Preliminary Study on Eco-Restructuring of Industrial and Societal Systems in Wakayama Prefecture

In this paper, an attempt is made to examine eco-restructuring potential of industrial and societal systems in Wakayama prefecture with respect to industrial and product chains in material sectors.First, material flow in Wakayama prefecture is analyzed to recognize the share of input and output, international and inter-regional transaction and regional recycling or utilization. The material flow indicates nearly 5% of regional resource utilization to the total material input.Second, present treatment, disposal and resource utilization of industrial waste in Wakayama is clarified using the existed questionnaire survey report and interviews. Various regional attempts to utilize industrial by-products are extracted and strategies for further improvement are discussed.Finally, preliminary study is made to evaluate potential of regional resource utilization in the steel industry and associated product chains and industrial complexes. Nearly 7% of improvement possibility is suggested by recycling of used plastics, desulfurization-derived plasters and scarp steels. The analysis also shows the associated problems on quality, logistics, and so on.