198
M. Kohno and M. Hirao
13.4 Analysis of Legal Systems
13.4.1 Scope
We analyse the regulations covering final disposal in Japan, the US and EU because
these countries are the main target of chemSHERPA. We focus primarily on landfill, as in most countries, landfill is a final step in a hierarchical approach to waste
management, where waste should first be reduced, then reused, then recycled, and
incinerated with energy recovery and—only if nothing else works—put in a landfill.
We begin with Japan, followed by an analysis of the other countries compared with
Japan because it may be impossible to interpret three legal systems in a completely
integrated way due to major differences in their structure.
13.4.2 Japan
In Japan, the classification of waste as industrial or municipal is the first step for
waste management. In this paper, we refer only to industrial waste because our focal
point is B-to-B information flow. Following the classification of waste as industrial
or not, we distinguish hazardous waste called “specially controlled industrial waste”
from non-hazardous waste.
At the landfill stage, we can find a similar classification of hazard as in waste classification, and some hazardous waste may not be discarded in disposal sites, unless
the sites are isolated. This type of hazardous waste almost always in the form of ash
or dust, because in many cases in Japan, incineration precedes dumping in a landfill
to reduce the volume of waste. The landfill criteria for these forms of hazardous waste
allow eight hazardous substances and stipulate their threshold concentrations. The
eight substances are shown below (Table 13.2) (excluding sludge). Waste containing
one or more of these substances with concentrations above the threshold must be
discarded only at isolated landfill sites.
Table 13.2 Substances in the
landfill criteria (Japan)
1
Alkyl mercury or mercury and compounds
2
Cd and compounds
3
Pb and compounds
4
Cr 6+ and compounds
5
As and compounds
6
Se and compounds
7
1,4-dioxane
8
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds
M. Kohno and M. Hirao
13.4 Analysis of Legal Systems
13.4.1 Scope
We analyse the regulations covering final disposal in Japan, the US and EU because
these countries are the main target of chemSHERPA. We focus primarily on landfill, as in most countries, landfill is a final step in a hierarchical approach to waste
management, where waste should first be reduced, then reused, then recycled, and
incinerated with energy recovery and—only if nothing else works—put in a landfill.
We begin with Japan, followed by an analysis of the other countries compared with
Japan because it may be impossible to interpret three legal systems in a completely
integrated way due to major differences in their structure.
13.4.2 Japan
In Japan, the classification of waste as industrial or municipal is the first step for
waste management. In this paper, we refer only to industrial waste because our focal
point is B-to-B information flow. Following the classification of waste as industrial
or not, we distinguish hazardous waste called “specially controlled industrial waste”
from non-hazardous waste.
At the landfill stage, we can find a similar classification of hazard as in waste classification, and some hazardous waste may not be discarded in disposal sites, unless
the sites are isolated. This type of hazardous waste almost always in the form of ash
or dust, because in many cases in Japan, incineration precedes dumping in a landfill
to reduce the volume of waste. The landfill criteria for these forms of hazardous waste
allow eight hazardous substances and stipulate their threshold concentrations. The
eight substances are shown below (Table 13.2) (excluding sludge). Waste containing
one or more of these substances with concentrations above the threshold must be
discarded only at isolated landfill sites.
Table 13.2 Substances in the
landfill criteria (Japan)
1
Alkyl mercury or mercury and compounds
2
Cd and compounds
3
Pb and compounds
4
Cr 6+ and compounds
5
As and compounds
6
Se and compounds
7
1,4-dioxane
8
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds