Government's Scheme to Promote PCB Waste Treatment

PCB, an industrially synthesized compound with excellent insulation and heat-resisting properties, was used for various items such as electrical insulation oil, heat medium oil in transformers and capacitors, and carbonless paper. Between the start of production in 1954 and end in 1972, approximately 59,000 tons of PCBs were manufactured in Japan.

However, the breakout of the Kanemi Oil Poisoning Case proved the toxicity of PCBs, and production and distribution of PCB was put to a stop via administrative guidances in 1972. The "Law Concerning the Examination and Regulation of Manufacture, etc., of Chemical Substances (Class I)" was enacted in 1973 and enforced in 1974. With this law, manufacturing, importing and new use of PCB was prohibited.

The establishment of PCB treatment facilities by private initiative did not succeed, because of strong opposition from residents living nearby candidate sites. Thus most of the banned PCB products were stored at their holder's sites, and fear of damage to the environment caused by leakage, misplacement or dumping of the wastes was a crucial issue.

With evidence of long-range transport of PCBs to regions where they have never been used and the consequent threats they pose to the environment of the whole world, UNEP adopted the "Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)" in 2001, to reduce and abolish organic pollutants such as PCBs. Many advanced countries have already finished treating PCBs, and it is desirable for Japan to follow.

The Law concerning Special Measures for Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Wastes was enacted in Japan in 2001, and is now in effect to promote proper treatment of PCB waste. The Ministry of the Environment has put the promotion of PCB waste treatment at the top of the agenda for the 21st century.

The Law concerning Special Measures for Promotion of Proper Treatment of PCB Wastes (PCB Special Measures Law)(Law No.65 of 2001) was set up by the Central Government to establish framework for the prompt, secure and appropriate treatment of PCB wastes. The law defines the obligations of PCB waste holders, former PCB manufactures, central government and local governments, sets deadlines for treatment of PCB waste, and obliges the registration and public reporting of stored PCB waste.

New PCB treatment technologies cannot be used in Japan until officially approved. The Waste Management Law regulates PCB waste treatment methods permitted in Japan. To get approval, the methods must be evaluated by the central government, and afterwards approved by the law. Besides PCB incineration at over 1,100 degrees celsius for over 2 seconds retention time, the following chemical treatment methods are allowed as of April 2005 (InformalTranslation).

To promote the appropriate treatment of PCB waste, the Ministry of the Environment implemented a certification system in Nov. 2009 so that private companies can treat waste electrical machinery contaminated by small amounts of PCB, using sophisticated technologies (mainly combustion using dioxin-controlled incinerators) in compliance with the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law.

Amendments were made in the Basic Plan for PCB waste and relevent regulations, and now about 30 private companies approved by MoE or a local government treat low-level PCB wastes (0.5 to 100,000ppm for combustible PCB wastes / 0.5 to 5,000ppm for other PCB wastes).

Correlation Chart & Flow of PCB Waste Treatment

JESCO has established and operates five regional plants nationwide, according to the PCB Waste Treatment Basic Plan, established by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Construction fees are subsidized by the central government, and JESCO will follow directions of the central government and the local authority.

PCB waste holders must report to prefectures the status of their PCB wastes each year, and must treat the wastes by deadline set by the government or entrust JESCO to treat the wastes by JESCO's deadlines for completion of scheduled treatment. To carry in the wastes to JESCO facilities, the holders must entrust a licensed tranportation company.