IDEC YOKOHAMA

TerraCycle Japan
US-based social enterprise challenging waste management
issues takes root in the new “home” in Yokohama.
TerraCycle Japan is the Japanese subsidiary of the US social enterprise, TerraCycle, which focuseson collecting and recycling plastic waste not to bury or incinerate waste. They began operations inJapan in January 2014, with their office initially located in the Minato Ward of Tokyo. However, they
later relocated to Yokohama, a city that actively welcomes foreign affiliated companies. Currently,
they are working in collaboration with local governments, such as Yokohama city, local businesses,
and residents to tackle complex waste challenges.

Speaker: Eric Kawabata, Asia Pacific General Manager of TerraCycle■Recycling items previously thrown away or burned.
We are a US-based social enterprise that is creating innovative
solutions to address waste management issues. We offer a recycling
program for items that have traditionally been considered difficult torecycle. For example, we recycle used cosmetic containers and empty
jelly drink pouch containers.
Recently, we have been developing a circular shopping platform
called the “Loop”. By offering products in packages and containers
for repeated use, such as glass containers, and we have gained support
from many partners who agreed with our mission “Eliminate the Ideaof Waste” After launching the “Loop” in the US and France in January
2019, we started operating this platform in Japan in May 2021, and it iscurrently available in three countries.

■A desire to expand material recycling in Yokohama.
I was born in the US and am a person of Japanese descent. Since myfirst visit to Japan in 1992, I have been coming and going between Japanand the US on business. I used to think that Japan is a clean country andrecycling might not be necessary. However, after doing some research,
I found that there are many thermal recycling (heat recovery) methods
used, and I now think that we should increase material recycling toreuse waste as new resources.
Since TerraCycle Japan began operating in 2014, I’ve had an interestin Yokohama City as well, where I have connections, and have visitedthe final disposal site in Honmoku. Until 2019, our office was locatedin Tokyo, however, even during that time, we had been considering
expanding our business into Yokohama. In the summer of that sameyear, when I had almost given up on moving our base to Yokohama,＜Company’s Profile>

TerraCycle
Japan GK

Recycling box located in Yokohama City

local stakeholders invited us to move into a vacant office space. Finally,in December of that year, we fulfilled our long-standing wish to moveour base to Yokohama.
Since collaborating with Morinaga & Co., Ltd. in 2022, we havealso been working on a program to collect empty jelly drink pouchcontainers at two7-ELEVEN stores in Yokohama City Hall.
Furthermore, Yokohama City provided us with opportunities formatching with local companies regarding our recycling program. We aregrateful to local companies for establishing good business relationships
with a foreign affiliated company like ourselves. International trade inJapan originally began in Yokohama, and we feel that Yokohama is theplace where foreign affiliated companies are welcomed.

■Demonstration experiment of the “Medicine
Sheet Recycling Program”
Last October, we collaborated with Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare Co.,
Ltd. to launch a demonstration project in Naka-Ward, Yokohama as
well as other wards in Yokohama, collecting and recycling used PTPsheets (medicine sheets used for the individual packaging for tablets).
This recycling project is a pioneering initiative that can raise awarenessfor citizens and other businesses for material recycling. Regarding
recycling medicine sheets, we worked hard to find partners, which also
took a long time. After we found a partner, the main challenge waswhere to conduct a demonstration. In the end, we could finally realize
this project thanks to the support of Yokohama City.
Thus, we feel Yokohama City is a city where business can easily
be developed because local businesses welcome foreign affiliatedcompanies, and municipalities also actively support their activities.
（Interview date：March 2023）

Address: 10F, Yokohama Media and Communications Center, 11 Nihon Odori, Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa
Phone: +81452648055

Representative: Eric Kawabata, Asia Pacific General Manager and Japan General Manager

Established：September 2013

Overview of business：Social enterprise challenging waste management issues