Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

Osaka, Japan

Osaka City is located in western Japan. Surrounding it is the Greater Osaka area, the second-largest metropolitan area in Japan with 2.6 million people. Historically, Osaka is known as “the Kitchen of the Nation.” Much like Chicago in the United States, Osaka has served as a port for commerce, especially during the early-to-middle ages, at which time the nearby cities, such as Kyoto and Nara, were the capital of Japan. After the central government moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, Osaka maintained its role as the center of the Kansai industrial area, including the waste management industry. Osaka played a leading role in advancing waste management in Japan and became a hotbed for research and the development of incinerators. Over 99.9 percent of combustible general waste generated has been incinerated since 1980. Osaka has also been used as a pilot city in implementing innovative technologies, such as pneumatic waste collection systems.

Waste Management Practices

Osaka City is the capital of the Osaka Prefecture and is divided into 24 wards. Just like the other prefectures in Japan, Osaka Prefecture's Waste Management Plan is in accordance with the basic policies of the central government. By these policies, local municipalities have the authority to implement their own waste management practices. It should be noted that the ward system in Osaka City consists of geographical divides, rather than the system of special wards (like that used in Tokyo). By doing so, Osaka implements municipal solid waste management planning at a city scale.

About 30 percent of the residents in the Osaka Prefecture reside in Osaka City; however, this part of the population contributes only 45 percent of the total solid waste generated in the area, which is primarily because of the high concentration of businesses. Approximately 1.39 metric tons of general waste and 5.3 million tons of industrial waste are generated every year. This number is almost half of the peak of 2.17 million tons per year that was reached in 1991. About 430,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste are recycled, while the rest is incinerated. As of 2010, there are two final disposal sites in Osaka accepting 770,000 metric tons of incinerator ash and other by-products annually. The Hokko disposal site is managed by the City of Osaka and takes 82 percent of ashes while the rest goes to the Osaka Regional Offshore Environmental Improvement Center. The Osaka Regional Offshore Environmental Improvement Center is a 1,235-acre landfill and is jointly utilized by the 206 municipalities from Osaka, Nara, Shiga, and Wakayama Prefectures. Osaka City has a target of 25 percent reduction for waste incinerated by 2015, which has been encouraged through the “reuse, reduce, recycle” program in accordance with the basic policies of the central government. Through the encouragement of this grassroots effort, 4,000 zero waste activity leaders have been appointed to lead public education and outreach, many of whom are retired senior citizens.

Historical Perspective

During the premodern era, waste management was done mostly by human labor, and dumping into the ocean or waterways was the most common practice of waste disposal. In order to protect navigating boats, the dumping of trash into rivers and canals was banned in 1649. However, it was 250 years before the idea of sanitation and public health started becoming the driving force behind waste management. Modern sanitary practice was adopted in Osaka soon after the establishment of the National Waste Disposal Law in 1900, at which point local municipalities became responsible for managing their respective waste. One of the first batch incinerators in Japan was built in 1903, and the very first draft furnace incinerator followed in 1916. Since then, Osaka has been the center for research and development of incineration technology.

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution