With marine pollution becoming a global issue, the Japan Coast Guard arrested 334 cases in Japan for throwing "household waste" such as kitchen waste and plastic waste into the sea. It turned out that it is going up and increasing.
The Japan Coast Guard summarizes the number of cases cleared for illegal dumping of garbage in the sea for violations of the Waste Management Law.
Of these, 334 cases were arrested for throwing "household waste" such as kitchen waste, PET bottles, and plastic containers for food into the sea in the five years up to last year.
By year, there are 55 cases in 2016, 41 cases in 2017, 59 cases in 2018, 84 cases in 2019, and 95 cases in 2020, showing an increasing trend.
Last year, a man in his 80s who was arrested by throwing about 7 kg of kitchen waste into a fishing port in Hokkaido said, "It was a hassle to throw it away on the designated collection day."
In addition, the number of arrests for fishermen who have thrown away fishing gear and carcasses of fish has remained flat, and the Japan Coast Guard has decided to strengthen awareness-raising activities and guidance to prevent them.