Activity Report of fiscal 2014

Recycling status of retailers

Storefront collection boxes
such as at supermarkets
collect a large volume ofpaper cartons.

Storefront collection boxes such as at supermarkets
collect more than 50% of paper cartons collectedfrom homes.
Store collection figures are based on information
provided by the Japan Chain Stores Association(JCSA), the Japanese Consumers' Cooperative
Union (JCCU), and our independent survey.The
volume of store–collected cartons in 2013 was 32.3
thousand tons. This was a dip of 0.4 thousand tons
from the previous year.
In keeping with changes in the types of retail stores,
the survey also covers a percentage of drug stores.
Household paper cartons collection volume bycollection center (Estimated value)

Total

13.6

thousand tons
（22.9%）

13.5

thousand tons
（22.8%）

32.3

thousand tons
（54.4%）

59.4

thousand tons
Store collection
Group collection and others

Collection status of welfare organizations

In addition to collecting paper
cartons, they create products suchas postcards from handmade paper
produced from paper cartons.

We are working on recycling!!

We are working on recycling!!

Bandai Co., Ltd.

Social welfare corporation Tohka Juku

(Head office in Higashi Osaka City, Osaka)(Location: Tondabayashi City, Osaka Prefecture)

Bandai is a chain-store that operates
147 in Kansai area mainly in Osaka(as the end of November 2014). Under
the corporate philosophy of "With an eye toward
becoming the best place to shop in Japan", Bandai isimplementing various reforms to make customers' lives" m o re a ffl u e n t " , " m o re e n j oya bl e " , a n d " m o recomfortable".
They installed the first collection box in 1992 as part ofcompany-wide environmental measures, and thecollected milk car tons were given to the welfare
workplace recommended by Higashi Osaka City. With
collection volumes increasing beyond the level thatcan be handled at the welfare workplace, Bandai now
sells the cartons to a paper-making company. Profits
from sales are used to fund the welfare organization.
The collection volume of milk cartons in fiscal 2013
was 234 tons. Bandai buys 22,000-35,000 boxes ofrecycled paper that they call "Welcome back tissue",and 270,000 toilet rolls a year that they call "Backhome rolls" for use in their stores and various company
departments.
To prevent cartons containing foreign substances orleft-over milk being inserted into the collection boxes,
they monitor the collection boxes. This way, Bandai
maintains and utilizes the quality of the resource.
Activity
examplesMunicipality collection

Welfare organizations and citizen groups collect thelargest volume of paper cartons from the storefront
collection boxes of supermarkets and other types
stores. This is followed by collection from homes,
educational facilities such as elementary schools,
and municipalities. They have a range of collection
sources.According to the basic survey carried out in2013, the collection volume was about 1,000 tons.
This volume was almost the same as in the past.
In addition to collecting paper cartons, many welfareorganizations create products such as postcards
from recycled paper cartons.
The collection volume shown in the material flow
also reflects the information obtained from JAMRA's
fact-finding-survey on welfare organizations
The percentage by collection source of paper cartonscollected by welfare organizations and citizens' groups
3％

3％

Collection from private facilities
such as supermarkets

25％
69％

Collection from school facilities
such as elementary schools

T h e To h k a J u k u w e l f a r e s o c i a l
corporation was established in 1916
with the basic concept of "Venerationof life." They have four operations: "Children'sdepartment", "Adults department", "Visit department",and "Care home" - to support the welfare of children
and the lives of people with disabilities.
Their environmental activities include selling thecollected and sorted resources such as paper cartonsand waste cans to recycling business operators, andcreating and selling writing materials and sundries
created from paper carton pulp.
They use logistics centers of a nearby supermarket,schools and daycare centers as collection centers.
Recently, they have been receiving support from theadministrative board of a large-scale apar tmentcomplex.They collected 48 tons in 2013. The numberof collaborating towns is gradually increasing thanks tothe efforts of their friends and social welfare workers.
Although there are problems with store collections ats u p e r m a r k e t s d u e t o c o m m i n g l i n g o f fo r e i g ns u b s ta n c e s a n d u n c l e a n e d c a r to n s, t h ey h ave
promoted this approach considering that separating
foreign substances is part of their business. In order toenhance quality of the collected cartons, they arecommunicating their efforts and the basic rules of"rinse, open and dry" to the public through a growing
number of collaborating companies and supporters.
Activity
examplesCollection from municipalities
Direct collection from households

A Bandai store

18

Activity Report of fiscal 2015●Recycling status of retailers

Milk carton collection boxes

Writing materials and sundries
recycled from paper carton pulp

A scene of collection of resourcesActivity Report of fiscal 2015●Collection status of welfare organizations

19

Activity Report of fiscal 2014

Collection status of municipalities and citizens' groups

Municipality collection of paper
car tons is implemented in thesorted collection approach and thecollection-center approach.

2 2 . 7 t h o u s a n d to n s o fpaper cartons are collected
through the efforts of localgovernments.

Collection of paper cartons iscarried out in about 90% of
local governments.

