Waste is classified into general waste and industrial waste. The permits required for the collection and disposal of these wastes also differ. As stipulated in Article 14 of the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law, businesses that transport their own industrial waste themselves are exempt. Therefore, a permit for industrial waste collection and transportation is not required when a business transports industrial waste that it has generated itself. Simply put, businesses that collect and transport waste generated by other companies as a business are required to obtain a permit.

Our office provides support with applications for permits, renewal applications, applications for changes, and notifications relating to the collection and transportation of industrial waste.

There are 20 types of waste designated by law as industrial waste. For some types of waste, specific types of businesses are designated, and whether the waste qualifies as industrial waste is determined by the type of business from which it originates. In addition, “specially controlled industrial waste” refers to industrial waste that has properties that may cause harm to human health or the living environment, such as explosiveness, toxicity, or infectiousness. Special requirements apply to the collection and transportation of such waste, so care must be taken.

When applying for a collection and transportation permit, it is important to understand what types of waste will be handled and whether any of the waste qualifies as specially controlled industrial waste.

Of the 20 types of industrial waste, certain types are designated as waste generated in connection with specific business activities. For example, in the case of “waste paper,” businesses engaged in construction, paper manufacturing, newspaper publishing, publishing, bookbinding, and printing and processing of printed materials are designated as businesses whose specific activities generate waste paper. Other types, such as “waste wood,” “waste textiles,” “animal and plant residue,” “animal-derived solid waste,” “animal manure,” and “animal carcasses,” are also designated as industrial waste when generated in connection with certain business activities. Therefore, when these types of waste are generated outside the specified business activities, much of such waste is treated as general waste.

The Nagano Prefecture guidelines list, among the documents required for an application, a copy of the certificate of completion of the “Training Course for Applications for Permits for Industrial Waste or Specially Controlled Industrial Waste Treatment Businesses (Collection and Transportation Course)” conducted by the Japan Environmental Sanitation Center.

Certificates of completion have validity periods, and the required training course certificate must be prepared according to the type of application, such as a new permit or a renewal permit. There are also requirements concerning the officers and other personnel who are required to take the course, so attention must be paid to these requirements as well.

We recommend consulting our office first, confirming which training course is required, and then making a reservation for the course.

When collected industrial waste is temporarily unloaded and stored at an intermediate storage location before being transported to the disposal destination, a permit for collection and transportation involving “transshipment and temporary storage” is required. Separate prior consultation procedures may also be required.

In such cases, obtaining the permit may take longer than in cases where no transshipment and temporary storage is involved, where waste is transported directly from the place of generation to the disposal facility.

The application documents require an outline of the business plan. This includes information such as the “name and address of the planned waste-generating facility” as the place where the waste will be collected, and the “name and address of the planned transportation destination (name and address of the disposal facility)” as the destination to which the waste will be transported.

These matters also need to be confirmed in advance. Since some disposal facilities do not accept certain types of waste, it is necessary to ensure consistency between the types of waste to be transported and the types of waste accepted by the disposal facility.

In addition to our office’s professional fees, application fees payable to the prefecture or city are required when applying for a permit. As of October 2026, the fees charged by Nagano Prefecture and Nagano City are the same.

Industrial Waste Collection and Transportation Business

• New permit: ¥81,000

• Permit for changes: ¥71,000

• Permit renewal: ¥73,000

Specially Controlled Industrial Waste Collection and Transportation Business

• New permit: ¥81,000

• Permit for changes: ¥72,000

• Permit renewal: ¥74,000

In principle, permits for industrial waste collection and transportation are required from each relevant local government having jurisdiction over the place where the industrial waste is loaded and the place where it is unloaded.

For example, when industrial waste is loaded in Nagano Prefecture and transported to a disposal company in Niigata Prefecture, permits from both Nagano Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture are required. In addition, in core cities such as Nagano City and Matsumoto City, a permit from the city rather than the prefecture may be required.