Horizontal Recycling and Other Good Practices
Michikazu Kojima
Senior Advisor
Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)
e-mail: michikazu.kojima@eria.org

Horizontal Recycling

Polystyrene Paper Tray (PSP Tray)
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Bottle to Bottle recyclingThree Collection Routes of PSP(polystyrene paper Tray for Recycling)
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Self Collection Route• Shops and recyclers set up collection boxes
in stores.
Designated Body (PRO) Route• Local government designates an organization
to collect PSP trays with other plastic
packaging and containers.
Own Collection Route• Local governments separately collects PSP
tray and send the waste to recyclers.

A voluntary collection box for PSP Tray at a shopping center in Chiba City, Japan.
Trucks deliver new PSP tray to shops that will collect the waste PSP tray for recycling facility.

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Design for Recycling: Case of PET Bottle
A best practice on design for recycling is the voluntary
guideline for the design of PET bottles developed by
Japan’s Council for PET Bottle Recycling. The firstversion was developed in 1992. The guideline has
been revised several times.
• PE or PP which gravity are less than 1 should be
used for caps, in order to sort caps from PET.
• Prohibit the coloring of PET, because waste PET withcolor has limited demand of recycling.
• It is also recommended to have perforation on thelabeling.

In 2020, Japan’s collection rate is 96.7%. Bottle tobottle recycling rate is about 32% of total recycling
volume.

• PET bottle to bottle chemical recycling was approvedby the Food Safety Committee in 2004.
• Bottle to bottle mechanical recycling of PET was also
approved in 2012.
• In FY2021, among 740 thousand ton of resin for PETbottle production, 118 thousand ton were recycledresin.

You can access English version of voluntary standard here: https://www.petbottle-rec.gr.jp/english/design.html

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Design for Recycling: Case of PET Bottle

Perforation on the labeling of PET bottle.
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Ensuring the demand of recycled products• It is also important to ensure that demand exist for recycled products. Some recycled products may not satisfy
the level of quality desired by customers nor defined in conventional industrial standards for products madefrom virgin materials.
• To ensure an adequate level of quality for recycled products, and to reduce the transaction cost between thesuppliers and buyers, industrial standards of recycled products should be developed.
JIS code

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Title of Japan Industrial Standard (JIS)JIS A5731

Recycled plastics inspection chambers and covers for rainwater

JIS A5741

Products of wood-plastic recycled composite

JIS A5742

Products of wood-plastic recycled composite – assembled decks

JIS K6930

Reclaimed granulate molding materials of agricultural polyvinyl chloride film

JIS K6931

Reclaimed plastics bars, rods, plates, and piles

JIS K6932

Recycled plastics stakes

JIS A9401

Recycled plastics medial strip block

JIS A9402

Recycled plastics buffer for parking

JIS K9797

Un-plasticised poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC-U) three-layer pipes with recycled solid core

JIS K9798

Un-plasticised poly(vinyl chloride)(PVC-U) three-layer pipes with recycled foamed core

Unplasticized poly (vinyl chloride)(PVC-U)
three-layers pipe with recycled core
JIS K9797 defines PVC three-layers pipe withrecycled solid core. Recycled PVC is used in thecore layer, while the outer and inner layer are
made from recycled PVC.

Inner Layer
Virgin PVC
Core Layer
Recycled PVC
Outer Layer
Virgin PVC
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Wood-plastic recycled composite• JIS A5741 for wood-plastic recycled composite
was issued in 2006.
• JIS A5741 defines the definition of the goods,
symbols depending on the content rate ofrecycled materials, various quality standards
such as density, strength, water absorption
rate and maximum level of hazardoussubstances.

Wood-plastic recycled composite use in an
entrance of subway in Tokyo.

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Local Government
Expand Waste Collection services toRural Area

• Urban and rural governments in Japan had
expanded waste collection services in 1960sand 1970s. Percentage of population getting
waste collection reached 90.47% in 1977,
from 46.56% in 1961. During this period,
central government urged local governments
to formulate inter-municipal cooperation onwaste management (regional wastemanagement). Economy of scale works for
waste-to-energy plant and landfill site. Intermunicipal cooperation can reduce the cost ofwaste treatment.

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Reduce Waste and Promote Recycling• Charge of Waste Collection (household shoulduse specified waste bag. No or low charge forrecyclables).
• Source Separation Program: Most of local
government conduct source separation
program for packaging and container waste,
metal scrap, paper waste and others.
• Invest in some machines such as bailingmachine, compactor of expanded polystyrene(Styrofoam) and others to reducetransportation cost to recycling company.