Strategy to Promote Residents’ Behaviors for Appropriate Disaster Waste Management

抄録

This paper aims to clarify appropriate disaster waste management behaviors by citizens based on an understanding of frequently experienced problems in past disaster waste management cases. We also discuss methods and strategies to promote citizens’ behaviors based on examples in disaster risk reduction fields. From our results, we have identified three problems that have often occurred in past disaster waste treatment: generation of large amounts of mixed disaster waste, creation of unauthorized temporary storage sites, and insufficient support for clean-up. In municipalities where large open spaces for temporary storage sites for disaster waste are difficult to find, residents also have to establish and operate the community’s storage sites in cooperation with other residents. To promote these behaviors among citizens, there are three key factors: preparedness by municipalities for disaster waste management, citizens’ understanding and motivation, and the existence of community networks. Based on examples of public involvement in the disaster risk reduction field, participatory training and planning involving citizens is effective at promoting their understanding and proper behaviors for disaster waste management. We propose three strategies to implement participatory methods and promote appropriate disaster waste management behavior by citizens. Firstly, seizing existing opportunities such as disaster drills would be a promising approach to communicating with residents and implementing participatory methods. Secondly, it would be important to identify citizen groups active in disaster risk reduction or waste management activities and collaborate with them. Thirdly, leveraging experience with disasters would be an effective way to promote disaster waste management because citizens’ awareness of disaster waste issues is enhanced after disasters.