Home > The Great East Japan Earthquake > Revised FAQ on Waste Disposal of Vegetables and Raw Milk of which Radioactive Substances were Detected (as of May 30)
Regarding the accident of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station of TEPCO, relative prefectural governments have been taking shipment restraint measures on products such as vegetables which were detected the radioactive substances over the provisional regulation value.
MAFF announces how to dispose these vegetables and products to parties concerned based on the advice from Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan as follows.
The vegetables and raw milk of which radioactive substances were detected including such products restrained their shipment, are requested to be disposed by means of the following methods for the time being. (These methods are based on the advice from Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.)
MAFF decided methods to dispose of vegetables subject to the shipment restrain for each prefecture accordingly.
1. Prefectures except for Fukushima prefecture
Vegetables stored in accordance with the shipment restraint can be disposed of as normal domestic wastes according to the municipal methods of disposal such as burying.
Other products such as covering materials for agricultural use can be disposed of as normal industrial wastes as before.
2. Areas in Fukushima prefecture
(1) Hamadori Area and Nakadori area (except for the districts of Nakajima village, Yamatsuri town, Hanawa town, Samegawa village, Ishikawa town, Tamakawa village, Hirata village, Asakawa town, Furudono town and Ono town)
Vegetables stored in accordance with the shipment restraint should be gathered and stored in one place without plowing, and should not be disposed of.
Other products such as covering materials for agricultural use should be gathered and stored in one place as well.
As for methods to dispose of these waste products hereafter, MAFF will separately respond to them based on the result of the disposal methods in these areas considered by related authorities such as Ministry of the Environment. We will announce the methods once they are decided.
(2) Aizu area and the districts of Nakajima village, Yamatsuri town, Hanawa town, Samegawa village, Ishikawa town, Tamakawa village, Hirata village, Asakawa town, Furudono town and Ono town out of Nakadori area
Same as “1. Prefectures except for Fukushima prefecture” mentioned above.
As mentioned above, MAFF shows disposal methods of covering materials such as used plastic occurred from horticultural facilities, so please work to appropriate disposal.
The milk should be buried in a focused point of your land.
For details, please see the following Q&A.
A1. In principle, this response will be required until the radioactive substances' release from the Nuclear Power Plant ends and the situation of radioactive substances' spread becomes clear. According to the circumstances of the moment, new information will be provided.
A2. In addition to putting vegetables in storage in packing, piling them up in a specific point of your agricultural fields could be considered. As its purpose is to prevent the spread of radioactive substances, it is not required to store literally all vegetables in one place and it is enough to recognize where you store them.
A3. There is no need to do anything to the vegetables plowed, as well as the vegetables already disposed or distributed to the market before the shipment restraint.
A4. When it is difficult to bury raw milk, please spread them in a specific point of your land such as grassland within as narrowly as possible.
A5. As the detected radioactive concentration in raw milk is relatively low, it is acceptable to dispose raw milk at the waste processing facility if necessary.