of policies and initiatives helped it turn challenges into opportunities. Regulations to hold waste generators responsible, voluntary measures for industries, market-based instruments to subsidise city-level action, and awareness-raising programmes were all found to be part of the mix that helped change attitudes and practices in industrial waste management. However, the main lesson learned in dealing with industrial waste can be drawn from the shift from end-of-pipe focused policies to preventive approaches and the introduction of the concept of reducing, reusing and recycling (3Rs). The report claimed that the Japanese experience shows the measures needed to recover from pollution include not only environmental recovery, but also medical care and compensation for harm inflicted on people's health. In light of the highly diversified types of industrial waste, Japan devised policies to hold industries responsible for waste treatment and disposal. Putting the private sector in charge of waste treatment and disposal has, over the years, created an established market and fostered waste businesses. According to Achim Steiner, UN under secretary general and executive director of UNEP, the results were soon apparent. Between 1990 and 2010, landfill of industrial waste decreased by 84%, while the resource productivity rate between 2000 and 2010 increased by 51%. “The Japanese experience will be useful to rapidly industrialising countries, which now have an unparalleled opportunity to leapfrog unsustainable paths of industrial development, and in so doing, to provide models that other countries can follow,” he said. Stakeholder involvement Another major lesson that the report said can be learned from Japan's experience is that stimulating stakeholder involvement and raising environmental awareness is critical. Market-based instruments were said to have facilitated action by local communities in Japan to create integrated industrial waste management approaches at the city-level under the so-called eco-towns project, a government programme that was initiated in 1997. By sharing Japan's experiences and lessons learned, the report aims to expand the policy options available to decision-makers in rapidly industrializing countries. Indeed, with many developing countries currently experiencing rapid industrial growth, finding solutions to industrial waste challenges is critical. Moreover, with a unique insight into the history of other nations, today's developing countries now have an unparalleled opportunity to leapfrog unsustainable paths of industrial development, and in so doing, to provide models that other countries can follow. For more information visit the UNEP International Environment Technology Centre Read More UNEP Calls for Metal Recycling Rethink The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has called for a rethink of recycling practices following the publication of two reports which found that rising global demand for metals could see needs rise by almost ten times current levels. 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