Despite its significance, Disaster Waste Management (DWM) has rarely been studied from the viewpoint of the institutions involved in it. This paper aims to clarify the impact of institutions on DWM by analyzing the case of the Great East Japan Earthquake. For this, firstly, institutional arrangements made after the disaster were reviewed and categorized to reveal its characteristics. Their impact on the actual DWM process and outcome in three selected devastated municipalities were then analyzed, using a modified version of the policy implementation process model originally developed by Mazmanian and Sabatier.
Results showed that while some of the institutions were related directly to the DWM process or the public management aspects of DWM, others affected the DWM process via its effect on public management. In particular, the analysis clarified that partial simplification of the permission processes for waste facility installation and the requirements for waste disposal procedures enhanced quick DWM, especially when additional measures for simplifying were taken up by municipalities. It was also suggested that the adverse effects on DWM, derived from some of the institutional arrangements, could be mitigated by accelerating their issuance and enhancing the capacity of municipalities to deal with the additional administrative burden.

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An experiment on drying and dechlorinating refuse derived fuel (RDF) using superheated steam was carried out and compared with a simple heat and mass transfer model in order to examine the behavior of organic chlorine thermal decomposition in municipal solid waste (MSW). The heat transfer and drying model consists of three parts : a steam condensation period, a constant rate drying period and a decreasing drying period. Either the water content or the temperature of the sample was predicted successfully using the other experimental value. Sample temperatures reached almost the same temperature as 473K superheated steam after about 30 min at the 473K superheated steam temperature, or about 15 min at a 523K temperature. The rate of water content decrease accelerated with the increase in superheated steam temperature. The developed drying model enabled us to predict time-dependent changes in the sample temperature or in the sample water content.
About 90% of the organic chlorine was decomposed in about 60 min in 523K superheated steam. The lower heating value decreased with the decrease in the dry yield, because decomposition of the sample resulted in decreases in carbon and hydrogen along with chlorine.

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Steel slag produced by fluoric dissolution trends was examined in this study according to pH and temperature changes of the solvent. Steel slag dissolution amounts depending on grain size were examined under identical conditions. Results of dissolution test, it was suggested that the solvent pH affected the fluorine dissolution amount. Small grain sample showed the difference between estimated and measured data increased. The differences in grain sizes of 0-45 μm, became 100-1000 times on dissolution concentration. Compared with uniformity estimated and the measured data, sample sizes of 1.625-2 mm and 0.425-0.5 mm showed 0.1-10 times difference for each element. Sample sizes of 0-45 μm showed dissolution rates became 1/1000-1/10000 by produced gels. Results imply that the 0-45 μm sample size did not contribute to the dissolution amount, and suggest that 1%-0.1% of surface components are affected by the steel slag dissolution.

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The purpose of this paper is to present results of the analysis of special risk-communication cases on disaster waste. The Great East Japan Earthquake resulted in a huge amount of waste material, which is suspected to include radioactive contamination. This is scheduled to be processed outside prefectural borders. The city of Kitakyushu showed its solidarity by accepting a portion of this debris. The local government attempted risk-communication to reach a consensus among local citizens. At city-level and ward-level meetings, city officials informed Kitakyushu citizens of the factors involved in procurement of the debris. Results of a questionnaire given to citizens are shown on the website for the city of Kitakyushu.
This paper presents an analysis of the responses elicited by a text mining software called “KH Coder”. It also gives results of the analysis, revealing that city-level meetings and ward-level meetings differ from each other. Some possible reasons for such deviations are indicated: There was a non-Kitakyushu citizen participation level as high as 35% at the city-level meeting. The ward-level meeting shows greater understanding as compared to the city-level meeting, and results ran contrary to what is usually expected from the “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) .

