2012 Volume 23 Issue 6 Pages 421-428
The Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011 resulted in the generation of a huge amount of disaster waste, overwhelmingly due to the tsunami rather than ground motion. Moreover, since earlier tsunamis never caused deposits in such large amounts, Japan had no prior experience with tsunami related disaster waste handling. In March 2011, the government of Miyagi Prefecture established the Basic Policy for Disaster Waste Treatment and proceeded with recycling of the various wastes by classifying, crushing, etc. This operation was based on the Guidelines for Disaster Waste Treatment and the Execution Plan for Disaster Waste Treatment in Miyagi Prefecture. At the same time, Miyagi Prefecture announced their estimated amount of total disaster waste. What is the reason for this situation? How should disaster waste be treated? This paper discusses the issues surrounding waste and presents the current status of operations taking place, as well as to describe possible future directions. The paper also reconfirms the ground situation immediately following the earthquake in the damaged areas.
