Feasibility of Building a Recycling Society in Miyako and Yaeyama Regions of Okinawa Prefecture

2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 12610195
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 社会学(含社会福祉関係)
• Research Institution: Shukutoku University
• Principal Investigator: IWAMURA Takuya Shukutoku University, College of Cross-Cultural Communication and Business, Associate Professor, 国際コミュニケーション学部, 助教授 (40286133)
• Project Period (FY): 2000 – 2001
• Keywords: OKINAWA / MIYAKO ISLAND / YAEYAMA ISLANDS / ENDOGENOUS DEVELOPMENT / ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS / CIRCULATORY SOCIETY / DECENTRALIZATION OF POWER / RECYCLING

Research Abstract

Following the previous research, this year I have surveyed the main three local newspapers of Okinawa Prefecture to check the environmental issues, visited in July, November, December and February Okinawan Islands, interviewing local authorities, workers at incineration stations, and "recycling centers" and local activists to know the situation of recycling and reuse of many kinds of goods. Okinawan government launched Zero Emission Plan in March, 2000 to establish an environment-friendly society, but ran short of staff, visions, and money, and did not link the plan with the municipal waste management policies. Plan to buiId wind farm has been deadlocked because of poor infrastructure. Conditions for water preservation vary island to island. Goods-wastes cannot be recycled on these remote islands. So the Okinawan Society as a whole is not ready to construct and implement policies toward "environmental-friendly society" or "circulatory type of society," though many burgeoning efforts are observed.