TOUR LOGBOOK

21 April 2000 - Greenpeace highlights PVC waste pollution in Seto Sea, Japan

Greenpeace today released results of sampling of effluent outfalls from two Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM) plants in Tokuyama and Shin-Nanyo, Yamaguchi Prefecture, which indicated the release of a mixture of chlorinated persistent chemicals into the Seto Inland Sea. VCM is the feedstock for Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastic.

Greenpeace activists in small inflatable boats erected a signpost above one of the submerged outfalls from one of the plants which read, “From pipe to dinner table” and “PVC=Dioxin” in Japanese. The sign was placed to notify local people of the potential pollution from the outfall.

“Our sampling results show that the PVC industry is releasing into the environment a complex mixture of chemicals, some of which are persistent, toxic to humans and animals and in some instances have the capacity to build up in the food chain”, said Ayako Sekine, Greenpeace Japan Toxics Campaigner.

“These types of pollutants not only have the potential to affect the local environment but also contribute to broader pollution of the Seto Inland Sea. The time has come for governments surrounding the Inland Sea to develop a zero discharge policy to protect and enhance this ecologically important and closed sea,” added Sekine.

Greenpeace has pointed to government and industry studies which showed that the extremely toxic chemical dioxin was also being released in effluent from VCM plants in these cities and criticized the government for failing to clearly identify the potentially large dioxin emissions from solid waste from VCM production.

The link between dioxin formation and PVC burning has been known for a long time, however the Japanese government has neglected to undertake a proper independent study of the potentially very large amounts of dioxin produced in sludge's and solid waste from the manufacture of PVC plastic intermediaries Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) and Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM). Greenpeace called on the government to commission an independent study of all dioxin releases from all parts of PVC production and make this information publicly available.

“PVC plastic is an environmental poison at every point in its lifecycle from manufacture, use and disposal and contributes to not only localised pollution but global pollution through the release of persistent organic chemicals,” said Sekine.

“The solution for both the Seto Sea and the planet is to phase out PVC products and use less environmentally problematic plastics or alternative materials” added Sekine.

More info from our Global Toxic Hotspots: Seto Inland Sea (Teshima)

27 April - Greenpeace blocks unloading of industrial waste

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