etc.), 3) products for which raw materials, etc. should be made rational use of (specified products for which resources are saved: automobiles, electric home appliances, etc.), 4) products for the use of recycled resources or recycled parts should be promoted (designated reuse-promoting products: automobiles, electric home appliances, etc.), 5) products that should have labels for promoting sorted collection (products with designated labels: plastic containers and packages, paper-made containers and packages, etc.), 6) products that should be collected and recycled by their manufacturers (designated recycled products: personal computers, small rechargeable batteries), 7) by-products the use of which is promoted as recycled resources (designated by-products: coal ash generated by the electricity industry), and the law imposes certain obligations on business operators engaged in each business mentioned above and promotes their voluntary efforts to make effective use of resources.

In addition, in January 2008, the basic policy working group of the Waste Treatment and Recycling Subcommittee under the Environment Division of the Industrial structure Council offered opinions concerning the vision of a new 3Rs policy for the establishment of a sound material-cycle society in the future. According to this vision, the Ministry of the Environment is taking measures for reducing the amount of various types of resources to be used.

First of all, in order to reduce the amount of resources to be used in a whole product supply chain, the ministry has selected 20 and 30 enterprise teams consisting of supply chains in fiscal 2008 and 2009 respectively and tries to create outstanding cases of resource-saving manufacturing through material flow cost accounting, environment-conscious design, etc.

In addition, the ministry is discussing a method or system for evaluating the activities carried out by manufacturers in their 3Rs-related product design and manufacturing in order to expand the market for 3Rs-conscious products so that consumers can accurately and easily understand and evaluate the manufacturers' efforts.

(5) Law for the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging

### A. Enforcement Status

Among the items sorted and collected in fiscal 2008, particularly the amount of paper-made containers and packages and plastic bottles and containers increased. On the other hand, the amount of glass containers, steel containers, aluminum containers, cardboard containers and paper-made containers for beverages decreased from the previous year (Table 3-2).

Concerning plastic containers/packages other than plastic bottles and paper-made containers/packages that were added to target items in April 2000, the volume of sorted collection has increased steadily and the sorted collection executing rates of those plastic and paper-made containers/packages were 72.7% and 35.8% respectively in fiscal 2008. However, the executing rates are still lower than that of other items, and it is a question of increasing the number of municipalities which execute sorted collection (Figures 3-4 and 3-5 and Table 3-3).

### B. Enforcement of the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law

In April 2008, the revised Containers and Packing Recycling Law was enforced completely, and a system was implemented in which business operators provided money to municipalities that contributed to rational recycling of containers and packages. With this system, the quality of sorted collection was improved and, therefore, the efficiency of the whole social system was improved.

In addition, in the joint meeting of the Expert Committee on Recycling Method for Plastic Containers and Packages under the Central Environment Council with the Evaluation Committee on Recycling Method for Plastic Containers and Packages under the Industrial Structure Council held in September 2009, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry set the upper limit on total amount of preferentially-treated material recycling method to be introduced in fiscal 2010 as a recycling method for plastic containers and packages as well as carrying out comprehensive evaluation for the quality improvement of material recycling method to reflect it in the preferentially-treated operation and releasing an interim report on the improvement other than bidding system. Moreover, in order to promote 3Rs for waste containers and packages, the Ministry of the Environment encouraged the spread of 3Rs to consumers by using promoters for controlling the generation of waste containers and packages (nickname: 3Rs promoting meister) who were commissioned according to the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law, and as a measure to encourage the spread of reducing waste containers and packages including plastic shopping bags, the Ministry of the Environment and Toyama Prefecture jointly held “National Forum for Promotion of No Plastic Grocery Bag” in Toyama City in November 2009.

### (6) Law for the Recycling of Specified Kinds of Home Appliances (Home Appliance Recycling Law) A. Enforcement Status

The Home Appliance Recycling Law was enforced completely in April 2001. Currently, there are 379 designated collection sites where manufacturers of four types of waste home appliances (household air-conditioners, televisions, refrigerators and freezers, washing machines and clothes dryers) subject to the law collect them, and recycling plants for the four types of collected waste home appliances are operating in 49 locations across the country (Figure 3-6). In these recycling plants, iron, aluminum, copper, glass, and rare metals used for printed-circuit boards are collected as well as fluorocarbons used as a refrigerant in household air-conditioners, refrigerators, freezers and electric washing machines, and fluorocarbons contained in heat insulating materials used for refrigerators and freezers.

The number of these four types of home appliances collected in designated collection sites and their recycling ratio in recycling plants are shown in 1-(3)-D., Section 2, and each ratio of recycling by manufacturers of the four types of home appliances exceeds the legal standard.

### B. Revision of the Home Appliance Recycling System

In April 2006, five years have passed since the enforcement of the Home Appliance Recycling Law, and it was