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It was recently noticed that regions of Mongolia are in need of comprehensive 3R waste action programs that include not appropriate waste treatment system set-up, but also incentives for getting people to reduce their total waste output. The aim of this study, which was conducted in Hatgal, Khuysgul in northern Mongolia, was to clarify the relationship between environmental awareness and lifestyle through factors such as measurable numbers, household consumption and rate of waste generation. The investigation was carried out between the years 2007 and 2009. Our results showed that were large differences in household consumption and waste generation depending on the season (summer or winter) and also the size of a household. Results for the investigation on environmental awareness show gaps between awareness and daily living with regard to how public information is put to use. People with a high level of eco-awareness do not necessarily implement the concepts in their lifestyle and activities. Kitchen garbage was seen to be the largest waste element coming out of most homes.
To establish a sustainable waste management system, the knowledge and skill levels must be raised along with the introduction of concrete environmental campaigns and activities. For example, people will need to learn how to recycle their own kitchen garbage and wood scraps. Once the level of awareness is raised among the public, the ability to manage environmental systems will also be strengthened. In addition, more overall communication is necessary, especially with young homeowners who are more open to such ideas.

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In an environmental economic analysis of the largest biogas plant in Japan, a number of matters were clarified through the quantitative assessment of the plant′s investment effects and environmental functions. Income earned from waste processing remains as important as revenue from electricity sales even after the introduction of a feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme significantly boosted the latter. This confirms that the plant successfully performs the two functions of treating organic waste and utilizing renewable energy. However, the initial investment has not been fully recouped even though electricity is purchased under the FIT scheme. One reason for this is insufficient income from the heat generated, and another is that the public welfare functions of the environmental measures have not been assessed economically. In terms of contribution to the local economy, attention should be paid not only to jobs at the plant but also to the facility′s role as a basis for the survival of agriculture and other local industries. Considering these points, support for the biogas plant via the FIT scheme and agricultural subsidies can be seen as economically useful and necessary.

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Neither the sedimentation characteristics of waste disposed of as landfill used to create reclaimed land in a sea area nor the elution characteristics of pollutants eluted from the accumulated waste layers have been made clear. We conducted a survey on the sedimentation and deposition of bottom ashes dumped in seawater and the change in water quality, with a focus on bottom ashes from nonindustrial waste. We learned that dumped bottom ashes form solid deposits through “free settling,” “flocking settling,” “interfacial settling,” and “self-weight consolidation” in that order. Fine particles generated in the sedimentation process formed flocks in seawater, and these subsequently formed the floating mud layer on the gravel layer that had settled and been deposited before this layer. Floating mud presumably has an ignition loss twice that of gravel and contains many organic substances. Eliminating the floating mud layer increases the amount of pollutants that elutes to the seawater from the gravel layer by 1.6 times. That is, the floating mud layer affects the elution of pollutants from the gravel layer to stagnant seawater, and consequently affects the stability of the disposal site. The survey results indicate that eliminating floating mud from a sea area landfill site is effective for promoting the stability of the site.

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Since the ‘Act for Recycling of Specified Kinds of Household Appliances’ was enacted in 2001, Japan consumer electronic manufacturers have had to assume responsibility for all discarded household appliances. Moreover, in expectation of a future rise in required recycled rates, it will be necessary to develop new material recycling technologies for plastics. The purity of the recycled polypropylene (PP) sorted from a mixture of residual plastics from discarded household appliances is 99.8% or higher. Moreover, the mechanical properties and heat oxidation resistance of recycled PP are similar to those of the virgin PP. Recycled PP can be applied to household appliances.
The paper presents evaluation of the mechanical properties and heat resistance properties of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and polystyrene (PS) sorted from a mixture of residual plastics. The heat oxidation resistance of recycled ABS and PS were found to be superior to these of virgin ABS and PS. The recycled ABS and PS were stable in terms of heat resistance properties in a heat deterioration test (80 °C 6800 hr). Results show that recycled ABS and PS are applicable to new home appliances.

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Bipolar membrane electrodialysis (ED) was applied for the rapid separation of lactic acid from a bacteria culture grown in a medium comprising food-processing waste derivatives supplied with highly concentrated ammonia, used as the pH regulator. Ammonium and lactic acid were separated in a single ED run from culture broth of Lactobacillus rhamnosus containing a high concentration of lactic acid (ca. 10% (w/v); reflecting industrial practice). The bipolar membrane capability for acid-base separation was maintained through repeated use of ED by washing it with dilute nitric acid after individual runs. Membrane cleaning with nitric acid also prevented back-diffusion of ammonia, which is supposed to occur when large amounts of this compound are included in the culture. The method proposed herein is expected to resolve difficulties with conventional ED fermentation, which causes co-separation of trace elements in the media that are necessary for the growth of lactic acid fermentation bacteria.

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