Waste Research Trends in Japan in the Past Ten Years: Review of What We Had Done before the Catastrophic Events of March 2011

Abstract

This study analyzes waste research of the past decade in order to determine Japanese trends as well as to learn the problems of Japanese research. The results show that waste research has focused mainly on treatment, management, and recycling, and that research on prior processes such as reduction, collection, and transportation has been very limited. It was also found that research placed stress mostly on materials rather than people and the trend was very similar to that of a ministry oriented research fund. It seems that Japanese waste research has been neither balanced nor strategic. We therefore conclude that a government direction on waste studies might be not appropriate. Japan and Japanese researchers must change their ways of thinking in order not to repeat these mistakes.