This article introduces the activities of Japan′s Ministry of the Environment with regard to tackling issues such as transboundary movement and the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention. Japan has been contributing to a range of projects based on decisions made at past Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the Basel Convention. In particular, Japan takes the lead in implementing programmes for the prevention of illegal transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, along with the implementation of the environmentally sound management of E-waste in Asia. The main aim of the Ministry′s scheme is to enhance the capacity of Parties in Asia, assisting them in implementing their activities under the Basel Convention. Furthermore, Japan takes part in other global programmes to assist both developing countries and countries with economies in transition required by decisions made at the COPs.

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Since Japanese recycling of PET bottles is largely affected by the fluctuating prices of PET materials, a stable and more sustainable recycling system will be required. As a means to better understanding the current situation, with regard to the domestic and international material flow of waste PET bottles and waste plastic recycling in China, this paper introduces the results of a statistics analysis and site investigation in China. The paper goes on to discuss future tasks in this area. First, in analyzing the domestic material flow of waste PET bottles in Japan, it was found that the origin of only half of the export amount (400 thousand tonnes in FY2009) of waste PET from Japan was accounted for. This indicates the need for a complete review of domestic material flow. Next, based on a trade analysis of waste plastics between Japan, China and Hong Kong, the direct export of waste PET from Japan to China saw an increase of up to 300 thousand tonnes in 2009. Finally, according to our site investigation of a plastics recycling facility in China, imported waste PET was processed into flakes or pellets at one recycling facility in most cases, and then further processing for recycled products is done at a different facility. The paper recommends that effluent treatment after the washing process needs to be taken into full consideration, and that it is necessary to take a better look at the problem of residue disposal.

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Circumstances surrounding the Basel Convention have changed significantly when compared to the early 1990s, the time when the Basel Convention entered into force and the Ban Amendment was adopted. Hikes in the price of resources highlight the importance of utilizing waste as resource. In some developing countries, the number of environmentally sound hazardous waste treatment and recycling facilities have increased. This has led to difficulties in the consideration of appropriate policies for transboundary movement, based on the system for classifying countries into developing and developed. Taking into account the existence of inappropriate recyclers in some of the developing countries, parties of the Convention must now consider how to make transboundary regulations on hazardous waste more lax. This paper points out the fact there is a need for parties of the Convention to appropriately reassess restrictions in light of the current situation, and share their views on how strict trade restrictions often become an obstacle to proper recycling itself.

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Since the launch of the 3R Initiative in 2005, the Japanese government has been implementing a range of aid projects and policy dialogues for contributing to the development of waste management and 3R-policies in developing Asia. Along with such efforts, legal systems and policies related to waste management and resource circulation have also been developed for these areas. Certain issues and challenges in implementing these policies and operating institutional frameworks for waste management and the 3Rs still remain, however. This paper discusses priorities for improvement of governance regarding the 3Rs and resource circulation in developing Asia. The paper goes on to hypothesize the needs being discussed for a step-wise approach toward improving governance where the 3R concept is concerned in developing Asia. Focusing on international policy collaboration in Asia, the paper examines and proposes a possible approach for sustainable resource circulation in Asia based on an Extended Producer Responsibility-based recycling mechanism.

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Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are one of the additive flame retardants widely used in plastics, textiles, and electronic appliances including computers, televisions etc. PBDEs are of concern due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and possible adverse effects in wildlife and humans. Recently, the export of electrical and electronic equipment waste (E-waste) from developed to developing countries has become a growing environmental issue owing to concerns about improper recycling of these goods in developing countries. A survey of the available scientific literature was conducted in order to gather hard data on workplace and environmental pollution, human exposure to PBDEs and the resulting adverse effects due to primitive E-waste recycling. As a result, serious environmental pollution by toxic chemicals including PBDEs has become obvious in villages where e-waste recycling takes place. There is growing evidence that primitive E-waste recycling in developing countries in Asia leads to high PBDE body burdens in local residents and can potentially threaten human health.

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To assess the status of human contamination and exposure to brominated flame retardants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls in Vietnamese E-waste recycling sites, human breast milk, dust and air samples were collected and employed for chemical analysis. Total dioxin-like activities and dioxin-related compounds in dust samples were measured by iin vitro bioassay and chemical analysis, respectively. In human breast milk samples, significantly higher concentrations of PBDEs were found in E-waste recycling sites than those found at the urban site. A specific accumulation of PBDEs on occupational exposure was observed in workers who are involved in E-waste recycling. We estimated the daily intake of contaminants and found high intakes of PBDEs in people living in and around the E-waste recycling sites. In particular, the values for children were about two times higher than that of adults. In the dust samples, higher dioxin-like activities were observed in E-waste recycling sites than at the urban site. In addition, polybrominated dibenzofurans were detected at higher concentrations in the dust from E-waste recycling sites and showed a significant contribution to total dioxin-like activities. On the other hand, the percentage of dioxin-like activities by unknown compounds was high in the dust samples, indicating significant contributions from unidentified AhR agonists.

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