Japan small incinerator

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

http://www.asahi.com/english/enews/enews.html#enews_23039
June 21, 1999
Ministry to regulate small incinerators

Asahi Shimbun

The Health and Welfare Ministry has decided to regulate emissions of
cancer-causing dioxin from small-sized incinerators, which are currently

free from government
restrictions, ministry officials said today.

The decision was made to reach the government's goal set in late March
to reduce dioxin emissions by 90 percent from the 1997 level by December

2002, they
said.

The ministry presented the plan this morning to the its advisory panel
on dioxin-reduction technologies. The panel will examine actual measures

for the regulation.

The government has been restricting dioxin emissions from larger
incinerators to 80 nanograms per cubic meter of discharged gas since
December. One nanogram is
one-billionth of a gram.

Larger incinerators refer to facilities that can incinerate 200
kilograms of garbage or more per hour.

The restriction is scheduled to be further tightened to 1 to 10
nanograms from December 2002.

However, the government has not imposed restrictions on small-sized
incinerators--facilities that can burn less than 200 kilograms per hour.

In fiscal 1998, the ministry investigated 47 small-sized incinerators
operated by companies.

According to the investigation, the facilities were discharging an
average 18 nanograms per cubic meter. The smallest figure was 0.036
nanogram while the largest
was 130 nanograms. Of the 47 facilities, three exceeded the 80-nanogram
limit imposed on larger incinerators.

Pollution experts estimate that companies operate about 17,000
small-sized incinerators throughout the country, releasing more than 300

grams of dioxin every year.

Meanwhile, a working group jointly organized by the ministry and the
Environment Agency was to present a report today that says the tolerable

daily intake of dioxin
per kilogram of a person should be reduced from 10 picograms to 4
picograms. One picogram is a trillionth of a gram.

If the report is approved at the ministry and agency's meeting today,
the government would start measures to regulate the amount of the dioxin

in the air, soil and
garbage incinerators.