Abstract
This paper looks at several possible directions guiding disaster waste treatment systems for massive-scale earthquakes and other disasters, such as the Tokyo and Nankai Trough earthquakes, which are being predicted for the future and which are expected to include even more extensive damages than those seen in the Kobe Earthquake of 1995 or the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake of 2011. Disaster waste, which can often have important personal value to victims, must be handled separately from daily refuse. Managing disaster wastes is an important issue, especially in the first stage of disposal before it is permanently taken out of the damaged area. From lessons learned during the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, it is crucial that each local government prepares its own Waste BCP, which is Business Continuity Plan with regard to waste treatment. Such plans have to be developed based on damage estimations from local government functions and facilities, with the most effective approach being creation of a support team comprised of local governments from prefecture and municipalities such as city, town and village. However, the very most important element is the establishment of a nation-wide coordination system. This would function not only between the 8 regional blocks of local environmental management branches but also between all 47 prefectures, putting in place a totally effective give-and-take for support systems.