We are working on recycling!!
Osaki West City Towers(Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo)

Among the 1,742 municipalities in the country, our2013 survey was conducted in 1,735 of themexcluding 7 areas that have been affected by thenuclear accident. We received responses from 1,247
municipalities.The total population of municipalities
that responded to the survey made up 85.9% of thetotal population.
Used (consumed) paper car ton collection bymunicipalities and unions is classified as "municipality
collection," and collection carried out by citizens'groups (registered to respective municipalities) isclassified as "group collection".
The implementation rates of municipality collectionand group collection were about the same as thoseof the previous year. The municipality collection rate
was 81%, and the group collection rate - excluding
cases where no answers were received - was 49%.
Either municipality collection or group collection wasexecuted in 88% of the municipality.This means that
almost 90% of local governments are collecting paper
cartons.

The survey estimated the municipality collection
volume and group collection volume after grouping
the target municipalities into four types: "Generalcities", "Government-decreed cities", "Tokyo special
city wards" and "Towns and villages".In fiscal 2013,
the municipality collection volume was 13.6 thousandtons, and the group collection volume was 9.1
thousand tons. Total collection volume was 22.7
thousand tons.
As a whole, per capita collection volume (basic unit)of the group collection is slightly higher than that ofmunicipality collection.Collection volumes in main
cities, which contain 60% of the national population,
have remained stable and high in recent years.In
government-decreed cities, Tokyo special city wards
and town/villages, group collection is becoming morewidespread then municipality collection.The task now
is how to promote collection in big cities because thebasic unit in government-decreed cities and Tokyo
special city wards is small.

Implementation rate of municipality collection
and group collection

Estimated municipality and group collection
volumes by city type
Total

6.9％

Number of local governments responded

1,247

10.1％
（126）

（86）

42.1％
6.4％
（80）

（524）

32.9％
（410）

Both municipality collection and groupcollection are implemented
Municipality collection alone is implemented
Municipality collection is implemented
and no answer to group collection
Group collection alone is implemented
Municipality collection is not executedand no answer to group collection
Neither are implemented

20

Activity Report of fiscal 2015●Collection status of municipalities and citizens' groups

Municipality collection Group collection

1.6％
（20）

Used (consumed) paper cartons are collected in twoways in each municipality. One is the sorted collection
approach, and the other is the collection-center
approach.The sorted collection refers to collection
from homes and stations, and the collection-center
approach refers to collection from collection boxes atcommunity halls and similar locations.
By city type, the sorted collection is more widely
employed by general cities, towns and villages, andthe collection-center approach is used more in theordinance-decreed cities and Tokyo's special wards.

Ratio of paper carton collection types by city type

Governmentdecreed cities
Tokyo special
city wards
Towns andvillages
Total

General Government- Tokyo special Towns andcities decreed cities city wards villages

Estimated volume (1,000 tons)

13.6

9.7

1.4

0.7

1.5

Estimated collection ratio by city type

100%

72%

10%

5%

11%

Collection volume per person (grams per person)

104

121

53

76

126

Estimated volume (1,000 tons)

9.1

6.0

2.2

0.2

0.6

Estimated collection ratio by city type

100%

66%

25%

2%

7%

Collection volume per person (grams per person)

71

75

83

2355

Population by city type (millions)

128

81

27

91262.4%

General cities
18.8%

22.7%
50.0%

38.1%

23.8%
77.5%
67.9%

14.8%

31.3%
38.1%
11.0% 11.5%
18.0%

An urban development targeted at
housing and offices in the area aroundthe west exit of JR Osaki station wascarried out in 1987 to make the area adequate as a
newly emerging city center in Tokyo.This is a good
example of milk car ton collection in a community
covered by the condo association board and theresidents' association of Osaki West City Towers,
which contains 1,084 households.
Collection of milk cartons in this location started inNovember 2013 when the condo association board
and residents' association installed trial collection
boxes at six locations.Today, they collect milk cartonsby posting "Milk carton collection rules" at commonuse garbage and material yards (78 locations).Milk
cartons collected on each floor are carried to the stockyard in the basement and collected on a regular basis.
The rule of "Rinse, open and dry" is observed by theresidents in a cooperative manner.
They hold a "Gratitude for Recycling Festa" every
autumn, and the money earned from carton sales isreturned to the residents in the form of toilet rolls,
packs of low-pesticide vegetables, etc.With thecooperation of the Shinagawa refuse collection office,they display the catch-phrase, "Garbage if mixed,
resource when separated".
Activity
examples

14.1%

Sorted collection only
Both sorted collection and base collection
Base collection only

"Milk carton collection rules"

Installed collection box

Activity Report of fiscal 2015●Collection status of municipalities and citizens' groups21Activity Report of fiscal 2014

Recycling status of schoolsRecycling of paper milk
cartons used in school
lunches is also increasing.

Material flow of milk cartons for schools(Estimated value)

Dairy productmanufacturers

Upper 2013
Lower 201211.8 100%
11.9 100%Volume processed byschools using own methods

7.1 60.1%
6.9 58.4%

Collected paper cartonsare recycled as highquality pulp fiber.

