Sorted Collection of Plastic Containers other than PET Bottles Increases by 19%

The Japanese Ministry of the Environment has announced the results of sorted collection and recycling in fiscal 2005 by municipalities under the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law. The law was first applied to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and glass containers in April 1997 and then to plastic and paper containers and packages in April 2000. The amount of collected plastic containers other than PET bottles increased by 19 percent from the previous year. This has been attributed to the increase in the number of municipalities operating a sorted collection program for plastic containers.

According to the law, the items to be sorted, collected and recycled are: flint glass containers, brown glass containers, other colored glass containers, PET bottles, paper containers and packages, and plastic containers other than PET bottles. The items to be sorted and collected but not obliged to be recycled are: steel cans, aluminum cans, paper cartons and cardboard. Items are picked up by private businesses after being collected by municipalities.

As in the previous year, more than 90 percent of municipalities have a sorted collection program for glass containers, PET bottles, steel and aluminum cans.

The rates of recycled volume to collected volume were 98.2 percent for aluminum cans, 99.0 percent for cartons and 96.8 percent for the total containers collected by municipalities.

http://www.env.go.jp/en/

Posted: 2007/02/28 09:21:24 AM
Japanese version