Our Technologies, Your Tomorrow

Thinking About Future

Waste Management in Yangon
Forum Report
Presented by the MHI Group
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Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is tackling energy and environmental protection
issues on a global scale. MHI offers a broad array of technologies that contribute to building a
better future for the world, ranging from technologies for development of renewable energy
sources to various instruments and systems to help preserve the environment.

MHI has also adopted a global corporate social responsibility agenda with the cooperation of
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. As the first
program under the agenda, the MHI group in September held the first workshop of Fourfold
Forum on Municipal Solid Waste Management in Yangon in Myanmars largest and rapidly
developing city. The forum was aimed at promoting sound waste disposal practices in the
country. Discussions focused on the current environmental situation in Myanmars major
cities and the history of Japans administrative efforts to ensure environmentally sound
disposal of general industrial waste.

We will report on each of the scheduled four forums, the last of which will be held in June
2016.

1s t Fo ru m
Summary of the Forum

Title: Fourfold Forum on Municipal Solid Waste Management in Yangon

Sponsors: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd., Myanmar
Engineering Society (MES)
Supporters: Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), Japan International Cooperation Center (JICE), Clean Authority of TOKYO
(CAT23)
Forum participants: about 230 in total. Senior officials and middle-ranking and young technocrats responsible for urban environment
and waste management; professors, students and researchers; top and senior executives of companies in related industries; and
members of related non-governmental organizations.
1

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 Our Technologies, Your Tomorrow Thinking About Future Waste Management in Yangon
Forum Report Presented by the MHI Group

We l com e A dd r e s s

Hoping to learn from Tokyos experiences

Mr. Htin Zaw Win, Committee Member, Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC)
The city of Yangon generates over 1,600 tons of waste daily. The amount is expected to grow rapidly in
the coming years. YCDC is hoping to learn much about waste management from Tokyo.

Continued support to Myanmars environmental protection efforts

Mr. Masaki Yasumatsu, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan
We welcome the decision by MHI to select Yangons waste management issues as a target for its CSR
activities. We will continue our policy of supporting efforts for environmental protection by Myanmar.

Forums will help Yangon learn best practices for urban solid waste
Mr. Win Khaing, President, Myanmar Engineering Society
We are convinced that the series of forums will help Yangon understand and implement the best
practices concerning municipal solid waste management and develop effective urban environmental
policies in the future.

Capitalizing on MHIs accumulated expertise to help Myanmars sustainable growth

Mr. Shigehisa Kobayashi, Senior Vice President and Chief Regional Officer for Asia Pacific Region,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
The MHI Group has been engaged in various engineering, procurement and construction projects
around the world. The group has also been involved in building waste to energy plant, mainly in Japan
and Asia, in which such facilities are subject to strict regulations. The group hopes to use its
accumulated expertise in this area to help Myanmar achieve sustainable development.

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 Our Technologies, Your Tomorrow Thinking About Future Waste Management in Yangon
Forum Report Presented by the MHI Group

K e y not e A dd re ss
Tapping Japans expertise for quicker responses
Under the Tokyo Model, all cities in the Tokyo's 23-city are responsible for the management of
municipal waste they generate. All waste from households and businesses is collected for an
appropriate treatment in the 23-city, which have 21 incineration plants in total. They are located in
central parts of the mammoth city.

In Japan, households separate waste according to whether it is recyclable or non-recyclable.

Non-recyclable waste is then separated according to whether it is combustible or non-combustible.
Such waste sorting at the source and collection is vital for efficient and clean incineration. It is quite
important to educate all citizens including children on waste sorting and collection.

Reducing the amount of waste generation is as important as appropriate waste treatment. In over 20
years since 1988, Tokyo has reduced the amount of garbage it generates by about 40%.

Professor Ichiro Sakata,
Ph.D.
Director, the TMI program of
Faculty of Engineering,
Director, Policy Alternatives
Research Institute, the
University of Tokyo
Wide-ranging efforts have been made to reduce waste in the capital, including building new facilities,
upgrading related technologies, staging campaigns targeting local residents and businesses,
developing necessary laws and taking measures focusing on new products like PET bottles.
Japan has established effective systems to deal with waste through many years of trials and errors.
Yangon can learn from Japans experiences and introduce the new technologies and related systems
developed in Japan so that the city can respond much more quickly to challenges.

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 Our Technologies, Your Tomorrow Thinking About Future Waste Management in Yangon
Forum Report Presented by the MHI Group

P re s en t at i on 1
Compliance with garbage separation rules ensures long life of facilities
Until 1995, some portion of kitchen waste in Tokyo was buried as is. Since then, however, combustible
waste has been incinerated with only the remaining ashes buried at the final disposal sites.

Glass bottles, cans and used paper are recycled into products after intermediate treatment. The
recycling of these kinds of waste is done by specialized businesses, but residents are responsible for
sorting these before collection by local governments. A system for clear division of labor is in place.

