Overview of JWRF

Brief History

The JWRF, or the Japan Waste Research Foundation was established in 1989 as an incorporated foundation.

During late 1990s and early 2000s, the JWRF provided a firm foundation through its R&D activities for developing national policies to control harmful substances like dioxin potentially produced in waste management activities.

Since late 1990s, a series of large-scaled disasters have occurred in Japan. These disasters produced huge waste, and the JWRF contributed to formulate new national policies for disaster waste management.

In Japan, the laws for the public interest corporations reform were enacted in 2008. In 2011, based on the national reform, the foundation was certificated by the Prime Minister as a public interest incorporated foundation working in the public interest to realize a recycle-based society in and outside Japan.

In the meantime, waste management and 3R policies have needed to be strengthened with a broader scope in all countries including developing countries.

In 2017, the JWRF decided to change its internal organizational structure to strengthen activities for solving problems of waste management and 3R in developing countries, and thus created "The Support Center for Overseas Waste Management Business" (the Center) specifically working for such the challenge supported by Ministry of the Environment and several private companies.

Now, the JWRF is functioning as a body to find technological solutions for managing both industrial and municipal wastes in and outside Japan by bridging industry, government, academia and civil society for developing new waste management technologies and systems.

3 Pillars of the JWRF Activities and Selected R&D Themes

According to the Charter for the establishment of the JWRF, the activities of the JWRF consist of the following three pillars:

• R&D on waste management and 3R,
• Enhancing public awareness by disseminating information including its R&D achievements to the public, and
• Contribution for solving problems of waste management and 3R outside Japan.

The R&D themes include:

• Proper and smooth management of waste produced by large-scale disaster,
• Stabilization of offshore landfill sites,
• Recycle and re-use of incineration ash, and
• Energy recovery from small and medium size waste treatment facilities.