Traditionally Japanese packaging has been regarded as the ultimate in wasteful elegance; Zen to the extreme and often ridiculously over-packaged: The purchase of a dozen finger-sponge cakes bought in a local bakery is handed to you in:-

1. The store’s elegant little paper carrier bag,
2. Inside will be a gift-wrapped box. Peal away the gift-wrap;The box itself is revealed as a masterpiece of origami-inspired folding carton technology which opens to reveal;
3. Each dainty little finger-sponge individually sealed inside its own printed plastic opaque pouch, tearing it open reveals, not the sponge, but;
4. A clear little pp tray in which the solitary sponge sits;
5. On top its own cushion of silica gel.

Japan’s Packaging Recycling Law, came onto the statute on 1 April 1997, and was implemented in phases according to a timetable, which included mandatory home sorting and kerb-side collections. The final phase took effect in October 2004.

Superficially, the Law promotes recycling, affecting the whole gamut of packaging: steel and aluminum cans, paper beverage cartons, glass bottles (colorless, brown and green all have their own separate clauses), and polyethylene telephthalate (PET) bottles, trays used in supermarkets and plastic bags, as well as stretchable film.
The intent of the law is to encourage businesses to use packaging and containers which are reusable or, if not possible, materials which are "ready to recycle." If packaging materials are not readily recyclable, manufacturers are then obliged to pay the associated collecting, sorting, transportation, and recycling costs.

If packaging materials are not readily recyclable, manufacturers are then obliged to pay the associated collecting, sorting, transportation, and recycling costs.

All businesses manufacturing or using paper and plastic packaging (including supermarkets and retail stores) will be responsible for recycling costs.

Businesses must track the amount of recyclable materials they use for one year and retain records for five years. Based on their recorded usage, businesses must calculate the amount of their recyclables and will be charged accordingly for the cost of recycling.

Containers and packaging materials are divided into eight categories: glass bottles, PET bottles, plastic containers and packaging, paper containers and packaging, steel cans, aluminum cans, paper cartons for beverages, and cardboard boxes.

For imported products, importers will be obliged to pay recycling costs in most cases. If the imported products bear private labels, the corporation using the private labeling will be responsible for recycling costs, and Japanese importers will take associated recycling charges into account when choosing goods to import.
With the total 2004 shipment value of packaging materials and containers up by more than 5.2% to ¥5,602 billion (yen), and the total volume 20,860,000 tons, an increase of 0.6% as compared with 2003, Japan’s Packaging Law has done little to reduce the volume of packaging produced, or impacted on the production value.

Prev - Next >>