Ministry of the Environment Holds Symposium Reporting Results of Disaster Waste Disposal

On March 12, the Ministry of the Environment held the "Disaster Waste Processing Results Symposium: The Role and Achievements of Wide-Area Processing" at The Prince Tower Tokyo in Minato Ward, following the completion of disaster waste processing in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures by the end of this month. Approximately 250 government and local government officials attended. The ministry requested cooperation from municipalities to accept disaster waste and tsunami sediment from both prefectures and Fukushima Prefecture, resulting in 91 acceptance cases across Tokyo, Osaka, and 16 prefectures, including private sector operators.

Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara stated in his address, "I hope this event will serve as an opportunity to share expertise that can be utilized during disasters."

Three speakers delivered keynote addresses. Deputy Minister Shinji Inoue stated, "Through cooperation in accepting waste for wide-area processing, we achieved the early resolution of temporary storage sites for disaster waste. We are now advancing efforts such as centralizing information sites and considering specific responses to large-scale disasters."

Governor Takuya Tatsumoto of Iwate Prefecture remarked, "The disaster spurred unprecedented cooperation among municipalities, building a mutual support system. Moving forward, we aim to leverage Iwate's unique strengths to achieve 'reconstruction that catches up with the future.'"

Mr. Sasade, Deputy Director of the Miyagi Prefecture Environment and Living Department and Head of the Disaster Waste Management Division, reported, "Waste disposal through wide-area processing rapidly reduced the mountains of debris, which had also been a psychological burden. While evaluating and verifying this initiative, we will now invest human resources into the next stage: reconstruction."

Case studies were presented by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Environment Bureau, Kiyosumi Industrial Research Institute, and Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, which accepted disaster waste.

Deputy Minister Inoue also presented letters of appreciation to representatives of organizations that cooperated in the wide-area processing.