Awareness found wanting, but progress in curbing plastics in Japan

The Plastic Resource Recycling Promotion Law was passed in Japan earlier in June to address the chronic plastic problem that faces the world today. The Japanese government plan to create a system that verifies the eco-friendliness of manufacturers’ product designs, while setting standards to limit providing plastics at stores.

An increase in awareness, but can be better

Neo Marketing Inc. conducted a survey with over a thousand citizens nationwide to create a snapshot of the nation’s awareness of the plastic issue. Granted, only a small percentage of Japan was surveyed, awareness and interest were lower than where we’d like to see them.

Only 27% of the respondents replied that they knew about the new Plastic Resource Recycling Promotion Law. When asked how aware they were of environmental issues like water pollution and microplastics, only 50% to 60% replied positively. Global warming awareness scored 63.7%.

As a consumer-oriented country, asking Japan to make an enormous change is a gargantuan task. No doubt, environmental groups will continue to promote sustainable actions. Major media companies in Japan have also joined the SDG Media Compact to create awareness of issues related to the SDGs.

We’d like to see the numbers higher for Japan, but when we compared it with a similar survey from last year, it had a larger awareness than SDGs by about +20% ~ 30%. SDGs may not stick easily, but having half the population aware of global environmental problems gives a solid foundation to push for sustainable action.

Environmental awareness and education is consistent

Questions about containers were rather revealing too. Surveyees were also asked whether items (such as glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard boxes) should be reduced, or even that they thought there was too much of. Plastic packaging (46.7%), plastic bottles (44.6%) and food foam trays (43.4%) ranked the top three. The ranks lined up with what they thought were environmentally harmful.

There is constant promotion of topics in Japan like SDGs, food waste, climate change, gender inequality, energy and, of course, plastic waste. The messaging of plastics and unnecessary items show up in the survey. Furthermore, some Japanese schools are beginning to introduce the concepts of SDGs and even Circular Economy, reflecting how important such an education is for future generations.

Hopeful in the face of a crisis

This should give us careful optimism in the face of the Code Red the IPCC report gave us two weeks ago. While the debate goes on the unconvincing plans the Japanese government has set forth to achieve carbon neutrality, the Plastic Resource Recycling Promotion Law was passed unanimously, and marks a strong step towards collecting plastic waste and proper recycling.

We have seen awareness spread strongly in Japan, many thanks to the collective efforts of groups like Friday for Future Japan and Kiko Network. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it will influence the laggards in awareness. The effort to educate will continue its stride in Japan, and we hope to see a tipping point for action too, especially in the face of climate change.