THE GREENING OF KITAKYUSHU

[Anonymous]

THE GREENING OF KITAKYUSHU
Formerly
known as one of the most polluted places in Japan, thanks to a movement
initiated by a group of housewives the city of Kitakyushu is now an
environmentally friendly zone
During
the early 1900s many heavy industries, especially steel factories, were
established in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture on the
island of Kyushu. Large coastal areas were claimed to pave the way for
industrial growth, part of the framework that supported the
industrialisation of Japan, and later, its rapid post-war economic
growth.However, by the 1960s the island city had begun to pay a steep
price for an economic development which showed disregard for the
environment _ some of the worst industrial pollution in the country.
Smoke from the factories blackened the once blue sky and the
surrounding seas were chronically contaminated with toxic substances
released from untreated wastewater.”At that time,” says Mr Hashimoto
Jyun, an official of the Environment Museum in Kitakyushu, “the city’s
Dokai Bay was named the Sea of Death because even the bacteria and
other germs could not live in it. The sky was called the seven-coloured
sky because of all the different types of smoke released from the
industries.”The pictures and exhibits at the museum, for example of a
boy covered with black soot, school children wearing masks while
studying in their classrooms, and the factory chimneys spewing out the
dark smoke into the sky, tell a story of a city made nearly
uninhabitable by industrial pollution.But the Environment Museum has
another story to tell that is even more important. The museum
chronicles a grassroots movement, led by a group of housewives, to
reclaim the city. The housewives’ group staged protests and enlisted
the help of academics to conduct a series of studies on the
environmental damage. When the environment became a major electoral
issue it was the beginning of the end of Kitakyushu’s nightmare.It
wasn’t easy, but through the combined efforts of the local people, the
city administration and the polluting companies themselves, the city’s
blue skies and clean water have been called back from the past, and
more than 100 species of fish and shellfish live in the surrounding
waters.In 1990 Kitakyushu was awarded with the the United Nations
Environmental Programme (UNEP) Global 500 Award, the first Japanese
city to win the award, in recognition of the movement of concerned
citizens to recover the heavily polluted city. Kitakyushu is now
attracting Japanese and international researchers who want to learn
more of the methods used there. The Environment Museum records for
posterity the heartening lesson that environmental degradation can be
reversed, a message that is very important for the younger generations
to keep in mind.

TOUGH REGULATIONS IN PLACE
Kitakyushu
was not alone among Japanese cities in suffering a severe loss of
environmental quality during the period. The country’s rapid
industrialisation adversely affected the public health in a number of
communities. Well known cases from the mid 1950s to mid 1960s include
the Itai-itai cadmium poisoning in Toyama, mercury poisoning in
Minamata and Niigata and an outbreak of asthma in Yokkaichi caused by
air pollution .In 1967 the Japanese government issued the Basic Law for
Environmental Pollution Control. By the year 1972, all prefectures and
local governments had set their own regulations to control pollution in
their localities.A Kitakyushu city official said tough regulations were
put in place there. For example, factories were required to install
efficient air cleaners and switch, at great cost, to low-sulfur fuel in
the early 1970s, which drastically cut emissions of smog-causing sulfur
dioxide. Dust levels in Kitakyushu fell following a reduction of coal
use.To clean up the sea, beginning in 1972 the city and the industrial
sector invested a huge amount of money to successfully dredge more than
350,000 cubic metres of mercury-contaminated soil from the bottom of
Dokai Bay.

It was the housewives who made the difference.
“If
there had been no women’s movement, I believe our countermeasures would
have been significantly delayed,” says Mr Jyun. Mr Noriyaki Seki, a
representative of a local environment group, said that every year the
city hosts an eco fair in Kitakyushu. This year the event was organised
by the city administration with the help of 54 private firms and more
than 100 nonprofit organisations. More than 100,000 visitors
attended.The two-day event aims to instill an environmentally friendly
spirit in the community and to encourage green activities and
products.”This year, a biomass plastic glass made from corn was
introduced. Ordinary plastics degrade very slowly. In some cases,
burning plastic can release toxic fumes, leading to global warming
problem,” said Mr Seki.While working to solve the serious pollution
problems, the city accumulated a wealth of technical know-how, and now
actively works to share that knowledge.Mr Jyun hopes that other
countries in Asia will build up their environmental awareness so that
they will not repeat the same mistakes as Kitakyushu. Noting that
Kitakyushu is located in the centre of Asia, he said its lesson should
be passed on to developing countries which are now struggling with
environmental problems caused by industrialisation.”As far as I
understand, many Asian countries do not pay much attention to the
pollution problem. We are not in the position to tell other countries
to do or not to do anything, we just keep on relating our bad
experiences and providing the knowledge of how we solved our problems,”
he says.Since 1980 the Kitakyushu model on tackling pollution has been
brought to other countries through the help of the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (Jica). Dalian, a city in a province of the same
name in northeastern China, has adopted the model over the past 15
years, during which time there has been a high level of cooperation
between the the two cities. Local government officials from Dalian come
for training at Kitakyushu. The success of the exchange was shown by
the awarding of the UNEP Global 500 Award to Dalian in 2001.

ECO-TOWN
Kitakyushu
is not content to rest on the laurels of past environmental
achievements. The city is striving to become a true “eco-town,” not
only a nonpolluting but a no-waste zone, through reutilising the wastes
of one industry or activity as the raw materials for another. This
includes recycling automobiles, home appliances, office equipment,
fluorescent tubes, medical devices, cooking oil and fat, used paper,
washing and organic solvents and food refuse. Close cooperation between
local authorities, industry and the public has resulted in the
development of processes to create a truly environmentally conscious
community.

This includes a comprehensive system of recycling
plants.According to a Kitakyushu city official, the aim is to be “an
international resource recycling base in Asia. To combine environmental
efforts with economic benefits for green and sustainable growth has
become a vital international issue.”The concept of establishing
“eco-towns” was initiated and implemented in 1997 as a joint policy of
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the
Environment.Under the policy, local governments receive support for
projects aimed at stimulating regional development through
environment-related industries. Local administrations which have been
designated “eco-towns” are eligible to receive subsidies from the
national government for building facilities such as recycling plants.

Kitakyushu
City was the first of 18 eco-towns in Japan to receive accreditation,
in the year 2002, from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and
the Ministry of the Environment.The majority of the city’s recycling
plants are established along the seashore in Kitakyushu’s Hibikinada
district, an extensive stretch of 2000 hectares along the eastern
coastline.The scale of the complex is huge, with specialised plants for
recycling different items.In the Hibiki Recycling area, seven
automobile recycling companies are operating. Also, cooking oil
discarded from food production plants is recycled and reproduced as
animal feed, construction paint materials and alternative fuel.In the
Hibikinada East Area, there are waste wood and plastic recycling
projects, a pachinko and slot machine recycling project, a project to
reuse appliances such as personal computers and printer toner cartridge
recycling project. In this area, the first wind power generation
project in Japan supplies power for electricity generating.Kitakyushu
city benefits from an advanced commercial and industrial
infrastructure, including industrial waste disposal facilities such as
the one for PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which are very toxic
substances.In conjunction with its eco-town status, Kitakyushu city has
established the Kitakyushu Science and Research Park, which undertakes
education and fundamental research. Here there are joint research
projects with universities from around the world to promote a broad
based exchange of environmentally sound technology.

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November 29, 2006 at 1:58 PM