Japan will introduce legal controls from December to limit dioxin emissions
to internationally agreed safety levels. Current caps on the toxic emissions are
only 鈥渞ecommendations鈥�, with no penalties for violators.
The new rules will govern 11 000 incinerators that produce dioxins as a
by-product of burning plastic waste. But critics say that controls are needed on
other plants, too, such as those processing aluminium. 鈥淚f this were a marathon
race, Japan would just be catching a glimpse of the backs of the other runners,鈥�
says Ayako Sekine of Greenpeace Japan.
