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ビデオテープレコーダー，DVDビデオ，ビデオカメラ，デジタルカメラ，フラッシュメモリプレーヤー，HDDオーディオプレーヤー，ゲーム機器，携帯電話の8品目を対象に，日本における廃棄量および含有物質の潜在的な含有量の試算を行った。また，廃棄先・自治体におけるリサイクル実態について，アンケート調査を行った。廃棄量は年間約60,000tonと概算され，約0.4kg/(人・年) と，家電4品目6.7kg/(人・年) に比べては多くない結果であった。潜在的な資源量は金約4ton，パラジウム約3tonと資源密度が高かった。廃棄先は，携帯電話を除いては，自治体が50%以上を占める最大の排出先であった。約8割の自治体が，破砕処理後，リサイクルを行っている。その内訳は，鉄が約9割であり，レアメタルについてはほとんどリサイクルされていない。さらに，隠れたフローやe-wasteを含めた小型電気電子機器のリサイクル推進に向けた政策的な視点を整理した。

Focusing on the promotion of the “3Rs” – reduce, reuse, and recycle – the authors summarize the policy that Japan has evolved in waste management and recycling policy over the years. To realize an international sound material-cycle society (SMS), the 3R approaches should first be implemented in each individual country. After each country has established an SMS to the best of its ability, contribution toward reducing the environmental load internationally, especially across all of East Asia, will be achieved by having waste and recyclable resources that cannot be handled in one country effectively used or processed in other countries. The current situation of international resource circulation is described and a concept of SMS at an international level is proposed.

Atmospheric emissions of deca-brominated diphenyl ether (DBDE) in Japan were estimated based on the material flow of DBDE products and their emission factors. In 2002, the demand for DBDE in Japan was 2200 ton/year and the stock level was about 60 000 ton. The DBDE flow into the waste stream was estimated to be about 6000 ton/year and the flow out through second-hand product exports was more than 700 ton/year. Home appliance recycling facilities dismantle and crush domestic wastes containing about 600 ton of DBDE annually. Material recycling of crushed plastics is not commonly practiced as yet. Emission factors from plastics processing (2 × 10−9–1 × 10−7), textile processing (9 × 10−7), home appliance recycling (8 × 10−9–5 × 10−6), and waste incineration (1 × 10−7–2 × 10−6) were estimated using field measurement data. The DBDE emission rate through house dust during the service life of final products (2 × 10−7–9 × 10−7 per year) was estimated using the DBDE concentration in dust and the amount of dust in used televisions. Emission factors from previous studies were also used. The estimated total DBDE emission was 170–1800 kg/year. These results suggest the necessity of characterizing emissions during the service life of products, which is essential information for formulating an appropriate e-waste recycling strategy.

In this article, several factors related to green economics, from historical pollution experiences to current policies in Japan, are scrutinised. It covers several famous pollution cases in Japan as well as recent preventive policy approaches, including voluntary approaches and green purchase. The article also gives an overview of Japanese environmental trends, from 'end-of-pipe' measures to more preventive measures.