increasing their shares and Korea is in hot pursuit just behind. Amid intensifying international competition, white LEDs are said to be still under development in terms of raising luminescent efficiency and lowering costs. In order for Japanese companies to maintain the current levels of market shares and expand them further, the government's efforts to support the penetration of white LEDs are necessary along with the promotion of technological development by the private sector.

Other technologies for which Japan has large global market shares and which are expected to be used in environment-friendly products include inverse osmosis membranes use for water purification, lithium ion secondary battery separators for electric vehicles and IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) power semiconductors used in automobile inverters, etc. The environmental industry is developing and products for which Japan has a technological edge is widely spreading not only at home but also in the entire world, setting the stage for the global display of the power of “monozukuri (manufacturing)” prowess, Japan’s particular strength. On the other hand, as seen in the market for white LED bulbs, international competition is expected to intensify in tandem with the development of the environmental industry in technological fields where Japan now has strengths, the government’s appropriate support is necessary, including the promotion of such technologies at home.

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## Japanese Mosquito Nets and Efforts to Cope with Malaria in Africa

Products to help improve the living environment for humans include those using traditional Japanese mosquito nets.

In Africa suffering from malaria, efforts are under way to spread mosquito nets with insect repellent kneaded into, and mosquito nets developed by a Japanese company are being widely distributed. Using these highly durable mosquito nets that do not lose insect repellent effects for over five years even after repeated washing, people can defend themselves from malaria-transmitting mosquitoes economically and effectively. Since production of mosquito nets started in 2003, several thousand jobs were created at the production site. Part of sales of these mosquito nets is used to construct schools for improving primary education, thus also contributing Africa's self-sustaining development.

## A Look at a Mosquito Net Production Factory in Africa

Photo: Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

## 2 From “Selling Goods” to “Offering Functions”

In order to reduce environmental loads and build a sustainable society, it is necessary to shift away from the past socioeconomic system of mass production, mass consumption and mass disposal. As one way of achieving that shift, businesses that provide only the functions of goods without regard for the consumption pattern of selling goods are drawing attention.

Such businesses that have already taken root in Japan include “lease and rental of products” where service providers manage products for their life cycles to reduce environmental loads and “repair and reform of products” where environmental loads are reduced by lengthening the life of products. Some recent approaches are aimed at reducing the quantity of manufactured products used in society as a whole by promoting the sharing and joint use of goods, thus reducing the consumption of resources and environmental loads. They include “car sharing” and other businesses. The market is also expanding for “ESCO (Energy Service Company) business,” which promotes energy saving for the entire building or entire facility by offering a package of services, including energy-saving diagnosis, design/construction, operation and maintenance and fund procurement, thereby realizing reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

These businesses for providing the functions of goods can contribute to building a sound material-cycle society. In the “lease and rental of products,” for example, the maintenance and management is carried out appropriately until products are disposed of to promote their effective utilization and recycling is carried out without fail as used products are collected with certainty. Further, by entrenching the new concept of values that business operators and consumers alike make use of the functions and services of goods instead of owning them when they choose and utilize products, their production and consumption behaviors can be expected to be changed into sustainable ones.