Dioxin: Levels high in incinerator-happy Japan

[Neil Tangri <ntangri@essential.org>]

Dioxin: Levels high in incinerator-happy Japan

          Last in a series

          By MICK CORLISS
          Staff writer

          Take a look around you. Those disposable chopsticks that came with
          your lunch, the plastic container it came in, the credit card you
used to
          buy it -- what do these all have in common?

          They all likely contain chlorine or chlorine-based chemicals and
will
          release dioxin when burned.

          These repositories of chlorine will all eventually be thrown
away. Some
          ultimately will find their way to a landfill in the mountains or
on the coast.
          But chances are good that they will be burned like the overwhelming
          majority of Japan's garbage, before being carted off to be buried
out of
          sight and mind.

          But even out of sight and out of mind might not be far enough.

          On average, Japan's air contains nearly 10 times the amount of
dioxin
          found in other industrialized countries. This statistic is
largely attributed to
          the country's penchant for waste incineration -- the alleged
source of
          roughly 90 percent of the estimated 5 kg or more of the toxic
chemical
          released every year.

          "It is hard to understand Japan's dioxin situation today without
looking at
          the past," said Masatoshi Morita, director of the National
Institute for
          Environmental Studies and a foremost expert on dioxin analysis.

          First discovered in Germany in 1872, dioxin is not manufactured
and has
          no use. Dioxin is a catch-all word for a family of 75 chemicals
that closely
          resemble each other -- all chlorine-based and sharing the same basic
          carbon-oxygen framework.

          Historically, dioxin was not an incinerator-related problem,
Morita said.
          From the late 1940s until the 1970s, the dioxin problem was
basically one
          of chemicals and pesticides.

          However, in 1976, more than a century after it was concocted in a
          German lab, the seriousness of dioxin pollution grew when the
substance
          was discovered in emissions from a municipal waste incinerator in
the
          Netherlands.

          Seven years later, Ryo Tachikawa, now president of Kochi University,
          detected the same phenomenon in Japan. "From this point, people
began
          to realize that dioxin was not merely an issue of chemicals, but
also a
          garbage issue," Morita said.

          Incineration is a relatively new addition to Japan's waste disposal
          repertoire.

          After opening its borders to the West, Japan was inundated with more
          than trains, planes and new technology. It also opened itself to
a variety of
          communicable diseases.

          And the 19th century's conventional method of disposal -- abandoning
          waste in the most convenient spot at hand -- was begrudgingly
forsaken.

          With industrialization, workers flocked to the cities. Limited
space and a
          need for disease prevention prompted the government to embrace
          incineration.

          But although its history is short, its legacy is strong: Japan
has the
          distinction of being the world's largest burner of garbage. And
not just by
          a nose. Many observers would say Japan is far and away the most
          dioxin-polluted of any developed country.

          Experts estimate that Japan is home to nearly 70 percent of the
world's
          waste incinerators. And nearly three-quarters of the nation's
waste is
          burned in these facilities.

          Over time, the amount and content of Japan's garbage has changed.
          Today on average, more than 1 kg of garbage is produced per
citizen per
          day, and experts maintain that Japan probably has the highest
percentage
          of polyvinyl chloride plastic in its municipal wastes of all
industrialized
          nations.

          In an effort to allay dioxin concerns, the government has tightened
          emission standards and devised a subsidy program for the
construction of
          large incinerators that can operate continuously at high
temperatures,
          which helps reduce dioxin emissions.

          But it is important to grasp the scale of the problem to reduce
dioxin
          emissions. To this end, the government is in a tizzy compiling an
inventory,
          or calculation of emissions, of the toxin. A report is scheduled
to be
          released in June in line with government guidelines announced in
March.

          "The new inventory will be much more accurate and reliable," said
Yasuo
          Yanagibashi of the air pollution control division of the Environment
          Agency's Air Quality Bureau. This will in turn facilitate
policymaking by
          clarifying exactly what steps must be taken, ensuring the gradual
reduction
          of dioxin emissions, he added.

          And while dioxin debacles of recent months have thrust the
incineration
          industry into the limelight, this attention may shift with the
government
          cracking down on the burning of garbage.

          "If the government succeeds with its plan to cut emissions by
more than
          80 percent, I think the focus may shift to other (dioxin)
emitters -- such as
          industry," said Kuniaki Makiya of the agency's Office of
Environmental
          Risk Assessment.

          Up to now, the government has estimated that about 5.3 kg of
dioxin is
          emitted annually in Japan -- a figure borrowed from a Kyoto
University
          professor who calculated it in 1991 by simply applying emission
          information from the United States, where incinerators generally
burn
          cleaner, to Japan's volume of trash.

          While 5 kg may not sound like much, animal testing has shown that
just 1
          gram of the toxin is enough to kill 10,000 people, according to
Toshikazu
          Fujiwara, director of the citizens' group Kanto Network to Stop
Dioxin
          Pollution.

          Fujiwara challenges the government's figure, arguing that
citizens' groups
          and professors generally believe it to be ridiculously
conservative. They
          estimate the figure to be closer to 15 or 20 kg per year, he says.

          Fujiwara and others said they are encouraged to see the government
          tackling the dioxin issue in earnest, but added they are alarmed
at the way
          in which it is being carried out.

          Although a regulatory net is gradually being tightened around dioxin
          emissions themselves, there are no restrictions on incinerator
ash, which is
          known to contain very high levels of the toxin, according to Teiichi
          Aoyama, president of the Tokyo-based Environmental Research
Institute,
          a private research firm.

          In addition, the government's plan to consolidate incinerators into
          large-scale facilities is also problematic, according to Aoyama.

          These need waste to operate, and this is bound to pose problems
in rural
          areas where keeping a garbage supply big enough to run the
facilities may
          be difficult. Eventually, the need to collect enough garbage to
keep them
          running may snowball into a huge financial burden, critics say.

          Ultimately, large-scale incineration is not the solution, agrees
Fujiwara,
          who preaches the merits of a society that is PVC-free and where
          municipalities process their own waste.

          Incineration at high temperatures -- over 800 C -- may reduce dioxin
          emissions, but comes with a host of other problems, he said, such as
          increasing output of global-warming gases and heavy metals. Also,
finding
          municipalities willing to accept such a facility and process
neighboring
          areas' trash will not be easy, he added.

          Fujiwara also challenges the government's attempt to come up with a
          more accurate inventory of dioxin emissions data, maintaining
that its
          survey method is fundamentally flawed.

          Nearly half of the dioxin released by incinerators is released
while they are
          warming up and cooling down, he said. But because government surveys
          are taken during peak operating hours, the levels recorded may be
          misleading, he added. "I really question whether this (new
inventory) will
          translate into effective policy," Fujiwara said, stressing the
need to look
          beyond incinerators for an effective solution.

          Some municipalities, however, have reduced the amount of dioxin
their
          incinerators release through extensive and aggressive recycling and
          garbage separation campaigns, he said.

          "I am convinced that the increases in dioxin emissions are due
largely to
          PVC products," he said, citing industries' production patterns and
          society's consumption patterns as major obstacles to effectively
whittling
          down dioxin emissions.

          Clearly the dioxin problem is deeply rooted in our way of life.
But with
          citizens and the government both clearly concerned, one unexpected
          byproduct of the potential dangers posed by this toxin may be a
novel
          form of cooperation between the two to resolve this environmental
          dilemma.





--

Neil Tangri