Mass production and mass consumption characterizing our society in the late twentieth century is often blamed for its negative legacy
of mass disposal. One solution to this problem is promoting the establishment of a "sound material-cycle society." Warnings about
waste problems began not long ago in about 1980. In Japan, countermeasures against the mechanism of waste generation which is
attributable to the structure of industrial society and consuming society were officially built into the system with the Waste Management
and Public Cleansing Law amended in 1991. This amendatory law added conceptions of "reduction of waste generation" and
"recycling" to the conventional waste policies based on "stabilization, minimization, and energy utilization," and given higher priority
on those conceptions. Later on, the Basic Environment Law was enacted (1993), and an environmentally sound material cycle,
harmonious coexistence, participation and international activities were worked out as the basic principles of the Basic Environmental Plan
determined under the basic law. In 2000, the Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society came into effect as a basic law base
on the sound material cycle principle. This law determined that "the following subjects should be prioritized in the following order: reduction
of waste generation, reuse, material recovery, heat recovery, and appropriate disposal." This law can be understood as Japan's constitution
in terms of establishing a sound material-cycle society. In order to achieve the aims of this legislation, many technological, institutional
and systemic issues need to be tackled.
Against such a background, the Basic Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society
was developed under the pertaining Basic Law during the period of the first five-year plan of the National Institute for Environmental
Studies (2001-2005). In addition, institutional improvements were achieved during the same period including the enforcement of
the amended Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law and various recycling promotion laws. However, a need to enhance waste
reduction, etc. is still growing with similar volumes of waste generation registered for the last several years, although declines in final
disposal volume are being observed for both municipal and industrial waste.
The Research Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management (hereinafter, the Center) has promoted its research activities in a bid
to set in society desirable material cycles, in which utilization of natural resources as well as generation of waste are reduced, recycling
of materials is established, and appropriate waste management is ensured with care to preserve the environment since its foundation
in April 2001. The Center has also proposed proper ways in terms of sound material cycles and waste management practices in a sound
material-cycle society (see the achievements made during the first five-year plan period).
The Center considers that its basic roles will not change for the period covered by its second five-year plan (2006-1010). It will promote
research activities to realize a socio-economic system based on sustainable cycles by lowering environmental loads through improvement of
resource and energy utilization efficiency and the establishment of sound material cycles, wherever possible, in the entire steps of socioeconomic
activity including resource extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Since the materialization of a sound
material-cycle society as contemplated here is an issue of importance not only to Japan, but also to international society, it will also promote
research activities with the construction of an international research network in mind.
On the basis of research achievements made to date, the Center will promote research to realize a low-environmental-load society in
the near future, placing more emphasis on the "Establishment of a sound material-cycle society."
This section provides outlines of the major achievements made in research completed during the first five-year plan period ending 2005.
- Major achievements made during the first five-year plan period
Five-year plan: A medium-term plan on which the operation of an independent administrative institution is based.
In the case of the National Institute for Environmental Studies, such a plan is formulated as a five-year
plan to achieve "medium-term objectives" determined by the Minister for the Environment.
