No.108 Submission of an Opinion Statement to Minister of the Environment Koizumi regarding Plastic Resource Circulation

In July of this year, there was news reporting that the government has decided to request municipalities nationwide to establish a new category for "plastic resources" and collect them collectively, which came as a surprise.

Until now, municipalities across the country have been actively engaged in waste management and recycling. Waste goes through collection, transportation, intermediate storage, and intermediate processing before heading to the final disposal site. In each process, various methods are employed according to the specific circumstances of each region, so the methods for waste separation collection categories, collection locations, transportation, and intermediate processing differ by municipality.

However, this report suggests that it will be mandatory to collect plastic in bulk nationwide, which is not something that can be immediately implemented by each municipality.

Therefore, I have decided to address this in the Special Committee on Environmental Measures of the National Mayors' Association, as well as to convey the opinions of local governments to the Ministry of the Environment.

In October 2020, an opinion inquiry was conducted with the constituent cities of the Special Committee, and a meeting was held on November 9, 2020, where we received an explanation of the Ministry of the Environment's perspective on this matter from the responsible staff of the Environmental Restoration and Resource Recycling Bureau, and after exchanging opinions, we compiled an Opinion Statement.

Every year, approximately 8 million tons of plastic waste flows into the oceans worldwide, and environmental pollution on a global scale has become a problem. On the other hand, in Japan, the per capita amount of single-use container packaging waste is the second highest in the world, and as countries in Asia are expanding regulations on waste imports, there is a greater demand for domestic resource circulation than ever before.

In light of this situation, the national government formulated the "Plastic Resource Circulation Strategy" in May of last year, and in September of this year, summarized the "Basic Direction for Future Plastic Resource Circulation Measures," calling for the separate collection of plastic containers, packaging, and products discharged from households by municipalities.

The national initiatives can be evaluated from the perspective of addressing the issue of marine plastic waste and promoting the formation of a circular society. However, under the current container and packaging recycling system, the burden on municipalities is significant. If the introduction of new measures or systems further increases this burden, it will be difficult to enhance, expand, or continue the collection of plastic resources.

The purpose of this Opinion Statement is to request that the national government reflects the opinions of municipalities when developing policies and systems, so that many municipalities can work on responses tailored to local circumstances, and to ensure careful information provision and sufficient preparation time to avoid causing confusion among residents and on-site.

Municipalities across the country are co-burning a certain amount of plastic waste during incineration. Since incineration generates carbon dioxide, reducing it is an urgent task for preventing global warming. While simple incineration is out of the question, many waste treatment facilities, including the Tamagawa Clean Center, are implementing heat recovery for power generation and hot water utilization.

Even if all plastic waste were to be recycled, a significant amount of residue that is difficult to recycle as raw material due to reasons such as contamination would still be generated, making incineration unavoidable.

Furthermore, if all plastic waste is collected separately, the proportion of difficult-to-burn organic waste will increase, and as a result, if additional fossil fuels are required, the generation of carbon dioxide will conversely increase.

Considering these circumstances, instead of demanding a uniform and rapid change in collection methods nationwide, we requested that each municipality be allowed to independently choose their processing methods. Additionally, we sought to create an environment where Business Operators can work on reducing the use of avoidable plastics, such as through environmentally conscious design, the use of reusable containers and products, reducing excessive use, and transitioning to alternative materials.

This Opinion Statement was directly handed to Minister of the Environment Koizumi and Deputy Minister of the Environment Nakai during my visit on November 17, 2020, where we exchanged opinions. While I did not receive agreement on all items, they sincerely acknowledged the local initiatives and circumstances.

We will continue to plan and implement feasible policies as a responsibility of the local government, and we will strive to submit opinions to the national and metropolitan governments as necessary.