New Car Recycling Law Introduces EPR

Japan's Automobile Recycling Law was enacted on July 5, 2002 and will fully enter into force at the end of 2004. A total of 72 million four-wheeled vehicles are registered in Japan, and 5 million are scrapped every year. The new law defines the roles and responsibilities of the related parties for the properly recycling and disposal of used cars.

The law requires automakers to recover and recycle chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), car airbags, and shredder dust after recovering recyclable materials from scrapped cars. In order to ensure appropriate recycling and treatment processes, car dealers and service companies are required to register to be able to collect used cars, and scrapping companies must obtain the proper licenses. When disposing of used cars, the owners will now be required to turn them over only to authorized dealers or service companies.

The major achievement of the new law is that it introduces for the first time the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and specifically defines the roles and responsibilities of automakers. At present, more than 70 percent of used cars are recycled, but the Japanese government aims to raise the car-recycling ratio to 95 percent in 2015.



Posted: 2002/08/24 06:11:41 AM
Japanese version