Waste treatment and disposal facilities, no matter how sophisticated they may be, can deteriorate and
become unusable quickly if waste separation rules are not observed. That sharply increases repair and
replacement costs. Efficient waste management can only be possible when advanced facilities and
citizens compliance with the rules are combined.

Mr. Hirotaka Yamazaki
Manager, International
Cooperation Office for Waste
Management, Clean
Authority of Tokyo
I have heard that in a survey of Yangon citizens, 80% of the respondents expressed negative views
about the proposal to allow private-sector businesses to get involved in waste management under the
public-private partnership (PPP) approach. However, the PPP formula could be very effective for the
operation and management of waste management facilities and the feed-in-tariff program.
Ideal waste management requires the government to impose certain restrictions on local residents and
private companies involved and to guide related businesses with financial aid. The government has the
authority, the organization, manpower and funds necessary for waste management. It is crucial for the
government to develop related plans and rules from a comprehensive point of view.

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 Our Technologies, Your Tomorrow Thinking About Future Waste Management in Yangon
Forum Report Presented by the MHI Group

P re s en t at i on 2
Lessons from Japans history of pollution
Japans first law concerning waste management, Feculence Cleansing Law, was enacted in 1900.
The law put the government in charge of waste management which until then had been handled
mainly by private players.

The Waste Management and Public Cleaning Law, which was promulgated in 1970, changed Japans
administrative approach to waste management. The law stated preservation of living environment as
its main purpose, shifting the focus of Japans waste management to environmental protection. It also
distinguished industrial waste from municipal waste and classified industrial waste into 20 items.

Japan is now transforming itself from a mass consumption society to a resource circulation society. It is
seeking to realize a system that imposes the responsibility for waste management also on businesses
so that the burden of disposing of waste can be shared by the entire society.

Such burden sharing requires not just laws and rules but also cooperation by all parties concerned. In
Ms. Keiko Aoyama Myanmar, it is also important to put industrial waste under the framework of the waste management
Section Chief, International system.
Cooperation Office for Waste
Management, Clean
Authority of Tokyo Tokyo has experienced all kinds of environmental problems
including air/water/odor pollution, massive outbreaks of noxious
insects and generation of harmful gases. The capital has also
experienced conflict among residents over plans to build
incineration plants. At present, however, residents living in
houses adjacent to incineration plants dont face any health
hazards from the facilities.

I do hope that people in Myanmar will learn key lessons from

Tokyos past experiences in order to maintain a good living
environment compatible with economic growth. Nerima Cleaning Plant
(Scheduled to be completed in
December 2015)

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 Our Technologies, Your Tomorrow Thinking About Future Waste Management in Yangon
Forum Report Presented by the MHI Group

History of waste management in Tokyo

Before Feculence Cleansing Law (Until 1900) Era of Rich Country, Strong Army Policy
Latter part of Cholera epidemic (Deaths exceeded 100,000 people)
1800's --> Pest epidemic (1899)

1900 Enactment of Feculence Cleansing Law

Waste management l by municipality started => Conversion from private sector to government management
Incineration as priority option of treatment (Open air incineration => Difficulty of full combustion due to moisture
=> Flies and other harmful vermin smoke pollution)

Until mandatory incineration (until 1930)

1911 Direct management of waste collection by (then) Tokyo City Government

Difficulty in installment of an incineration plant due to opposition by residents

1924 First incinerator in Tokyo completed (Stove-type furnace, non-continuous type)

Severe environmental contamination by soot & dusts

1930 Revision of Feculence Cleansing Law

Incineration became mandatory

Until fly outbreak in landfill (Until 1965) End of War --> rapid economic growth
1935 1945 Second World War

1954 Enactment of Cleaning Law

Rapid economic growth --> Rapid increase in waste volume/changes in types of waste (1947: 110,000 tons -->
1960: 1 million tons --> 1970: 3 million tons)
Large waste volume of consumer durables such as TVs, refrigerators, etc. and plastic products rapidly
increased

Until Waste War (Until 1971)

1970 Enactment of Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law
Classification between municipal waste and industrial waste
Clarification of disposal duties for business entities (the source)

1971 Declaration of Waste War by Governor of Tokyo (implementation of thorough measures to tackle waste
issues)
Indispensability of residents understanding and cooperation=uncontrollable nature of waste management alone
by governments
Safe and reliable incineration without pollution

Until now (until 2015)

1989 Waste in the Tokyos 23-city reached its peak (approx. 4.9 million tons yearly)
1997 Full coverage of intermediate treatment for municipal waste in Tokyo

2000 Transfer of municipal waste management duties from Tokyo Metropolitan Government to the 23-city (and
Clean Authority of TOKYO)

2009 Full-fledged execution of plastic waste thermal recycling

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