The 2011 off Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster devastated the coastline of the Tohoku region, generating an enormous amount of disaster debris. In the aftermath, it was necessary for disaster debris management to estimate the amount of debris generated since the emergency response phase. The purpose of this study was to estimate the actual amount of disaster debris generated by the tsunami, which was done by calculating the number of households damaged by tsunami inundation using the computation results of aftermath tsunami inundation. Total tsunami debris amounts in the stricken areas were estimated by multiplying the per unit generation debris taking damage to housing into consideration, and the calculated number of damaged households. As a result, the total amount of tsunami debris along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region was estimated to be 27.1 million tons. In order to recover environmental human security for those residing in the aftermath, the establishment of tsunami debris management that can operate strategy planning and policy making is crucial.

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Following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in eastern Japan, a Task team for Disaster Waste Management and Reconstruction was established within the Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management (JSMCWM). One of the major jobs undertaken by the task team during fieldwork and upon return was to create a manual entitled, Strategies for Separation and Treatment of Disaster Waste (JSMCWM manual). The objective of this paper was to review existing manuals and introduce an outline for the JSMCWM manual in order to facilitate developments in this field for the future.
Overseas, U.S. guides for debris management are rather substantial and the information is systematized. The international organization UNEP/OCHA has also published guidelines that briefly list up points of importance. However, with regard to international information-sharing among Asian countries, we found a need to further examine the networks and make available a wider range of choices, etc. to make improvements.
One of the major characteristics of the JSMCWM manual is that it emphasizes the concept that even disaster waste is recyclable. The recyclable items must be listed up to promote reuse and recycling wherever possible. The manual offers different modes of separation and options for reuse and recycling. However, more information is needed so better management plans can be developed long before a disaster strikes.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the problems of human waste and sewage disposal in Ishinomaki City of Miyagi Prefecture following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. In this paper, the challenges that arose concerning raw sewage and the disposal of human waste are reported, as well as how those challenges were dealt with and what kinds of problems are yet to be addressed.
Before the earthquake, Ishinomaki City was a fishing town with a population of approximately 160000, it suffered the greatest damage of all Japan′s disaster stricken areas. Of the two sewage treatment plants in Ishinomaki City (not including any rural and fishing community sewage facilities), Ishinomaki Tobu Sewage Disposal Plant, located on the coast, suffered critical damage. Moreover, access to toilets and sewage treatment became a grave problem as about 37000 people sought refuge in schools and community centers in Ishinomaki City just after the earthquake and tsunami hit.
This paper first describes the situation regarding sewage treatment before and after the earthquake in Ishinomaki City. Secondly, the paper reports on the response by Ishinomaki City, along with access and usage of toilets at evacuation centers. Finally, some of the problems that arose due to the way in which sewage treatment was handled in Ishinomaki City, and a possible path to restoration, are also discussed.

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Many discussions at both the national and local government level followed the Great East Japan Earthquake with regard to what measures needed to be taken to address the huge amounts of disaster waste left behind. What was mutually agreed upon was that the removal and treatment of disaster waste would need to become an important mission, and the first step towards reconstruction. The Japan Society of Material Cycles and Waste Management′s Taskforce on Disaster Waste Management and Reconstruction compiled a manual for disaster waste treatment. The Manual shares information and reflects on the advanced example of Sendai in order to initiate the disaster waste treatment process promptly and in cooperation with the city of Sendai.
This report summarizes the progress made in Sendai with a focus on recycling of the disaster waste. It highlights areas such as debris collection and transport systems, storage, recycling, incineration, and general managements, etc.

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Iwate Prefectural Government has drawn up a management plan for the treatment of 4350000 tons of disaster waste generated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The plan was drafted following an investigation into the distribution of chlorine and radioactive substances in the incineration process for the treatment of disaster waste. The accumulated disaster waste currently being kept at several temporary storage sites will first be treated at sorting facilities set up in six locations along the coastal area. The waste will mainly be disposed of at Taiheiyo Cement Corporation′s Ofunato′s Factory, incinerators operated by local governments, a temporary incinerator, as well as private waste disposal and treatment facilities. In addition, due to the fact that Iwate Prefecture does not have the capacity to treat all the waste locally, disposal in other prefectures will also be required.
The Ofunato Factory of Taiheiyo Cement Corporation will begin treating the waste in a cement kiln from last December, all new sorting facilities will begin operations from December, and processing of disaster waste at the inland local government incinerators in Iwate Prefecture and the temporary incinerator will be in operation by March, 2012.
Tokyo is the only local government that has decided to accept waste from the disaster now. We hope the number of other local governments that agree to accept the disaster waste will increase upon understanding that processing disaster waste generated from the tsunami is not all that different from processing usual types of waste.

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Extensive damage took place as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 1, 2011. In wake of the earthquake, enormous amounts of tsunami debris were left behind and a great portion of this disaster waste had to be removed without using separation strategies. In this paper, the authors report on the current status of this situation and present future tasks relating to asbestos emission prevention in the disaster stricken area, throughout our contribution to the development of Disaster Waste Separation and Disposal Strategy Manual and our field survey. This Manual addresses the importance of removing and separating asbestos from the general disaster waste load, at least to the extent possible. The Manual addresses other types of emissions and how to prevent exposure to asbestos as well. From the limited surveys conducted, it was found that spray-on asbestos was less of a problem ; large amounts of broken asbestos board could be identified but in many cases it is difficult to recognize that asbestos is contained within. Prompt qualitative analysis with Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) proved to be very useful for on-site asbestos identification. Official approval of this method is being advised, at least for emergency cases. With regard to the demolition of buildings, further emission prevention of asbestos along with a combination of prompt analysis and mapping may be promising techniques for prior surveying of the demolition area.

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The large amount of tsunami deposit generated in the Great East Japan Earthquake remains an acute obstacle to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the devastated coastal area in northeastern Japan. Since the tsunami deposit may contain hazardous substances leaked from damaged facilities, its chemical composition needs to be evaluated before putting it back into use (as material) or disposing of it. This article discusses the chemical composition of tsunami deposit from the viewpoint of land use and location of facilities in the flooded areas and explored the possibility of zoning areas by the level of potential pollution of tsunami deposit. As a result, all tsunami deposit samples containing high level of hazardous substances were sampled near facilities that are related to the particular detected substances. This suggests that it may be possible to zone off the flooded area based on the information regarding land use and location of facilities in the areas. Based on this discussion, a flow for this zoning process was proposed. Toward better zoning, it will be important to create a comprehensive list of facilities that can be sources of hazardous substances as well as to organize information on the stockpile of hazardous substances at each facility.

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