Distributive Equity in Waste Disposal Facilities Siting and the Perception of Necessity: In-Ward-Waste-Disposal-Principle in the 23 Wards of Tokyo

What affects the realization of an idea of distributive equity in the siting of waste disposal facilities? This study shows how the realization of an idea of distributive equity in waste management of Tokyo, In-Ward-Waste-Disposal, was significantly influenced by the degree of the perceived necessity for more incinerators. The siting of waste disposal facilities often faces conflicts with neighbors due to the negative impacts on a host community. Distributive equity is one of the most crucial aspects in these conflicts as the facility siting brings the sense of unfairness to those who are told to accept them. In the 23 wards of Tokyo, how to redress inequity in the distribution of waste disposal facilities has been one of the biggest concerns in waste management. In the early 1970s, In-Ward-Waste-Disposal, which meant that waste of a ward should be disposed of within the ward, was adopted as a significant principle in waste management and translated into One-Ward-One-Incinerator-Policy. However, this idea of distributive equity was not completely realized and abandoned in 2003. By comparing the four periods between 1971 and 2003, this study argues that the progress of One-Ward-One-Incinerator depended on how much more incineration capacity was assumed to be necessary given the estimated amount of waste in the future. The incinerators siting to realize In-Ward-Waste-Disposal was facilitated when the urgent necessity to build more incinerators was perceived by the government under the rapid economic growth and the dominant influence of Incinerationism as the policy paradigm in waste management, while the siting became stagnant when the urgency was eased as the economy became sluggish and the influence of Incinerationism was undermined by the emergence of Sustainable Waste Management as the new paradigm. When the necessity was denied, In-Ward-Waste-Disposal was abandoned and the attempt to find another way to redress inequity began.