Alexei Volkov
Japan has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation, rooted in ancient cultural beliefs and practices. In 2022, the recycling rate of plastic waste in Japan was 87%, up from 84% in 2017. However, this figure includes burning plastic as a form of energy, which may be misleading as over half of the recycled plastic is incinerated. Japan exports roughly 46% of its plastic waste to Southeast Asian countries and is the largest exporter of plastic waste. Japan has implemented various measures to improve plastic recycling, such as the Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources and the Act on the Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics. While Japan has a high recycling rate, there is a focus on incineration and thermal recycling, which may not be considered true recycling. To reduce negative environmental impacts, Japan needs to shift towards reusing plastic. Japan's first zero-waste city, Kamikatsu, has a recycling rate of 80%.
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What You'll Learn
Plastic waste management
Japan has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation, rooted in ancient cultural beliefs and practices, and supported by government policies. In 2001, the Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources required businesses to consider recyclability during product design and manufacturing, and to use recycled materials. Japan's recycling rate for PET bottles was 84.8% in 2017, one of the highest in the world. The overall recycling rate of plastic waste in Japan in 2022 was 87%, although this figure includes burning plastic for energy, which may be misleading. Over half of the plastic that is "recycled" is incinerated, with only 23% being reused as material.
In Japan, waste is sorted by citizens before it is collected. Plastic, paper, PET bottles, aluminium, and glass are collected separately for recycling. The country has detailed rules for separate waste collection, such as requiring papers and cardboard to be tied up with rope, and broken glass or ceramics to be wrapped in paper to prevent worker injury. Some municipalities even collect and recycle diapers according to guidelines developed by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment in 2020.
To reduce plastic waste, the Japanese government has made it mandatory for shops to charge for plastic bags, and places like Kyoto have already implemented this legislation. In 2018, the government unveiled a proposal to reduce the country's 9.4 million tonnes of plastic waste by 25% by 2030. However, Japan declined to sign the G7 Pact to reduce single-use plastics in 2018.
On a global level, plastic waste management is a pressing issue. The world produced 367 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2020, and this number is expected to increase. The Basel Convention, an international agreement, now includes plastic waste, providing guidance for its environmentally sound management. According to the UNEP Global Waste Management Outlook, 3 billion people lack access to controlled solid waste disposal services, and 2 billion lack regular waste collection. As a result, a large portion of plastic waste ends up in the environment or landfills, contaminating air, soil, and water, and harming ecosystems and people.
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Plastic recycling rate
Japan has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation, rooted in ancient cultural beliefs and practices, and supported by government policies. The country's long-standing emphasis on resource conservation is driven by the limited natural resources available for the industrial sector.
Japan's plastic recycling rate is officially reported to be 84%. However, this figure includes burning plastic as a form of energy, which may be misleading. Over half of the plastic that is "recycled" is incinerated, with only 23% being reused as material recycling. To put this into perspective, the recycling rate for PET bottles in 2017 was 84.8%, one of the highest in the world, and this rate has continued to exceed 80% in recent years. Europe, in comparison, has a recycling rate of 34.6% for collected waste plastics, while the United States has a rate lower than 20%.
Japan's high recycling rate for plastic bottles can be attributed to two main factors. Firstly, the Japanese plastic bottle industry sets strict guidelines from the manufacturing stage to ensure the bottles are easy to recycle. Secondly, a law has been implemented for bottle separation, collection, and reuse. All plastic bottles produced in Japan are transparent, unlike coloured bottles found overseas, to facilitate easy recycling. The Council for PET Bottle Recycling also sets strict guidelines from the manufacturing stage.
In Japan, waste is usually sorted by citizens before it is collected. Plastic, paper, PET bottles, aluminium, and glass are collected separately to be recycled. Each type of waste has a different collection day, and there are detailed rules for separate collection. For example, papers and cardboard must be tied up with rope, and broken glass or ceramics must be wrapped with paper to prevent worker injury.
The Japanese government has also implemented policies to promote recycling and reduce plastic waste. In 2018, the government unveiled a proposal to reduce the country's 9.4 million tonnes of plastic waste by 25% by 2030. They also announced plans to make it mandatory for retail shops to charge for plastic shopping bags, with some places like Kyoto already implementing this legislation.
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Plastic recycling methods
Japan has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation, with a reported 84% official "recycling rate" of end-of-life plastics. However, this figure includes burning plastic as a form of energy, which may be misleading. In reality, over half of the plastic that is "recycled" is incinerated.
Recycling is the process of collecting waste materials, transforming them into raw materials, and processing them into new products. There are three main types of recycling: mechanical, chemical, and thermal.
Mechanical recycling is the traditional method that has been used for decades and is responsible for the majority of plastic recycling worldwide. It uses grinding, washing, sorting, and reprocessing to repurpose plastic material. The plastic is shredded, melted down and forced through an extruder to form pellets, which are then sold to manufacturers.
