No.8 Regarding the Acceptance of Disaster Waste from Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture

(Inagi Newsletter, June 15, 2012 issue)

The clear blue sky and the cries of seabirds, the sound of heavy machinery processing debris in the distance, and a building lying on its side in front of me... it was a vacant place, swept away by the tsunami, with nothing left.
On May 8, 2012, as the administrator of the Tamagawa Sanitation Association, I visited the waste sorting and processing facility in Onagawa Town with the deputy administrator, the mayor, the chair and vice-chair of the association council, and the representative council members of the constituent cities.
Onagawa Town, a fishing port surrounded by mountains on three sides, has almost no flat land and, due to the inability to secure a temporary storage site for debris on public land, has no choice but to stack it on private land.
The waste generated by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake amounts to approximately 11 years' worth in Iwate Prefecture and about 19 years' worth in Miyagi Prefecture. On the other hand, in Onagawa Town, it is estimated to be 444,000 tons, which is actually more than 100 years' worth, and without processing this massive amount of debris, the town's reconstruction plan cannot proceed.
The sorting for the proper disposal of waste was more thorough than we could have imagined. After the initial sorting of metals and concrete debris using heavy machinery, the separation of metal materials with magnets and further sorting using a trommel machine takes place, before being sent to the final manual sorting line. Incombustible waste such as bottles, glass, concrete debris, stones, and ceramics, as well as combustible materials like wood, plastic waste, paper scraps, textile scraps, tatami mats, and leather rubber, along with asbestos-containing materials and hazardous items like batteries, were meticulously sorted.
In addition, the radiation levels of the combustible waste transported and at various points of the sorting line were measured and published on the website as needed.
The waste piled up in the temporary storage area is indeed rubble itself, but after sorting and processing, it consists only of combustible waste mainly made of wood, and it was at a level that was not concerning to touch with bare hands.
Regarding the wide-area processing of Onagawa Town, a basic agreement was concluded in November last year between the Tokyo Mayors' Association, the Special Ward Mayors' Association, Onagawa Town, Miyagi Prefecture, and Tokyo to ensure smooth processing at cleaning plants in the city.
Inagi City is a member of the Tama River Sanitation Association, which has been

1. It is in accordance with the framework of projects in Tokyo.
2. Ensuring safety,
3. Implementation of explanatory meetings for local residents,
4. To respond as a whole in the Tama region,

We have accepted such matters as prerequisites for acceptance.
At the end of January this year, the Tokyo Municipal Cleaning Council, composed of municipalities in the Tama region, formally requested the acceptance of seven facilities in the Tama area that meet facility standards (Hachioji City Tobuki Cleaning Plant, Machida Recycling Cultural Center, Hino City Clean Center, Ryusen-en Union, Nishi-Tama Sanitation Union, Tamagawa Sanitation Union, Tama New Town Environmental Union). Therefore, we have been proceeding with the necessary steps for safety confirmation through on-site inspections and holding resident briefing sessions.
From now on, regarding the acceptance of incineration ash discharged from these cleaning plants, discussions with Hinode Town, where the final disposal site is located, have been completed. Following the 23 wards where processing has already been implemented, it will also begin in the Tama region.
I have heard that Onagawa Town plans to process all debris by the end of this fiscal year. Unlike surrounding cities such as Ishinomaki, Onagawa Town cannot secure temporary storage on public land, making time a crucial factor for the success of recovery. Thank you for your understanding.