Photo 3-1 Untouched Food Disposed of as Municipal Solid Waste (Based on the Result of the Kyoto City's Survey)

waste. According to an estimation by the Ministry of the Environment based on data from FY 2007, of all the household kitchen waste for the entire country, this kind of untouched food makes up 1.99 million tons (19% of kitchen waste) and leftovers make up 2.09 million tons (20% of kitchen waste).

This is clearly generation of waste that can be reduced, and can be considered as generation of environmental load. In addition, since the factors behind the instability of food supply and demand throughout the world, such as a global population increase and further global warming, are becoming obvious, it is also necessary to work to reduce leftovers in order to secure food stability. Promoting local production for local consumption of food will also lead to creation of a sound material-cycle society. In addition, amid a situation in which more than 900 million people, mainly in developing countries, have nutrition deficiencies, these kinds of large amounts of untouched food and leftovers are against the spirit of “mottainai” of trying not to waste anything, which is a mentality that Japan can boast to the world.

According to estimates by the Ministry of the Environment, reducing that untouched food and leftovers by 75% would result in control of generation of approximately 5.93 million tons of waste per year (approximately 1.0% of Japan's total generation of waste) and a reduction of approximately 4.19 million tons of $ CO_{2} $ per year in terms of greenhouse gases emissions (equivalent to the amount for approximately 830 thousand general households), when the process is considered all the way back to the production stage.

Specifically, there are many ways of generation reduction, such as sales methods that account for changes in consumers' lifestyles (selling by weight, selling per piece, etc.), consumption based on correct understanding of the meaning of expiration date labels, inventory management aimed at avoiding food waste, and cooking methods that avoid food waste. All these are efforts that individual parties can make with a little ingenuity.

Figure 3-2 Breakdown of Kitchen Waste: Ratio of Untouched food, Leftovers, and Others)

2) Generation control of paper waste (in particular, controlling generation of paper used by office equipment)

According to Ministry of the Environment estimates based on data from FY 2007, of paper waste disposed as business waste from offices, 1.41 million tons is paper for office equipment. That amount is 26% of all business paper waste. It is estimated that by reducing that office equipment paper waste by 10% we can reduce waste generation by approximately 300 thousand tons of waste per year (approximately 0.05% of Japan's total waste generation) and a reduction of 176 thousand tons of $ CO_{2} $ emissions of greenhouse gases per year (equivalent to the amount for approximately 35 thousand general households), when the process is considered all the way back to the manufacturing stage.

## 3 ) Promoting 3R actions

It is important to make efforts for 3R actions such as controlling waste generation through the collaboration and cooperation of individual citizens, NPOs, NGOs, universities, businesses, local governments, and the national government all carrying out their expected roles.

For example, some communities are providing opportunities for relevant parties to take 3R actions together and to after economic incentives (benefits) for 3R activities. Some communities are utilizing 3R eco-point systems as mechanisms to enjoy 3R actions.

Campaigns are also being conducted to promote the use of drink containers such as reusable water bottles and coffee cups (“My Bottle” and “My Cup”) at offices, schools, and various other places.

Above are just a few examples of such efforts. The small daily efforts of each individual, such as trying to minimize waste and making ever action with the mottainai mindset, will have a significant effect on creating a sound material-cycle society. Japan will further promote the creation of opportunities for 3R actions and make efforts to build a sound material-cycle society.