Hidehiro Kaneko* and Masaki Nishimori**

* Faculty of Engineering, Yamanashi University
** Komiyama Kogyo Co., Ltd.

+ Correspondence should be addressed to Hidehiro Kaneko
(4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi 400 Japan)

Abstract

Home composting of kitchen refuse at each household has been gathering attention in recent years. A large number of municipalities, which suffer from waste problems, have been practicing a home composting subsidizing program. The situation of this program was investigated by a questionnaire survey. The results showed that approximately 80% of municipalities have adopted it. Although this program would be effective to waste reduction, it was estimated its duration period has been too short to achieve effective waste reduction so far. A back-up service for home composting device users would be necessary to keep the device being used for a long time and to get effective waste reduction.

Key words: home composting, waste reduction, subsidizing program