The government indicated Thursday that Japan is set to obligate major manufacturers to utilize recycled plastics as part of efforts to cut plastic pollution and promote decarbonization.
The government aims to revise the law on the promotion of effective utilization of resources as early as at next year's regular Diet session, with the revision expected to request manufacturers to set specific targets and report their achievements on a regular basis.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry presented the plan at a meeting of experts, in which ways to effectively utilize limited resources were also discussed.
Currently in Japan, the majority of plastic waste is "recycled" through burning, a method called thermal recycling, through which generated heat is used for power generation or other purposes.
The European Union, however, considers CO2-emitting thermal recycling as energy recovery rather than recycling.
Two other ways of recycling plastics are material recycling, in which plastic waste is reused as raw materials to create new products, and chemical recycling, in which plastic waste is chemically broken down into raw materials to create entirely new products, according to the Plastic Waste Management Institute.
Under the current law, it is not mandatory for manufacturers to use recycled plastics, and they are simply asked to make reasonable efforts to that end.
Through the revision, the government is considering to introduce a system in which it issues recommendations to or even imposes fines on underachievers.
Plastics are generally difficult to degrade in nature due to their high stability, but once they are degraded due to the influence of ultraviolet light and oceanic waves, they are turned into microplastics, which are considered harmful to ocean and aquatic life.
If the revised legislation is enacted and takes effect, consumers may have to pay more for plastic products, as the cost of plastic recycling remains high compared with producing plastics from fossil resources.
Plastics are used for a number of applications in daily life. The volume of plastic product consumption in Japan reached 9.10 million tons in 2022, according to the institute, with wrapping and containers accounting for the largest portion at 44.7 percent, followed by electronic devices at 15.4 percent.
The Group of Seven industrialized nations, including Japan, have agreed to put an end to additional plastic pollution by member countries by 2040.
