Framework for estimating potential wastes and secondary resources accumulated within an economy – A case study of construction minerals in Japan

Material stocks in economic society are considered to represent a reserve for wastes and secondary resources. From the viewpoints of proper disposal and reutilization of stocked materials, accurate estimation of the amount of materials that will emerge as wastes or secondary resources in the future is important. We defined materials that have a high probability of emerging as wastes or secondary resources as “potential wastes and secondary resources” and estimated that amount for construction minerals in Japan as a case study. The following conclusions were drawn. (1) We classified materials that are input into economic society into four categories: potential wastes and secondary resources, potential dissipated materials, dissipatively used materials, and permanent structures. By clarifying the latter three non-potential wastes and secondary resources, we performed a more accurate assessment of the wastes and secondary resources that will emerge in the future. (2) The share of potential wastes and secondary resources was estimated to be about 30% of all construction minerals that have been input into and accumulated in Japanese economic society. (3) Information related to potential dissipated materials and dissipatively used materials will provide fundamental knowledge to support analyses of the environmental impacts and resource losses which these materials might generate.     

Isomer-specific analysis of chlorinated biphenyls,naphthalenes and dibenzofurans in Delor: polychlorinated biphenyl preparations from the former Czechoslovakia

Technical polychlorinated byphenyl (PCB) preparations--Delors 103, 104, 105, and 106--produced in the former Czechoslovakia were analyzed for their chlorobiphenyl (CB), chloronaphthalene (PCN) and chlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) composition and content using high resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques. The congener patterns of Delors 103, 104, 105, and 106 resembled Aroclors 1242, 1248, 1254, and 1260. Delors contained PCNs and PCDFs, as impurities, at microgram per gram concentrations. Concentrations of PCNs and PCDFs in Delors were greater than those found in the corresponding Aroclors. The potential for the emissions of PCNs and PCDFs from Delor was estimated to be 3680 and 860 kg, respectively. Non- and mono-ortho PCBs were the major contributors to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) equivalents in Delor mixtures.     

Dioxin-like compounds in pine needles around Tokyo Bay, Japan in 1999

Pine needle samples collected at ten spatially distant sites around Tokyo Bay in 1999 indicated a widespread lower troposphere pollution with ultra-trace dioxin-like compounds such as chlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), -furans (PCDFs), non-ortho- and mono-ortho-chlorobiphenyls (pPCBs), and -naphthalenes (PCNs). Elevated concentration of planar PCBs and the total PCNs were found at the sites which are located innermost to the Bay, suggesting the regional importance of the evaporative nature of the source of pollution by those compounds over this vast area. The concentrations and profiles for PCDDs and PCDFs remained largely uniform. An exception was the site near the town of Tateyama in the Chiba Prefecture, which is the southernmost but also relatively separate from the inner Bay. The site near Tateyama showed somehow background contamination with all compound groups and highly different profiles of PCNs. The principal component analysis (PCA) of the data matrix has revealed that around the Tokyo Bay, apart from the evaporative emission sources for PCNs and PCBs, combustion related processes also play an important role as sources of the ambient air contamination not only with PCDDs/Fs but also with chloronaphthalenes and planar chlorobiphenyls.     

Material flow indicators to measure progress toward a sound material-cycle society

This article reviews recent progress in material flow analysis and its use in providing resource productivity indicators and is based on developments in Japanese policy toward a sound material-cycle society and in international forums such as within the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, covering both institutional and methodological issues. Indicators derived from economy-wide material flow accounts such as direct material inputs are useful to demonstrate the absolute size of a physical economy and to reinforce the need to both reduce consumption of natural resources and limit waste generation. Interpretation of material flows as resources and potential environmental impacts is discussed, and linkages between the size of material flows and specific environmental impacts and damage must be further elaborated for use in environmental policy. Lessons learned from the practical use of resource productivity indicators are also discussed. Additional indicators are needed that can be used to evaluate the performance of microeconomic contributors. The need for an integrated approach that links upstream resource issues and downstream waste issues through the 3Rs concept or the circular economy/society concept is attracting increasing attention. Consequently, the accumulation of reliable scientific knowledge and data in this field in a fully international context is essential.     

Why do municipalities accept disaster waste? Evidence from the great east Japan earthquake

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - Municipalities’ cooperation is critical for successful policy interventions for disaster recovery. Using a spatial econometric model, we...     

