On November 22, 2011, the Council for PET Bottle Recycling released the 2011 PET bottle recycling report. According to the report, Japan collected PET bottles at the rate of 72.1 percent in 2010, again higher than Europe (48.3 percent) and the US (29.1 percent).

The city of Mitsuke, Niigata Prefecture, in northwestern Japan, conducted a demonstration test to decompose organic waste through fermentation using microbes, from July 20 to August 31, 2011.

Toyota Housing Corporation (Toyota Home), a home builder in the Toyota Group that engages in car manufacturing, environmental business and information technology, announced on November 2, 2011, the release of "since asuie", an exclusive smart house that aims to realize the future home. The smart house incorporates Toyota's proprietary smart house technology, which allows the user to spend more time with their family, a popular trend since the 2011 earthquake. Toyota's smart house technology includes the nation's first attempt at energy collaboration between the home and vehicles.

Panasonic Corporation, a major consumer electronics company, established the Corporate Electricity Saving Division as a company-wide organization on July 1, 2011. This is in response to constant power shortages expected in near future due to a big change of Japan's electricity supply situation caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, aiming to accelerate productivity improvement and strengthen the management structure through less power consumption.

On October 3, 2011, Kasai Green Energy Park, the Panasonic Group's next-generation environmentally-friendly facility received the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister's Award for "Energy saving by IT" category of the Green IT Awards 2011. It is the most honourable award for the category.

Japan experienced an unprecedented earthquake that occurred off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku on March 11, 2011. The Nipponkoa Insurance Company is a major provider of non-life insurance in Japan. Non-life insurance exists because people do not know when, where and how natural disasters will occur. For this article we interviewed two executives of Nipponkoa Insurance Co. about their work experiences at the time of the earthquake: Mr. Shoji Ito, general manager of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) office at the Corporate Planning Department, and Mr. Yukiteru Shimada, manager of the division.

Tokyo Tower was illuminated with holiday lighting from Nov. 3 until December 25, 2011. The year 2011, however, the festive lights were more energy-efficient than those used in previous years. The lights were turned on at 4:00 pm and turned off at 12:00 am, with lighting performances held nine times a day.

On November 14, 2011,the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) released the results of an international survey on energy and climate change policies in Japan after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear plant accident. The survey targeted experts and researchers who are deeply interested in global energy and environmental issues: 710 respondents answered the survey (Japanese 61%, non-Japanese 39%).

Major Japanese construction company Takenaka Corp. announced on October 20, 2011 that it had completed a highly energy-efficient office building, called "Ecohouse," along with a factory employing a total of 70 environmental technologies to significantly reduce environmental impact. The building and factory were built for Amino Up Chemical Co. -- which extracts, develops, and manufactures naturally derived substances -- at its head office site in Sapporo, Hokkaido.

Ezorock is a Japanese non-government organization that focuses on the theme of "the next generation" led by the efforts of Japanese youth. Ezorock makes compost by hand from garbage collected at the RISING SUN ROCK FESTIVAL (RSR), the biggest open-air music festival in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's major islands. The compost is used to cultivate organic vegetables at the RSR organic farm, and these vegetable crops are given to the following year's guests at RSR. This experience-oriented project places importance on this cycle.