Japan evaluates small appliance recycling system and adds four items

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment have published an evaluation report on the Small Electronic Appliance Recycling System, recommending the addition of four product categories and safety measures against battery fires.

The framework launched in 2013 to recover metals and establish a resource circulation network. The report notes that annual collection volumes fell to about 87,000 tonnes in fiscal 2024 from a peak of 102,000 tonnes in fiscal 2020. Only 391 of the 1,486 participating municipalities met the target of collecting 1 kilogramme per resident. The ministries attribute this to lighter products and differences in collection methods, advising local governments to combine waste station drop-offs with municipal sorting. Meanwhile, retailers accounted for about 60 percent of the 33,000 tonnes collected directly by certified operators outside the municipal route.

Financial dynamics between municipalities and certified recycling operators have shifted over the decade. In fiscal 2024, municipalities paid operators to process the waste in 54.9 percent of transactions, a practice known as reverse-fee transactions, compared with 0.3 percent in fiscal 2013. The report links this profit deterioration to rising residue disposal costs following overseas import restrictions on used plastic, alongside the cost of explosion-proof crushers and fire suppression systems.

Fires caused by lithium storage batteries across the waste treatment system remain a severe issue. Incidents at certified facilities increased from 50 in fiscal 2020 to 312 in fiscal 2024. To capture more of these items through official channels, the government plans to add mobile batteries, portable power supplies, heated tobacco devices and electronic cigarettes to the 28 categories currently covered by the law.

Material recovery quality also requires improvement. Of the plastic sorted by operators in fiscal 2024, about 18,000 tonnes underwent thermal recovery, while only 12,000 tonnes were recycled into new materials. The report calls for advanced sorting technologies to improve plastic circularity and extract critical minerals such as palladium, nickel, cobalt and lithium from circuit boards.

The government has maintained its annual collection target of 140,000 tonnes for fiscal 2029 and will reevaluate the framework around fiscal 2030.