Japan — Vehicles
Japan has a well-established dismantling and recycling infrastructure for end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). The system is driven by market demand for reusable parts, leaving large amounts of hazardous materials and liquids that cannot be resold and are instead sent to landfills and incinerators.
The Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) used three factors to determine that the existing infrastructure needed to be changed:
- hazardous substances in shredder dust;
- scarcity of final disposal sites; and
- increased disposal costs due to high landfill fees.
In 1997, the MITI developed a voluntary program called Recycling Initiatives for End-0f-Life Vehicles, which calls for higher recycling rates, reduction in the use of lead and take back systems for CFCs and air bags.
Since this voluntary initiative had little success in reducing the amount of hazardous waste from ELVs, a Car Recycling Working Group was created to determine a more effective program. Their proposal, which was released in a 2001 report, is to establish manufacturer responsibility for collection and safe treatment of CFCs, air bags, and shredder waste. Dismantlers, shredders, and recyclers will continue to take back ELVs to market reusable parts, but auto manufacturers will be responsible for collecting CFCs, shredder waste, and air bags from ELV operators. It is still unclear as to what financial mechanism would be put in place to cover the costs of operating this ELV program, and unfortunately, incineration will be advocated.
