Environmental risk assessment of landfill site that accepted disaster waste

Abstract

Natural disasters can cause the destruction, spreading and mixing of a huge range of man-made materials. In the rush to clean up after a disaster a longer-term problem can often result at the landfill where the materials are disposed of. Simply gathering and dumping all this waste onto landfill as quickly as possible is inefficient, dangerous and costly. Dr Shinya Suzuki of the Graduate School of Recycling-and Eco-Technology, Fukuoka University, Japan has focused much of his career on this growing problem. He says the first step needed is to investigate past disasters and the approaches taken to cleaning them up. From this, it is then possible to set up better plans and approaches to disaster waste management. Disaster response involves not only the clarification of natural phenomena and the securing of human lives, but also the preservation of the natural environment and living environment and its early restoration and reconstruction. Disaster waste disposal is a very important issue not only from the viewpoint of early restoration of the living environment, but also to ensure that no legacy remains in the future.