Subsidy for Battery-Finding Tool to Block Fire at Waste Facility

To prevent fires caused by lithium-ion batteries at waste treatment facilities and similar sites, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will implement a program to provide subsidies to cover a portion of the costs that business operators would bear in adopting equipment such as battery-identifying and fire-detecting devices.

In recent years, there have been incidents in which lithium-ion batteries mixed with waste have caught fire at waste management facilities, making affected facilities suspend operations for an extended period, a situation that has had a serious impact on proper waste management.

Eligibility for the subsidy is broadly divided into two types: facilities that treat industrial waste and facilities that manage municipal waste, that is, waste other than industrial waste.

For industrial waste, eligible entities are those engaged in the disposal, collection, or transportation of industrial waste within Tokyo, provided they operate an intermediate management facility or a transfer and storage facility in Tokyo. The subsidy rate is one-half of eligible expenses for large companies and two-thirds for small and medium-sized enterprises. The maximum subsidy amounts are 20 million yen and 27 million yen, respectively.

For municipal waste, eligible entities will be wards, cities, and other municipalities, or administrative associations established by two or more wards, cities, and municipalities to handle common administrative affairs. These entities must meet requirements regarding their initiatives, such as methods for collecting lithium-ion batteries. The subsidy rate is one-half of eligible expenses, with a maximum subsidy amount of 20 million yen.

Through this initiative, the TMG aims to prevent a fire triggered by lithium-ion batteries, thereby ensuring a stable waste management system in Tokyo.