July 29: Japan Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for plastic packaging has improved waste segregation and reduced landfill use over the past three decades but the country continues to recycle only a small share of its plastic waste, according to an analysis published by Down To Earth.
Japan generated 7.69 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2023. While households separate waste into multiple categories, only about 1.7 million tonnes were recycled into new material and around 460,000 tonnes were converted into new products within Japan. A large share of the remaining plastic was incinerated for energy recovery, a practice the country classifies as “thermal recycling.”
The report notes that Japan’s Containers and Packaging Recycling Law, introduced in 1995, was primarily designed to reduce landfill pressure rather than maximise plastic recycling. Under the system, manufacturers and importers pay recycling fees based on the weight of packaging, while local governments remain responsible for collecting, sorting and preparing waste for recycling.
Experts argue that linking producer responsibility to the amount of waste collected by municipalities creates gaps in accountability. If a local government does not operate separate plastic collection, producers are not required to bear the cost of managing that packaging waste.
The analysis also highlights that Japan’s weight-based fee structure encourages lighter packaging but does not reward recyclable design. Multi layer plastic packaging, which is difficult to recycle but lightweight, attracts relatively low fees despite posing significant recycling challenges.
Although Japan introduced the Plastic Resource Circulation Act in 2022 to encourage better product design, its guidelines are largely voluntary and do not alter the fee structure.
The report cautions that Japan’s target of achieving 100 per cent “effective utilisation” of plastic waste by 2035 includes thermal recovery through incineration, allowing waste burning to count toward circular economy goals.
For India, the report recommends adopting a transparent national EPR system, open bidding for recycling contracts and publicly available fee schedules. However, it warns against copying Japan flat weight based fees, limiting EPR to household waste, or classifying incineration and waste exports as recycling arguing that such measures could undermine genuine circular economy objectives.