We are working on recycling!!

Approximately 11.8 thousand tons of paper milk
cartons were supplied for school lunches in 2013,
which was roughly the same amount as in theprevious year.Out of the total supply, 9.3 thousand
tons are collected for recycling. The figure remains
high.
In addition to recycling of paper milk cartons forschool lunches, reuse of paper cartons used inscience and mathematics classes as well as
collection of paper cartons from children's homes
are being implemented at elementary schools.

Schools

Recycling status of recycled paper manufacturers

Unit: 1,000 tons

Volume accepted bydairy product manufacturers

4.7 39.9%
4.9 41.6%

Collection
volume5.0 42.1%

Discardedvolume2.1 18.0%

Discardedvolume0.4 3.5%

Collection
volume4.3 36.4%

5.1 43.2%

1.8 15.2%

0.5 3.9%

4.5 37.8%

We are working on recycling!!

Kawaguchi City Tozukaminami Elementary School

Marutomi Paper Manufacturing Company(Kawaguchi City, Saitama)(Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture)

Founded in April 2005, Kawaguchi
City Tozukaminami Elementary Schoolin Saitama Prefecture is the newest
elementary school in Kawaguchi.This school conducts
unique educational activities under the educational
goal of "Rearing children to have a dream and who livewith a rich spirit. "Its "Eco-school" provides children
with the opportunity to experience collecting usedpapers and milk cartons as well as conditioning soil
using compost. The school is promoting a range ofenvironmental efforts as seen in the roof greening,
green curtains, solar power panels, and rainwater
utilization panels. The amounts of energy collectedfrom such panels are displayed at the school entrance.
The paper carton collection initiative started from anapproach made by the Kawaguchi Citizens'
Environmental Conference NPO organization. Its
members arranged, as an environmental coordinator,
a meeting between the school and business operators.
Milk carton collection in the "Eco-school" is plannedalong the lines of environmental activities in the
integrated study. Collection and recycling of milk
cartons for school lunches were started when theschool was founded. Profits from sales are returned tochildren in the form of toilet rolls.The first to sixth
graders collect the cartons during a lunch break on thefourth Friday of each month, which is called "PaperDay". Now 13 neighboring schools are participating in
the activity, which is expanding the scope of themovement.
In 2013, 1,550 kg of milk cartons used for school
lunches were collected, 550 kg were collected from
home, a total of 2,100 kg.
Activity
examplesAmong the 15 recycled paper manufacturers whoanswered the questionnaire, 12 manufacturers
accept paper waste (industrial paper waste) of
paper cartons, used papers, and used paper
cartons generated in Japan.
The total volume accepted by manufacturers,
which consists of the collection volume of domestic
paper cartons and import volumes of used paper
cartons in 2013 is 119.1 tons. About 80% (93.7
thousand tons) from this are recycled into toilet
rolls and tissue paper.Paper cartons are used forthese products as precious high-quality pulp fibermaterial.
Use for recycled products
6.1

1.4thousand tons
（1.5%）

thousand tons
（6.5%）

Total

93.7

25.7

thousand tons
（27.4%）

60.5

thousand tons
（64.6%）

thousand tons
Toilet rolls
Tissue papers
Cardboards
Other

M a r u t o m i Pa p e r M a n u f a c t u r i n g
Company started its business in 1955.
The company makes a social contribution
and contributes to environmental conservation throughpaper making.They have been taking a proactive
stance to preserve resources and the environment
since their business began, based on the slogan,"Working toward becoming an eco-friendly company."
They focus a great deal of energy on improving theefficiency involved in using resources and energy by,for instance, establishing technology not to generate
wastes (such as zero emissions).
From 1984, they started recycling used paper cartonsat the request of the "Tanpopo" study group in Ohtsuki
City, Yamanashi. Since then, they have been playing aleadership role in this activity.
They collect paper cartons from elementary schools,
junior high schools, super mar kets and otherassociations by using recovery vehicles. They also
cooperate with super markets' sales of products
recycled from paper car tons.They secure stablecollection volumes of paper cartons by collecting themat the delivery point. The total collection volume including paper waste generated in the process exceeds 13,000 tons.
They also place emphasis on environmental education,
and about 7,000 plant visitors are accepted per year.
Each visitor is requested to bring three paper cartonsas the plant tour 'fee'. Visitors learn how milk cartonsare recycled into toilet rolls.
Activity
examplesTotal discarded volume2.5 21.5%
2.3 19.1%

Collection rate byschools using own methods

70.1%
73.9%

Total collection volume

9.3 78.5%
9.6 80.9%

Collection rate based on
acceptance by
dairy product manufacturers
91.2%
90.7%

Loading of used papers onto the truck
Solar power panel

Paper cartons as the tour charge

Milk carton collection recovery vehicle※Some figures may not add up to the total due to rounding.

22

Activity Report of fiscal 2015●Recycling status of schools

Activity Report of fiscal 2015●Recycling status of recycled paper manufacturers

23