Economic growth and trends of municipal waste treatment options in Asian countries

Many developing Asian countries are rapidly expanding their economies. Economic growth affects waste management policy development. Statistical analyses applied to Japan, Korea, and China indicate a positive correlation between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and incineration rate. However, they show a negative correlation between GDP per capita and composting rate in Japan and China, and a positive correlation in Korea. Historical prefectural/provincial data indicate that in Japan and in China, although the incineration rate in a specific year differs due to regional conditions, the rate has increased in parallel with economic growth. An analytic hierarchy process was conducted with experts and government officials from Southeast and East Asian countries. The results statistically confirm the trend correlated with economic growth, which was suggested by previous studies and mentioned by experts based on their experience. For instance, social acceptance was important in upper middle-income countries (USD 4,036–12,475). These results support the possibility that economic growth affects the selection of waste treatment options.     

Estimation of 1999-2004 dietary daily intake of PCDDs, PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs by a total diet study in metropolitan Tokyo, Japan

A study of the dietary intake of dioxins, consisting of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs) through foods retailed in the metropolitan Tokyo area from 1999 to 2004 was carried out by the total diet-market basket method on the basis of food classification (14 groups) and the data on food consumption in the Tokyo region obtained from the Japan Nutrition Survey. The daily intake of dioxins per kg of body weight for a 50 kg average adult body was 2.18 pg TEQ/kg/day in 1999, 1.87 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2000, 1.25 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2001, 1.60 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2002 and 2003 and 1.55 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2004, respectively. These amounts were less than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 4 pg TEQ/kg/day for dioxins established in Japan. The dioxins taken daily through fish and shellfish (group 10) accounted for more than 50% of sum WHO-TEQs. In addition, more than 90% of the daily intake of dioxins was taken through fish and shellfish (group 10), meat and eggs (group 11), milk and dairy products (group 12). Also, this study clearly showed that the ratio of dioxin-like PCBs in the daily intake of dioxins was increasing yearly because the reduction rate of dioxin-like PCBs was lower than that of PCDDs and PCDFs in foods.     

Material cycles in Asia: especially the recycling loop between Japan and China

In this article, we clarify the current status of Japanese exports and Chinese imports of secondary resources. A total of around 10 million metric tons (t) of secondary resources are exported annually from Japan to China, Hong Kong, and Korea. Hong Kong plays the role of a transshipment point, especially regarding the trade in plastic waste, and China imports much from the USA and Japan, often through Hong Kong. The secondary resources exported from Japan include both byproducts from manufacturing processes and end-of-life products or materials. The great demand in China, and the difference in prices between countries, drive this transboundary shipment, although Japan has enacted various recycling laws that were implicitly intended to promote domestic recycling. In China, the imported secondary resources are recycled, usually by means of primitive and low-cost hand labor. The greatest concern is whether there are still improper (illegal or polluting) recycling activities in China. International material cycles should prevent environmental pollution and ensure efficient resource utilization. To that end, the following measures are needed: cooperative control of the trade of secondary resources between countries, the alignment of domestic laws with the regulations in other countries based on the actual trade activities, and the realization of sound practices for global resources management.     

Where will large amounts of materials accumulated within the economy go? – A material flow analysis of construction minerals for Japan

For all countries analyzed so far, Material Flow Analysis/Accounting (MFA) studies indicate that the overall stock of materials within the economy is growing. Most are construction minerals such as asphalt, cement, sand and gravel, crushed stone, and other aggregates. In the analyses described in this paper, flows and stocks of construction minerals were estimated for Japan from the past to the future to elucidate: (1) the mechanisms by which construction minerals become waste, and (2) the future supply of and demand for recycled crushed stone. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) The amounts of waste construction minerals generated have been and will be at much lower levels than the domestic demand for construction minerals. These differences might indicate consistent growth of the stock of construction minerals, which will become waste in the future. However, certain amounts of materials that we account for as stock can be interpreted already in the environment as dead stock or dissipated waste; such materials can be called "missing stock" or "dissipated stock". Capturing that missing or dissipated stock is very important because it provides information that clarifies the environmental impacts and loss of resources that these materials cause; it allows estimation of appropriate future waste generation. (2) The amount of construction minerals that are recognized as waste was estimated to increase in the future. An imbalance in the supply of and demand for recycled crushed stone will likely occur in the near future if an expected decline in future road construction is considered.