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Nikkei Ecology

May 2004 Issue

Cover Story

Ten fundamental questions on the environment and their ultimate answers


Q1: Does the Ministry of the Environment announce truly reliable data on wastes?

Q2: Is plastic waste classified as combustible or incombustible waste?

Q3: Which recycling law is the most successful?

Q4: Can the fuel-cell car be the most environmentally friendly car to the users?

Q5: Will the international corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards be established indeed?

Q6: What makes the difference in the environmental policy between the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry?

Q7: How are CO₂ emissions of business operators calculated?

Q8: Why are environmental reports not read?

Q9: Is the environmental accounting useful?

Q10: Ask United Nations University Vice-Rector, Itaru Yasui: which is more ecological, a gasoline car or a hybrid car, Prius ?

Report

General Motors USA prepares to push fuel-cell power, aiming at early building of a market: GM involves US Army to cooperate and also launches fuel-cell power business for non-auto use

Local report: Chemical substance management in China
Legislation needs to be accelerated to solve distortion produced by the high economic growth

Vice-Rector Itaru Yasui’s “Eco Michelin”
Disposable wood chopsticks: Increase in the imported products shakes effective utilization of thinned wood

e!Communication between Corporation and Housewives
Repair: Users want to use the fixed appliance longer, but they are not satisfied with the manufacturers’ response and the repair costs

Technology Frontline / Products
Kobelco-Eco Solutions Co., Ltd. succeeds in extracting vinyl chloride from mixed plastic waste

Technology Frontline / Elements
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. develops a film metal delamination technology using plasma discharge to recover plastic parts

Technology Frontline / Trend
Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) significantly improves its performance, almost to catch up with the competing polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) in commercialization

Technology Frontline / Academy
Kazuhito Hashimoto, professor of the University of Tokyo, finds photocatalysis is useful to remove NOx and save power consumption in buildings

This Month’s Company
Yokota Co., Ltd. in northeastern Japan develops a film delamination technology that makes natto containers recyclable for making new styrofoam trays

Actions by Local Governments/ Ask the top management for the next step
Yoshihiro Katayama, governor of Tottori Prefecture, advocates “local production and local consumption” of human resources and power supplies

Environmental dialogue with top management
Masayasu Kitagawa’s “Frontline of Environmental Management” Part 11
Toru Nagashima, president and CEO of Teijin Ltd.: “We address CO₂ reduction with local communities through PET bottle chemical recycling, naming this the Bottle-to-Bottle business and operating it in full-scale”

Trend and News

Energy conservation
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. makes all-out efforts to disseminate electricity-only housing in collaboration with real estate sellers

Recycling
Bottle-to-Bottle recycling starts, and the recovering system changes due to a fierce scramble for getting used bottles

Fuel cell
Hydrocarbon film is improved to catch up with fluorine-containing film in the development of electrolyte film

Low emission vehicle
Toyota Motor offers Ford hybrid technologies

Waste treatment
An RDF power plant in Mie Prefecture resumes operation after an accident: Are safety measures sufficient?

Environmental communication
The reason why there are fewer environmental ads than before in Germany

“ISO for small and medium-sized enterprises”
A new system to be introduced under the Ministry of the Environment’s initiative, which will reduce the cost for obtaining the certification to about 250 thousand yen

Environmental business
With an incinerator market shrinking, mergers of manufacturers begin within the sector

Global warming measures
EU is moving steadily toward the establishment of the European system, whereas the United States sees difficulty in returning to the Kyoto Protocol

Inside-Out

The current situation of genetically modified organisms: the influence on the environment is the focus of argument, Part 2
Can focusing on good aspects such as the mitigation of cedar pollen allergy for some people and soil purification rid gene modification of its bad images?

New ideas, like rice that makes consumers healthy and crops that clean the farm soil for example, are hatched out by companies. To enjoy the great benefits of gene modification, more discussions among citizens are necessary.

Reports from Think Tanks Overseas

Environmental Finance
Will Russia ratify the Kyoto Protocol? There is also a possibility that Russia will make policies independent of the convention

Rocky Mountain Institute
European Commission’s new chemical strategy (REACH) draws attention: The harm prevention discipline of the regulation is questioned

Sustain Ability
There are only three organizations that can appropriately evaluate companies on their social responsibility, and second generation evaluators are needed for SRI assessment

Wuppertal Institute
Restructuring of the organization is promoted with new approaches that focus on the area of applied sustainability research

From WorldWatch
After the conflict, the environmental destruction continues in Bosnia and Herzegovina through dam construction and deforestation

Environmental Seminar

Easy-to-understand Environmental Law - Amended Food Sanitation Law / Drastic revisions made, including the review on the provision of the objective, and regulations on residual chemicals for agricultural crops strengthened

How to read European Regulations - Specifics of EU Directive / Many difficulties in drafting the energy conservation directive

New Trend of ISO
Self declaration Part 2 / Internal audit is enhanced as an alternative checking function to third party examination

Zero Emission Grade Report - Ajinomoto Thailand / A sales promotion group organized two years before the plant operation commercializes wastewater from the plant for use as an agricultural fertilizer, and makes profits for the company

Global Warming Prevention Measures in Our Company - Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. / CO2 emission is reduced by 9,800 tons through producing electricity and steam using gas turbines

New Environmental Study - The environmental industry in China / The growth rate of the industry is twice the economic growth rate, supported with the Chinese government’s serious efforts

Environmental Laws Q & A - Law concerning the Rational Use of Energy / What auxiliary systems are available in introducing the relevant facilities?

This Month’s Environmental Law - The 159th Diet session / The Minister of the Environment submits all five bills in a complete set

Learn from This Environmental Report - Nihon Yamamura Glass Co., Ltd. / The way of showing environmental impact data is devised by using a common unit for different statistics

Column

Kankan Gakugaku (Active Argument over Environmental Issues) - Masahiro Hidaka, music event producer: Fuji Rock Festival as an opportunity to raise awareness of the environmental issues

Eisuke Ishikawa’s “The Eco Industries in the Edo Period” - Paper industry playing a stellar role in the Edo period, which surprised Philipp Franz von Siebold as well

Takashi Morieda’s Dining Room on Earth - Chickens disappear from restaurants and stalls in Vietnam due to the bird flu measures

Fieldwork Japan - “Permaculture” started in Australia is designed to harmonize a natural way of agriculture and a local recycling system

Pioneer - Masato Minami is one of the creators of the “eco tourism” in Japan