Recycling in Japan (リサイクル), an aspect of waste management in Japan, is based on the Japanese Container and Packaging Recycling Law. Plastic, paper, PET bottles, aluminium and glass are collected and recycled. Japan's country profile in Waste Atlas shows that in 2012 Recycling Rate was 20.8%.

Container and Packaging Recycling Act

Also called Act on the Promotion of Sorted Collection and Recycling of Containers and Packaging, has been enforced since April 1997 by the Ministry of the Environment to reduce the waste of glass containers, PET bottles and paper cartons. Since April 2000 plastic containers and packages other than PET bottles have been included. According to the act, the recycling is conducted by the Japanese Container and Package Recycling Association (JCPRA) (財団法人日本容器包装リサイクル協会), a government-designated organization established September 25, 1996. Recycling of steel cans is not regulated by the law, but in 2006 about 99% of the municipalities collected and recycled them. In 1973 the Japan Steel Can Recycling Association (スチール缶リサイクル協会), a non-profit organization to promote the recycling of steel cans, had been established. According to its statistics 88.1% of steel cans have been recycled in 2006, maintaining the world's highest level. In 2016, Dr. Yamakawa reported the state of the Packaging Recycling Act in detail, which would be the latest information available in English.

Other recycling acts and target products/materials

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Recycling plans

On March 25, 2008, the Japanese Cabinet approved a plan that targets to reduce the total waste from about 52 million tons in 2007 to about 50 million tons in 2012 and to raise the waste recycling rate from 20 to 25%. Thermal recycling and a charging system for waste disposal services will be promoted.

3R Initiative

This G8 initiative, first proposed at the G8 Summit in June 2004, aims to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle waste. At the G8 Environmental Minister Meeting in Kobe on May 24–26, 2008, the ministers agreed about the Kobe 3R Action plan. It intends to improve resource productivity, to establish an international sound material-cycle society and to bring forward 3Rs capacity in developing countries. According to this plan, Japan also announced a New Action Plan towards a Global Zero Waste Society, aimed to establish material cycle societies internationally. The Japanese government set October as the official month for 3R promotions. This was done to specify and allocate deliberate time to encourage corporations and businesses to focus on the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling waste. During the promotion month, the government and other companies organise informative events and parties to publicise the ideas of a sound material-cycle society.

Scandals

In January 2008 five paper companies in Japan were accused of misleading customers about the recycled paper content of their products. Oji Paper, the largest paper company in Japan, admitted that its copy and print paper contained 5 to 10% recycled paper, instead of the 50% stated. The president of Oji Paper apologized to its customers, and the president of Nippon Pages, the second largest paper company in Japan, resigned to take responsibility. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission said it would investigate.