With changes in socio-economic conditions, there has been a trend toward increased household and industrial waste. The situation is becoming difficult to cope with using the present incineration facilities and landfills. For these reasons, a resource recovery and recycling policy is being promoted as an important measure.
1. Food Sanitation Measures
In this prefecture, due to the high temperature and humidity characteristic
of subtropical climates, cases of food poisoning caused by Salmonella enteritis
vibrio and Campylobacter frequently recur. With the recent incidence of large-scale food poisonings, food handling tests and on-the-spot inspections of food handling facilities are conducted to prevent group food poisoning cases. Education in the sanitary handling of food is given to food-related businesses and workers engaged in the food industry. The Food Sanitation Association receives guidance and helps develop the establishment of a volunteer
control system by food-related businesses.
At present, there is a wide variety of food available on the market. Accurate information from specialists equipped with broad-ranging knowledge and technical expertise is necessary to cope with securing the safety of foodstuffs. To accomplish this goal, the installation of testing equipment at food inspection facilities has been scheduled, and the implementation of technical studies for inspectors, meetings for the discussion of research, and collection of information on food sanitation are being conducted. Furthermore, events like Food Sanitation Week, Nationwide Summertime Food Control Month, and Nationwide Year-end Food Control Month are being carried out. Efforts to further the dissemination of knowledge and education for food-related businesses and prefectural citizens about the prevention of food poisoning are being exerted.
In addition, from 1983 on, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) trainees have been accepted to the Okinawa Prefecture Sanitation and Environment
Research Institute. Trainees undergo technical instruction in food inspection for the purpose of technical exchange and performance improvement.
2. Measures to Secure Potable Water
Even though the annual precipitation in this prefecture exceeds the national average, the effective utilization of water is limited by the existence of short rivers and steep slopes. As of 1996, the water supply system availability rate has reached 99.8%; the people rely on the water supply system to secure potable water.
On relatively large islands such as the Okinawa main island, Miyako, Ishigaki and Iriomote islands, water is secured from dams, rivers and underground sources. Connecting pipelines on bridges or submarine pipelines are used to provide water to the outlying islands surrounding the major islands. When securing a water source was impossible, as in the case of five outlying islands (Kitadaito, Tonaki, Aguni, Minamidaito, and Hateruma Islands), desalinization
facilities were constructed to supply potable water (completed in 1987).
The demand for water supply on the Okinawa main island has increased in recent years. In order to supply stable water services in the future, a large scale desalinization facility (with a daily water capacity of 40,000m3) is now under construction, with parts of it already in operation.
Protruding coral reefs abound in the central and southern parts of the Okinawa
main island and Miyako islands, so tap water is hard and rich in calcium and magnesium. For this reason, a water softening facility has been under development from the 1996 fiscal year.
3. Measures for Waste Disposal
The total volume of municipal solid waste has been increasing with the improved standard of living; the limited capacity of disposal sites in the future is looked on with apprehension. New waste disposal facilities are being constructed. At the same time, the Okinawa Prefectural Promotion Plan for Waste Reduction and Recycling was set up to promote measures toward a future "recycling" society, with the separate collection and recovery of resource wastes, waste reduction, recycling, and resource recovery.
Household refuse is presently separated into combustible, non-combustible and resource waste categories. In the 1994 fiscal year, 99.9% of discharged waste collected in the prefecture was accounted for by municipal plans: 66.2% of that went to incineration facilities, with the remainder emptied into landfills, and other disposal areas. Thirty waste treatment facilities have been constructed and six of them are landfill sites.
In 1990, the prefecture adopted the Second Okinawa Prefecture Industrial Waste Treatment Plan in order to promote a comprehensive plan for the disposal of industrial waste. Basic measures to promote industrial waste control include: 1) treatment responsibilities for businesses discharging waste; 2) the promotion of discharge control and waste reduction; 3) establish the division of roles between discharging parties and treatment parties, and promote appropriate waste disposal, and 4) the further construction of industrial waste treatment facilities.
Livestock waste makes up most of the total volume of industrial waste in this prefecture, followed by demolition waste, sludge and slag. Industrial waste has increased every year, and securing final disposal sites will become an enormous problem in the future. Also, guidance in appropriate waste disposal methods is required to combat the illegal dumping of demolition waste and old tires. Presently, 12 night soil treatment facilities have been constructed in 26 municipalities; 65.7% of the total night soil is treated at these 12 facilities. The rest is either emptied into the ocean, restored to farmland, or dumped into the sewage system. The urgent development of ground treatment facilities for night soil presently emptied in the ocean is being aggressively promoted.