Current Status and Prospect for the Future on Testing Methods for Integrated Waste Management

Masahiro Osako*, Yusaku Ono**, Noboru Tanikawa*** and Masato Yamada*
* National Institute of Public Health
** Center for Environmental Science in Saitama
*** Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection
+ Correspondence should be addressed to Masahirob Osako
(4-6-1, Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8638, Japan)

Abstract
At the present, there are many testing methods characterizing municipal wastes and estimating the hazardousness of industrial wastes as well as evaluating the emissions from waste management facilities. For example, municipal waste analysis has been performed to control incineration, while the leaching test has been applied to specially-controlled-waste to select the final disposal method. However, the current circumstances surrounding the waste management have been changing drastically. A recycling system which considers the life-cycle of materials is needed. To meet these requirements, restructuring of the testing method for waste management has been eagerly requested from new aspects. In this paper, the current status of the testing method for waste management is introduced, to which several problems are discussed from the viewpoints of scope, objective and requirement of the testing system for the coming 21st century. In the system, focus was given to physical and chemical observation and bioassay.

Key words: test method, municipal solid waste, industrial waste, hazardous waste, bioassay, recycling