Waste management policy and citizen participation from the aspect of waste management planning theory

Abstract

In worldwide measures against environmental problems, the ‘participation of all actors and stakeholders’ has become of paramount importance. The system of law concerning Japan’s environment has also emphasized citizen participation as a long-term target. In addition, laws concerning Japan’s waste, which aim towards the construction of a Sound Material-Cycle Society (SMCS) has decreased the use of natural resources as far as possible and reduced the impact on the environment. Waste management laws in Japan have been converted from their status of 1R, to 3R, that of a sustainable society, for which the participation of citizens and individual stakeholders is essential. However, there is no legal obligation in the municipality, which could instruct an area how to execute the policy. It is not easy for a society to achieve ‘citizen participation and a sound material-cycle society’. A forum that aimed at ‘creating a sound material-cycle society based on citizen participation” was held as a social experiment in Nagoya from 2002 to 2005. By comparing conventional policy-making with participatory policy-making, it was possible to see whether or not participatory policy-making can overcome the weak points of conventional policy-making in terms of policy effectiveness.