Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held a Ministerial Meeting on the Advancement of Disaster Waste Management at the Diet building.

Discussion took place on the progress of disaster waste management and the wide-area disposal of disaster waste, and efforts toward the reuse of disaster waste.

Based on the discussion, the Prime Minister said, "In this ministerial meeting, we were able to compile the future policy of the government regarding the following three items.
Firstly, regarding the wide-area disposal, municipalities accepting disaster waste now represent a total of 26 prefectures and 13 ordinance-designated cities, by adding the municipalities that newly answered the policy of acceptance in addition to municipalities that already accepted waste or specifically made requests. We are receiving answers from some municipalities on the specific amount they are considering to accept. By adding these to the amount of waste that is already being disposed, wide-area disposal of approximately 1.62 million tons of waste is becoming realistic. For municipalities where acceptance is highly probable, such as those where coordination is already being made between the disaster-stricken regions, we would like to put in efforts to realize the acceptance at the highest priority. For other municipalities, we would like to promote acceptance gradually, considering the progress in the disaster-stricken regions on the preparation to carry out the waste. For municipalities feeling uncertainty regarding the safety of disposal, we would like to actively provide data on preceding cases and make sincere explanation, while also asking for confirmation by a third party, for further understanding.
Secondly, as for the acceptance by private companies including those of the cement and paper industries, we received positive answers, although with conditions, from 115 places of business of 70 companies in 6 business types. We would like to coordinate specific conditions from now on and to ask for acceptance. Also, in order to promote acceptance by the cement industry, we are considering the introduction of a new point-addition evaluation based on a comprehensive evaluation system, so as to facilitate the utilization in public works of cement using disaster waste as raw materials and fuels.
Thirdly, we would like to continue discussions for the substantialization of businesses that utilize materials recycled from disaster waste.
I ask the relevant ministers once again to continuously make further cooperation in advancing the diffusion and expansion of wide-area disposal and reuse of disaster waste."