The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry plans to institute a new system to track soil dug up in the course of construction work and prevent the improper disposal of such waste soil.
The move toward greater traceability comes in the wake of the massive landslide that occurred earlier this month in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, which is believed to have been exacerbated by the collapse of manmade soil embankments that were larger than had been reported to city authorities.
In order to streamline management of waste soil, the ministry has proposed a system to digitally trace information including the construction site specifics, the amount of soil generated, earth hauler and dump truck data, and the disposal site location.
Under the new framework, the ministry envisions that dump truck operators will carry with them IC cards containing data such as the soil volume and vehicle information. These IC cards could then be accessed using smartphones at the disposal site or elsewhere, creating logs that could then be sent to a dedicated server for centralized management.
The land ministry hopes the greater accountability of the tracing system will deter illegal soil dumping and plans to debut the system in its own public works projects followed by rollout in the private sector.
When dealing with industrial waste, it is mandatory to create a manifest documenting the entire process from waste generation to collection, transport, and disposal. This manifest must also be preserved for later reference.
However, there is no law directly regulating the handling of soil from construction sites, as such soil can alternatively be reused for land stabilization and other purposes in addition to disposal. The absence of regulation has been known to result in the improper dumping of soil in mountainous forests and other spots.
The ministry is currently studying the detailed performance requirements and the scope of construction to be covered by the system, with an eye for urgent introduction.
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