Chemical recycling is a newer technology that breaks down polymers, the large molecules that make up plastic materials, to create raw, high-quality materials. There are three chemical recycling processes: pyrolysis, gasification, and depolymerization. Pyrolysis involves heating polymers in the absence of oxygen, causing them to break down into smaller parts that behave like oil. This synthetic oil can then be used as feedstock in the petrochemical industry. Gasification is similar, but polymers are heated in the presence of oxygen and water, creating a mixture of gases called syngas, which can be used as a chemical feedstock. Depolymerization cuts down polymers into monomers, creating a starting material for new plastic production.
Thermal recycling involves burning plastic for energy, and it accounts for 56% of plastic recycling in Japan.
To improve recycling rates, it is important to separate different types of plastics and wash them to remove any food residue or other contaminants. In Japan, it is common for individuals to wash their plastic products before recycling them.
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Plastic recycling laws
Japan has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation, rooted in ancient cultural beliefs and practices, and supported by government policies. The country's long-standing emphasis on resource conservation is driven by the limited natural resources available for the industrial sector.
Japan's recycling rate for plastic waste was 87% in 2022, an increase from 84% in 2018, which was among the highest in the world. However, it is important to note that this figure includes burning plastic for energy, with over half of the recycled plastic being incinerated. The remaining waste is disposed of at landfills, and Japan is facing a shortage of landfill sites.
Japan's recycling laws include the Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics, enacted in June 2021, which encourages manufacturers to design products for ease of recycling. The law also requires major retailers and hotel chains to offer plastic products that are 60% derived from recycled or biodegradable materials by 2030. Additionally, the country has implemented a surcharge on plastic bags, with the goal of reducing their use.
The Japanese government has also proposed reducing the country's plastic waste by 25% by 2030. The government plans to achieve this through various initiatives, such as the New Action Plan towards a Global Zero Waste Society, which aims to establish material cycle societies internationally. The government has also made it mandatory for retail shops to charge for plastic shopping bags, with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announcing its goal of implementing this by 2020.
At the local level, municipalities are required to collect and recycle all plastic products, and detailed rules for separate collection exist. For example, papers and cardboard must be tied up with rope, and broken glass or ceramics must be wrapped with paper to prevent worker injury. Japan has also developed certification systems for businesses that collect and recycle their products and their own industrial waste, granting them legal exceptions on regulations, including waste collection.
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Plastic recycling challenges
Japan has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation, rooted in ancient cultural beliefs and practices, and supported by modern government policies. However, there are several challenges to plastic recycling in the country.
Firstly, there is a high demand for and consumption of plastic in Japan. The average person in Japan uses up to 450 plastic bags per year, and the country produces more plastic per capita than China and the rest of Asia combined. This is partly due to the high consumer demand for plastic packaging in the humid environment, as well as the prevalence of single-use plastic products, such as vending machine drinks and convenience store food.
Secondly, while Japan has an impressive plastic recycling rate of 84-87%, this figure includes burning plastic as a form of energy, which may be misleading. Over half of the plastic that is "recycled" is incinerated, contributing to carbon dioxide emissions and presenting challenges for achieving carbon neutrality. In contrast, the actual rates of material recycling, which reuses plastic, and chemical recycling, which breaks down plastic polymers for secondary use, are much lower, at 21-25% combined.
Thirdly, recycling plastic is a complex and costly process. It requires meticulous sorting by type, and even within the same category, variations in shape and hardness complicate the process. Electrostatic separation technology, which uses friction to generate static electricity and sort plastics, is being developed to improve the accuracy and efficiency of recycling. However, recycling incurs costs several times higher than manufacturing new containers from scratch, influencing product pricing and consumer choices.
Lastly, Japan exports a significant portion of its plastic waste to other countries, primarily in Southeast Asia. In 2017, about 70% of Japan's plastic waste exports went to China, but since China banned plastic waste imports that year, Japan has been exporting its waste to other countries in the region. This practice of exporting waste raises ethical concerns about the environmental impact and the responsibility of waste management.
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Frequently asked questions
Japan's plastic recycling rate in 2021 was 87%. However, this figure includes the incineration of plastic and the use of thermal energy generated from this process, which some argue should not be considered recycling. The actual rate of material recycling, which reuses plastic, is much lower, at 21% in 2020.
In Japan, it is common for individuals to wash their plastic products to remove any food residue before recycling them. For example, plastic bottles are usually separated into three parts – the cap, the film and the body – before recycling. There are detailed rules for separate collection, such as papers and cardboard to be tied up with rope, and broken glass or ceramics to be wrapped with paper to prevent worker injury. Japan also has a strong tradition of recycling and resource conservation rooted in ancient cultural beliefs and practices, supported by government policies.
Recycling plastics requires meticulous sorting by type, and even within the same category, variations in shape and hardness complicate the process. While Japan has a strong recycling culture, it faces challenges in reducing the use of single-use plastics, with a high consumer demand for plastic products in a humid environment. Additionally, recycling is typically more expensive than manufacturing new containers from scratch, influencing product pricing.
