Recycling and disposal of electric and electronic appliances in Japan

This paper will describe the material flow of electric and electronic appliances(refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, air-conditioners and microwave ovens), point out how the new mandatory regulations will affect the recycling/disposal system and discuss crucial points for further improvement. There are two main routes of collection of used electric and electronic appliances, one is the municipal route as bulky waste and the other is the private route: when new appliances are purchased, used appliances are often returned to retailers. About 80% are collected by the private route and 20% by the municipal route, while 2/3 are disposed by the private route and 1/3 by the municipal route. When retailers receive used appliances, consumers usually pay a collection and disposal fee, which, however, does not cover the actual cost fully. Research in Tama district, a suburban area of Tokyo, shows retailers tend to accept used appliances for a fee less than the full cost of collection and disposal and they bear the rest of the cost by themselves. The Waste Management Law in Japan stipulates 'difficult-to-manage product for disposal'. When a certain product is specified as difficult-to-manage product for disposal,' the manufacturers are required to cooperate with municipalities which have responsibility for municipal waste management to collect, recycle and properly dispose of it. In 1994, 250-liter-or-more capacity refrigerators and 25-inch-or-more TV sets were listed in this category. The other important mandatory regulation for disposal of electric and electronic appliances is that shredder dust is newly required to be reclaimed in controlled landfill sites but no longer in the least controlled sites. The capacity of controlled landfill sites is decreasing year-by-year, and the number of controlled landfill sites operated by the private sector is especially limited. These mandatory regulations will seriously affect the situations surrounding electric and electronic appliances.