Circular Economy in Japan

Circular Economy refers to the closed circuit of consumption, where waste is not produced and additional resources are not introduced. And Japan is actively promoting it! Since the beginning of 2019, the awareness of circular economy in Japan has risen in a steady pace.

Circular Economy Trends in Japan
Laws and Regulations related to Circular Economy
Circular Economy case studies from Japan
Organizations promoting Circular Economy in Japan
Youtube Channel: Circular Economy Basics
The latest news about Circular Economy in Japan
Commonly asked questions about Circular Economy

Circular Economy Trends in Japan

There is a lot of recent buzz and trends around circular economy. Here are some of the latest circular economy trends in Japan.

Google Trends shows that Circular Economy has sustained interest in Japan

The rising popularity for “circular economy” on Google Trends, showing sustained interest in Japan. (via Google Trends)

The interest in circular economy continues to climb slowly and steadily in Japan. This follows the increase in interest in the topic from 2018 onwards. The growth is in step with the rising awareness of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). We can see from the graph too, that the interest in Circular Economy in Japan peaked around January 2021.

Every week, businesses discover value in a circular economy, and have started introducing new models like recycling, reducing and upcycling into their operations. By contributing to Japan’s creation of a circular economy, these businesses are finding value in the Triple Bottom Line (benefit for society, environment and business).

Japan’s Ministry of the Environment affirms Circular Economy partnership with World Circular Economy Forum

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan has announced its collaboration with World Economic Forum in March 2021.

The 2nd World Circular Economy Forum was held in Yokohama, from 22-24 October 2018. Among the thousands who attended the forum were change-makers from all around the world. Through the forum, there was conclusion that partnerships and shared vision were needed to fully realize the benefits of a circular economy. Japan and Finland also reemphasized their commitment to further the circular economy agenda. This planted the seed for Japanese businesses to begin redesigning their business processes to be circular.

This year, the World Circular Economy Forum was livestreamed online. The Ministry of the Environment plans to reaffirm that commitment by bringing stakeholders such as businesses and policy makers together to tackle resource circulation. Plastic was a key topic, with plans including the plastic bag charge, a roadmap to introduce bioplastics and circulation of plastic as a resource. This is in line with the World Economic Forum’s Circular Economy Initiative to form partnerships between private and public sectors to address gaps in closing the loop for a circular economy.

MOE (Ministry of the Environment) launched “Circular Challenge” to promote circular economy in Japan

Japan is serious about promoting circular economy in the country. One of the ways we see this is through the “Circular Economy Challenge”. This program was introduced by the Ministry of Environment as part of the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE).

This program promotes and recognizes the efforts of businesses who carry out initiatives contributing to circular economy. For example Seven & i Holdings received one of the awards for their efforts, including their Green Challenge 2050 initiative and their commitment to end the use of plastic bags at their convenience stores.

[Reference] Ministry of the Environment launches “CE Challenge”

Laws and regulations related to Circular Economy

The Japanese Government enacted the law entitled “Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society” in 2000

In 2000, the Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society was passed in Japan. This was the reaction to a number of problems related to waste in the late 1990s. These included the high generation of waste, difficulty in finding new waste treatment facilities and an increase in illegal dumping. It is also a push to promote recycling efforts even further.

The law comes in twofold. One, it dictates a move away from mass production, mass consumption and mass disposal. Two, to guide the development of laws for individual waste and recycling.

[Reference] Ministry of the Environment, Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society

The Ministry of Environment launched the 4th Plan of Establishing a Circular Society in 2018

In order to keep the above law relevant, the Plan of Establishing a Circular Society is reviewed and updated about every five years. This is done by the Central Environmental Council. On June 19, 2018, the 4th plan was decided.

There are three main drivers in the plan. First, a regional revitalization through a circulation system. Second, the full circulation of resources’ life cycle. And finally, the appropriate processing of waste or regeneration of resources.

[Reference] Ministry of the Environment, Basic Plan on Establishing a Circular Society

Circular Economy Vision 2020

To further push for a circular economy in Japan, the Circular Economy Vision 2020 was announced to encourage development of digital technologies to transform Japan, especially against the backdrop of the climate crisis. Even though the implementation is relatively weak, with stronger leadership and encouragement, the push for a circular economy can present Japan as a business opportunity with new business models and strategies.

[Reference] Circular Economy Vision 2020 Outline

Circular Economy case studies in Japan

Smartphone Shredder ZAURUS

As an affordable service, smartphone shredding service ZAURUS recycles old electronic devices (mainly smartphones). Literally shredding the old devices that customers bring in, their urban mining process assists in breaking the devices into pieces for recycling. They even provide a certificate to guarantee the protected privacy of the customers.

The batteries are first removed from the smartphones, before the rest is fed into the shredder. The shredder pieces and batteries are then sent to extractors, who will extract the rare metals. The metals are then sent back to the manufacturing processes of new electronic devices, thereby closing the loop on rare metals.

BRING T Shirts

What is the cost of making T-shirts? As it turns out, a whole lot of oil. Oil is an essential ingredient that produces polyester used in making T-shirts. Therefore BRING T-shirts want to end our dependency on this non-renewable resource.

BRING produces a circular economy of T-shirts, by making old t-shirts out of old ones. It does so by using the polyester from discarded T-shirts to make new ones. As a matter of fact, they are able to produce T-shirts of a higher quality, for example by adding UV protection. Till now, they have partnered with multiple fashion brands to collect different used clothing, including tshirts, socks and underwear.

“Rename” by FINE Inc.

The apparel industry creates a lot of waste, not only in Japan but worldwide. One of the biggest source of waste is the unsold merchandise, discarded without alternatives. FINE Inc. from Japan has created the brand “Rename” that to tackle this problem.

Brands are often adverse to reselling unsold merchandise, for fear of hurting the brand reputation. Rename enters the picture. replacing the brand tags with Rename tags. This greatly reduces clothing waste while creating a quality brand.

Learn more about how Rename works here

iKasa

iKasa is Japan’s first sharing economy for umbrellas. This is an important infrastructure because umbrellas account for a large amount of waste that Japan produces annually.

However, sharing economy is not the only benefit iKasa pushes for. It is introducing repair for their products. This reflects the extension of the product’s lifecycle with in a circular loop. This not only lengthens the life of each umbrella, it also pushes for responsible usage, reducing costs of umbrella waste disposal, while moving towards a Product as a Service model.

More on iKasa's umbrella sharing service here

Organizations promoting Circular Economy in Japan

- Circular Economy Japan : The organization’s goal is to build a circular economy that meets an international standard in Japan.
- Circular Economy Lab Japan (currently offline): This organization wants to encourage their peers to take actual action to move toward a circular economy in Japan.
- Circular Economy Hub : This platform shares the latest news, events, workshops etc, while also educating the public and businesses the concepts of circular economy.
- Circular Yokohama : This is a platform that wants to speed up the adoption of circular economy in Yokohama. In turn, it hopes to tackle concerns in Yokohama, and brings out the best in the city.
- Circular Economy Organization : This organization was founded to revolutionize all industries through the developments of IoT, Big Data, Mobile tech, Cloud tech and Artificial Intelligence.
- Kanagawa Upcycle Consortium : This consortium wants to promote its upcycle model, and become the leading model of a circular economy of the world.