From proper waste disposal to a circular economy

Zeroboard Research Institute Consultant Akihisa Fukai

When I was a child, I often saw cars and home appliances being illegally dumped. Now in the 2020s, we hear the term "circular economy." How has the concept of waste disposal changed over the past half century?

After World War II, with the development of Industry, large amounts of waste began to be generated in various regions, and proper disposal of this waste became a major social issue. Since the 1970s, illegal waste dumping has become a common problem, resulting in large-scale illegal dumping incidents. In the case of the Teshima incident, which I heard about during a previous visit, local residents sued the national government, and over 50 billion yen in tax money was spent on restoring the local environment over a period of more than 20 years, causing significant damage to the country. This led to the establishment of the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Act, which requires businesses to properly dispose of waste. This strict management significantly reduced illegal dumping. However, at this stage, the primary Issue was the proper collection and disposal of waste, and Japan was forced to rely on incineration and landfill disposal of collected waste, resulting in a linear economy of "mass production, mass consumption, mass disposal."

Source: Pollution Museum Network, Teshima Heart Museum, Waste^(*1)
Above photo) On-site photo of the Teshima incident, December 1990

Source: Pollution Museum Network, Teshima Heart Museum, Waste^(*1)
Site photo of groundwater purification after waste removal, April 2021
    

The creation of a recycling-oriented society began to attract attention as a way to address the serious environmental problems that emerged in the 1990s. In particular, concerns about the depletion of natural resources and a lack of final waste disposal sites were major Issue. To address these issues, the Basic Act for Promoting the Creation of a Recycling-Based Society was enacted in 2000. (*2) At the core of this law is the 3R principle: Reduce (reducing waste generation), Reuse (reusing), and Recycle (recycling).

With the enactment of this law, emphasis has been placed on resource circulation throughout a product's entire life cycle. From the product design stage, consideration has been given to improving durability to enable long-term use, ease of repair, the use of reusable parts, and the selection of materials that are easy to recycle. As a result, demand for recycled products has increased and recycling technology has advanced. The recycling market has expanded, with recycling-related Industry growing.

Corporate initiatives are also evolving. Many companies have begun to conduct LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), evaluating the environmental impact of a product from the procurement of raw materials to its disposal, and using this information to develop products with less environmental impact. They are also focusing on reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions throughout the product's life cycle, and are working to improve Energy efficiency and expand the use of renewable Energy.

In this context, the idea of "circular economy" has gradually spread, especially in Europe. The circular economy aims to create a sustainable economic system that creates resource circulation through business models such as sharing, reuse, rebuilding, and refurbishing, and generates as little waste as possible. The improvement of resource efficiency through the circular economy is also expected to contribute to carbon neutrality.

To achieve a circular economy, it is necessary to transform the entire socio-economic system, from product design to Manufacturing and business models. The ultimate goal is to go beyond mere proper disposal and resource circulation and to completely eliminate waste generation. ^(*3)

As the international standardization of the circular economy progresses, Japan established a domestic committee in 2018, centered around the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC). ^(*3) Utilizing its strengths, such as advanced resource recycling technology, the committee actively contributes to discussions at ISO/TC 323, while also working to harmonize international and domestic standards by taking inspiration from the efforts of leading companies. Furthermore, with an eye toward the issuance of major standards around 2025, the committee is taking on the challenge of building a global model that aims to achieve both reduced environmental impact and economic growth by working to support small and medium-sized enterprises, develop human resources, and establish evaluation systems.

In this way, waste management has evolved in line with the needs of the times, leading to the creation of a more advanced circular system. Circular economy is an important approach to building a sustainable future. It has many advantages, including environmental protection, efficient use of resources, economic benefits, and social benefits, and we are called upon to actively participate in this new economic model.

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＜Reference source＞

*1) Pollution Museum Network Teshima Heart Museum:
https://kougai.info/archives/887 

*2) Ministry of the Environment, History and Current Status of Waste Disposal in Japan:
https://www.env.go.jp/recycle/circul/venous_industry/ja/history.pdf

*3) ISO/TC 323 Japan National Committee Secretariat ISO/TC 323 Circular Economy activity Introduction: https://www.jemai.or.jp/standard/d3ldbs0000000bvi-att/ISOTC323report202404.pdf