Electronic waste in Japan

In 1970, Japan began treating the waste of electronic materials differently from other materials.[1] They hired specially trained workers to dismantle and recycle the electronic material. Unfortunately, the cost of the program was too high to keep the workers employed. Instead, electronic waste was disposed of like all other waste and placed in a landfill. Waste landfills can become a problem for any country, including Japan.

Current laws

Two laws have come in effect in Japan to alleviate the landfill and electronic waste problems. The first law was most recently revised in 2001, called the Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources (LPUR).[2] This law encourages manufacturers to voluntarily help recycle goods and reduce the generation of the waste. The second law became effective on April 1, 2009, called the Law for the Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances (LRHA).[3] This law imposes more requirements on the recycling efforts of both consumers and manufacturers of home appliances. In October, 2003, taxes were imposed on any computer purchased after that date. If a computer was purchased before that date, those wanting to recycle their computer would pay a nominal fee to keep up with recycling costs.

Recycling process

The utilization of electronic waste resources is around 50% currently and is growing. The LRHA states that consumers are responsible for the cost of recycling most home appliances. This includes transportation costs and recycling fees. The consumers pay the retailers to pick up the waste. They then recycle it and the consumers pay the related fees. In order to make the system more balanced, if a consumer asks a retailer to take the used home appliance for any reason (most likely because they purchased a new appliance), the retailer is obligated to pick it up. The retailers usually take it back to the manufacturer. The manufacturer is required to have a system in place to recycle the electronic waste, and this system must also maintain a certain percentage of utilization from these resources. Part of this process is not regulated by the government, and that is the process of acquiring a recycling facility and/or how the recycling is currently done. Manufacturers can hire anyone they want to build the facility and they can also recycle electronic waste in any way they deem fit. The only thing it must maintain is the amount of utilization from each material that comes into the facility. The manufacturers often want to recycle the products in the cheapest way possible and this leaves a lot of room for improvement.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Michikazu Kojima, ed. (2008). "A Comparative Study of E-waste Recycling Systems in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan from the EPR Perspective: Implications for Developing Countries". Promoting 3Rs in developing countries - Lessons from the Japanese experience (PDF). IDE Sop Survey 30. Japan: Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO. ISBN 978-4-258-58030-9.
  2. ↑ "Law for Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources". Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Revised Law Requires Recycling of Additional Home Appliances". Japan for Sustainability. Retrieved 3 February 2012.

External links

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