The huge amount of waste that can be generated in a major disaster poses a great hindrance to recovery work in stricken areas. Efforts should be made to accelerate the disposal of such waste through cooperation among local governments over a wide area.
The areas hit by torrential rains in western Japan are filled with such waste as debris and daily items that have been rendered unusable by floods. The number of temporary storage sites there is so limited that waste has quickly been piled high in big heaps.
Waste has been stacked along roadsides, obstructing traffic. An incinerator at a disposal plant run by one local government was temporarily suspended due to a water stoppage. Soaked clothes and tatami mats decay quickly in hot weather.
There are concerns that the health of disaster-stricken people may be harmed due to dust, foul smells and other factors. The danger of fires resulting from gas emissions cannot be ignored, either.
If different kinds of waste, such as wood and metal, are mixed together, it will take more time and money to complete disposal. Relevant local governments should make progress in separating the waste that has been abandoned in their areas and hasten to bring it to disposal sites.
The fact is, there is a limit to how much can be achieved solely through the disposal efforts of local governments in the affected areas.
Up to 100,000 tons of waste are expected to be generated in the Mabicho area of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, where about 4,600 houses were inundated. That amount is said to be equivalent to half of the entire city's annual disposal capacity. It will be impossible to swiftly dispose of the waste without gaining cooperation from other local governments.
Devise plans in advance
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, Tokyo and 17 prefectural governments accepted waste to make up for deficiencies in the disposal capacity of quake-hit areas. In the Kumamoto Earthquake two years ago, waste disposal companies from Kanagawa and Mie prefectures and elsewhere collected mixed waste, which is difficult to separate.
To deal with the damage caused by the recent torrential rains, the Environment Ministry has also sent support teams that include specialists, and they are working to support such tasks as formulating waste disposal plans. Waste-collecting trucks have also been offered by local governments in distant areas.
Although the lessons of past disasters are being utilized, arrangements for disposal work are not yet sufficient. The Environment Ministry and prefectural governments should serve as coordinators for that task and further promote waste disposal over a wide area.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake, the ministry devised guidelines for dealing with disaster waste. It has urged local governments to prepare disposal plans that include the estimated amount of waste that may be produced at the time of a disaster and their disposal capacity, as well as candidate areas for temporary storage.
The Kurashiki city government had devised such a plan, but it had yet to decide on such matters as specific locations for temporary storage. The amount of waste in the city is expected to greatly surpass its forecast.
How should a local government act if there is a disaster that exceeds its forecast? The question is how the central government and prefectural, city, town and village governments should cooperate in that event.
First, piles of waste should be disposed of as soon as possible. This should be followed by efforts to identify the problems involved in arrangements for waste disposal. Efforts should be made to accumulate pertinent know-how in preparation for large-scale disasters, given that they occur frequently nowadays.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 22, 2018)
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
