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Update on MSW Management and Incineration in Japan

Update on MSW Management and Incineration in Japan. Yuichiro Hattori (GAIA) yhattori@no-burn.org GAIA Asia Regional Meeting 2012. Japan: Most incinerator-intensive country in the world. Number of MSW incinerators: 1,221 as of 2010

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Update on MSW Management and Incineration in Japan

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  1. Update on MSW Management and Incineration in Japan Yuichiro Hattori (GAIA)yhattori@no-burn.org GAIA Asia Regional Meeting 2012

  2. Japan: Most incinerator-intensive country in the world • Number of MSW incinerators: 1,221 as of 2010 • 79% of MSW is incinerated while just 1.5% is directly landfilled and 19.5% recycled

  3. Background • Rapid economic growth in 1960s- Shortage of landfills- Public health concerns • Central government’s strong policy to expand incineration- Huge subsidies- Number of incinerators reached 1,964 by 1975 • “Incineration as a precondition”- Few opposition movements beyond nimbyism- Concern for “not having incineration”

  4. Problem1: Inefficiency of MSW incinerators in Japan • Vast majority are extremely small- Average capacity: 152 tons per day (2010)- Only less than half are larger than 100 tons per day- 22% are smaller than 30 tons per day

  5. Thus, not many of them can generate power- Only 25% generate power (whether or not the power generated is enough to cover the operation of the plant)- 35% have no thermal recovery at all- 64% (including those generating power) have heat utilization for district heating

  6. Problem2: Unbelievably high costs of MSW management in Japan • Stringent emissions standards largely respected- Bag filter requirement in 2001- Sanitary landfills and vitrification (ash-melting) technology for the hazardous ash • Average MSW management cost: USD493 per ton of waste (including incineration, landfill, collection and recycling / given USD1 = JPY80) • Average per-capita MSW management cost: USD180 per year (including incineration, landfill, collection and recycling / given USD1 = JPY80) • Average construction cost of an incinerator: USD525,000-650,000 per ton (depending on the exchange rates)

  7. Problem3: Inflexibility of the system • Dependency on incinerators is preventing the improvement of the system- Lack of funds and space left for introducing other new facilities such as biogas- No market developed for compost and other technologies than incineration- Governments and municipalities need to justify the huge amount of money that has been spent on the incinerators historically • It’s hard to change the system once established

  8. Summary – MSW in Japan • Small and rather inefficient incinerators • Stringent emissions standards resulting in costly management • Inflexible system • Big problems remain despite the relatively well-managed system • It is inappropriate to treat Japan as a successful model for promoting incineration

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