자원순환형사회 전환의 정책과제: 일본사례의 시사점을 중심으로

Abstract

The amounts of household waste and food waste generated have increased to 18 million t and 5.9 million t levels, respectively, since the mid-2000s. The recycling rate of household waste amounted to 59.1% in 2012 and therefore fell below 62.0 percent, the goal of the First Basic Resource Circulation Plan, thus showing that recycling has not been implemented smoothly. If recycling fails to be smoothly implemented amidst such an increase in the amount of waste generated, there is concern that the remaining years of service of the final waste disposal facilities may be reduced. On the other hand, in the case of Japan, since the completion of a legal system for constructing a resource-circulating society in the early 2000s, the amount of non-industrial waste (equivalent to household waste) generated has decreased, and the active implementation of resource circulation has continuously extended the remaining years of service of the final waste disposal facilities. The purpose of the present study lies in obtaining implications from the accomplishments and limitations experienced by Japan in the process of implementing the construction of a resource-circulating society, which are as follow. First, it is necessary to establish a legal system for constructing a resource-circulating society, to stipulate priorities in the waste treatment (reduce-reuse-material recycle-thermal recycle-appropriate disposal) clearly in the framework act. Second, as for the transformation of food waste into resources, it is necessary to implement composting in consideration of the fact that agricultural lands have excessive nutrients, to devise plans for transformation into animal feed amidst the importation of most feed grains. Third, to implement transformation into biomass energy smoothly, it is necessary comprehensively to link agricultural policy, environmental policy, and energy policy. Fourth, in constructing a biomass local circulation system, the burden on agricultural households must be minimized to secure the sustainability of the resource circulation system.