Current State and Trend of Waste and Recycling in Japan

Abstract

This report statistically introduces the current state and recent trends regarding resource circulation, industrial and municipal waste and recycling in Japan. Also recycling systems for home appliance waste and ELV (end of life vehicle) waste are discussed. The ratio of the total amount of recirculated resources in Japan to the national total material input was 15.8% in the 2014 fiscal year. This ratio has been increasing continuously over the past 20 years mainly due to steady progress in the industrial waste recycling and to gradual shrinkage of the domestic natural resource input. Japanese total waste volume in the 2014 fiscal year was 437 Mt (million tons), with 89.9% industrial waste and 10.1% municipal waste. The amount of recirculated resources derived from this waste was 50.6% of the total waste volume. The final landfill amount of the total waste was only 3.4%. When comparing the breakdown of waste treatment with the three major EU countries, Germany, France and the UK, the ratio of recirculated resource was not significantly different. But a characteristic feature of Japan was that the ratio of reduction amount by dewater and drying was very large, and the ratios of backfilling and final disposal amounts are considerably smaller. With regard to the recycling of major used products disposed of by consumers in Japan, the current status of home appliance recycling and ELV recycling are discussed. With an individual recycling system constituted in each product area, manufacturers and distributors are obliged to implement recycling, and consumers are charged with recycling costs. At the moment these are successful models that are promoting recycling with high steady recycling rates.