Japanese government says 80% of floating garbage in Okinawa is made in China
[Global Times special reporter Lu Hao] Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 4th that according to a survey report released by the Japanese Ministry of Environment on the 3rd, the amount of garbage floating near the coast of Japan in 2013 May reach up to 580,000 tons. Among them, "made in China" plastic bottles in Okinawa accounted for 80 percent of the total waste.
The Japanese government said that in addition to natural or China's waste in Japan, there is a considerable amount of waste from China and South Korea "across the sea". Japan will work with neighboring countries to alleviate a growing problem of floating garbage in the country's oceans, the government said.
Japan's Environment Ministry on Wednesday released a survey report on floating garbage in the offshore waters from 2010 to 2014, selecting seven locations from Ibaraki Prefecture to Okinawa Prefecture as statistical areas. According to the survey, the total weight of garbage floating on the Chinese coast of Japan in 2013 is estimated to be between 310,000 and 580,000 tons, which is about the same as last year. Natural waste, such as trees, accounted for 54 percent of the total, while man-made waste, such as discarded plastic bottles and fishing nets, accounted for 35 percent. By region, Hokkaido had the largest amount of floating waste, with 118,000 tons, followed by Chiba (91,000 tons) and Shimane (56,000 tons). At the same time, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment from January to March this year to the Seto inland Sea also conducted a garbage survey, one-time recycling of about 4.5 tons of garbage, plastic and metal products, among which the bottom of the "oldest" waste plastic bottles produced in 1983.
In addition to the total amount and type of garbage, the Japanese Ministry of Environment also conducts specific statistics on the "country" of garbage. Statistics show that in addition to local garbage in Japan, there are also a lot of China's garbage from China and South Korea, such as plastic bottles, and there are obvious "regional distribution". Among them, the Pacific coast and the Seto Inland Sea coast are basically Japanese garbage. For example, 98 percent of plastic bottle waste in Kamiki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, is made in Japan. In Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, 55 percent and 51 percent of plastic bottle waste along the coast are Korean products. In addition, the proportion of "made in China" waste in these areas is about 20 percent. The proportion of Chinese waste along the coast of Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture, is as high as 82 percent.
The Marine Environment Office of Japan's Environment Ministry said that Japan and China produced a considerable amount of floating garbage, while drifting garbage from neighboring countries moved by ocean currents began to accumulate in Japan's offshore waters. The Japanese government "will actively share information with China and South Korea to address the common public nuisance of garbage on the basis of effectively carrying out China's response measures", the ministry said.