The government has decided to compile a plastic resources recycling strategy with the aim of reducing the massive volume of plastic waste generated in people's daily lives, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
In line with global moves to not just promote recycling of plastic goods but to reduce their overall use, the government aims to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags and other disposable plastic products.
As early as this summer, the government will form a council made up of representatives from relevant ministries and agencies -- including the Environment Ministry and the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry -- and the industrial sector as well as other experts, with a view to compiling a strategy by the end of this fiscal year.
The strategy will call for reducing plastic containers and packaging such as plastic bags and food trays; effectively collecting and reusing used plastic resources; and spreading the use of bioplastics derived not from petroleum but from plant materials.
Plastics have the potential to contribute to global warming as they emit carbon dioxide when burned.
Concern has also recently been raised over the hazardous impact on ecosystems of microplastics -- plastics that break down into pieces of 5 millimeters or less in diameter while floating in the ocean, due to ultraviolet rays and the force of waves.
At the 2015 Group of Seven summit meeting in Germany, an action plan against marine litter, including microplastics, was compiled.
According to the Plastic Waste Management Institute, Japan's total plastic waste amounted to 8.99 million tons in 2016, and about 60 percent of this was incinerated. While most of the heat from waste incineration is used for power generation and other purposes, Japan is required to reduce the amount of plastic waste burned from the standpoint of reducing global warming.
The European Union put together its plastics strategy in January and started studying how to regulate disposable plastics.
Introducing such regulations may invite opposition from both industry and consumers.
An Environment Ministry official said: "It is vital to get the understanding and cooperation of businesses and citizens. We first want to hear a wide range of views at the council."
Prof. Hideshige Takada of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, an expert on environmental chemistry, is well versed in the plastic waste issue. He said measures against plastic waste have "focused on recycling, and efforts for reduction have been insufficient."
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