Cases / Waste management · Japan · 1978–2019
Waste dumped on Teshima island under a 'valuable goods, not waste' label
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
About 939,000 tonnes of shredder dust and industrial waste were dumped on Teshima, Japan, after the operator called it valuable goods and the prefecture approved the classification. The sources reviewed do not describe effects on the island's environment.
What?
About 939,000 tonnes of shredder dust and industrial waste were dumped on Teshima island after being classed as valuable goods. Kagawa Prefecture
Where?
Teshima island, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kagawa Prefecture
When?
Dumping recorded over 1978–2019; the clean-up estimate dates from 2013. Kagawa Prefecture
Who?
Gained
- Teshima operator — Ran the site under the valuable-goods classification approved by the prefecture Kagawa Prefecture
Lost
- Kagawa Prefecture and its taxpayers — Public clean-up programme, estimated at about 52.1 billion yen in 2013 Kagawa Prefecture
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Shredder dust was dumped under a valuable-goods label that the prefecture approved. In a 1999 okara case, Japan's Supreme Court judged waste status on objective criteria rather than the owner's intent; that case does not concern Teshima. Kagawa Prefecture
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
The operator of the Teshima site described shredder dust as valuable goods, not waste, and Kagawa Prefecture approved the classification.
Kagawa Prefecture records about 939,000 tonnes of waste dumped on the island in the period 1978–2019.
Kagawa Prefecture's history page gives a 2013 estimate of about 52.1 billion yen for the clean-up.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record Environmental effects on the island's land, water and residents are not described in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The name of the operator, and whether anyone was prosecuted, are not stated in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
- Kagawa Prefecture: history of the Teshima problemKagawa Prefecture ·