With its landfill sites almost full, Japan launched a plan last week to halve the amount of waste it buries by 2010.

Reuters reports that though some other affluent countries produce more trash per capita in weight terms, the Japanese fondness for elaborate packaging leaves it with a lot of bulky waste and nowhere to put it. The idea is to reduce the amount of waste buried from 56 million tonnes in 2002 to 28 million tonnes by 2010 by recycling more and promoting conservation, the Environment Ministry said.

"We are running out of places to bury our trash," said an official at the Environment Ministry, adding that objections from local people made it difficult to develop new waste disposal sites.

Several offshore islands have been created from excess landfill and the ministry's latest ideas include digging up old landfill sites and incinerating their contents to make room for more waste. But even this will not provide nearly enough space, while burning trash can lead to the emission of carcinogenic dioxins.

"If we are going to deal with this problem, society itself must change," the official said. A tax on the plastic bags handed out free at supermarkets is also under consideration. Ireland introduced such a levy last year.

Copies of the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law (0.2MB) are available from the Japanese environment agency's website at:
http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/wastelaw/01.pdf

Copies of the Cabinet Order of Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law (0.2MB) are available from the Japanese environment agency's website at:
http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/wastelaw/02.pdf

Copies of the Regulations of Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law (0.4MB) are available from the Japanese environment agency's website at:
http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/wastelaw/03.pdf