Japan adopts five eco-community projects towards building a recycling-based society

Japan’s Ministry of the Environment (MOE) held an open competition soliciting proposals for eco-community projects (officially, “Fiscal 2003 Pilot Projects for Building a Recycling-based Society”), and adopted five model projects after reviewing 239 applications from around the country.



Japan for Sustainability reports that this programme aims to promote local activities to build a recycling-based society by implementing innovative model projects such as through the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and green purchasing, involving citizens’ organisations or businesses working in cooperation with local governments.



Up to around 10 million yen (GBP50,000) will be given to each of innovative model projects. The projects adopted this fiscal year are as follows:



Development of returnable cup system for use at festivals and events (by Kyo Agenda 21 Forum, Eco Festival Working Group)



Pilot project to build a recycling-based society by developing a PET plastic bottle recycling system (by Coca Cola Japan and Asahi & Co.) The project plans to develop a closed-loop recycling system by producing new PET bottles from used bottles collected from the commercial sector with “PET to PET” regeneration technology. The model project will start in the Kyushu area in southern Japan.



Model project on integrated system to reuse 900 ml brown bottles in Southern Kyushu (by Ecological Life and Culture Organization). This project aims to build a returnable system for 900 ml brown bottles, mainly used for shochu, a Japanese distilled spirit drink, in Southern Kyushu. While these bottles are now disposed of after being used once due to the lack of a unified standard, the project will introduce a new standardized bottle and establish a collection system.



Recycling project for organic resource, using eco-money (by Association for the Promotion of Nakacho Main Street Arcade, Atsugi) The association will issue “eco-money” to households when collecting organic household waste, in the hopes of collecting more of this waste and stimulating interest for shopping at local stores. The collected waste will be composted at a compost center in the city and distributed to local farmers to produce organic vegetables, which will be available to local consumers.



Collecting and recycling system of videotapes for members (by Benesse Corporation) Benesse Corporation, one of Japan’s largest correspondence course companies, started collecting and recycling the videotapes that have been distributed to their members as study materials. According to Benesse, their videotapes account for about 20% of the total annual consumption of videotapes within Japan. The company aims to eventually establish a nationwide collection and recycling system for their members. The trial project will start in Himeji city and its surroundings. 5-year report on Ireland’s waste management published