Aiming to reduce plastic waste Government system design hurry

Aiming to reduce plastic waste Government system design hurry November 21, 7:04

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In order to reduce the amount of plastic waste that is causing environmental pollution worldwide, the government will put together measures to be taken in the future and encourage related manufacturers and distributors to collect and recycle used plastic products. I did.

It is estimated that about 8 million tons of plastic waste flow out into the sea every year in the world, causing serious environmental pollution in various places such as adversely affecting the ecosystem, and each country is taking measures.

Under these circumstances, the government's future measures were summarized at a joint expert meeting of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry held on the 20th.

Among these, we encourage manufacturers who make products using plastics to reduce the weight of their products and switch to alternative materials such as plastics made from plants, as well as products that have been used by manufacturers and distributors. It is necessary to actively contribute to the collection and recycling of plastics, and it is said that it will work to improve the environment for that purpose.

In addition, when providing plastic straws and spoons to retailers and service industries, we will ask customers not to over-provide by thoroughly confirming whether they are necessary. I have decided.

The Ministry of the Environment and others are rushing to design a system to realize the measures summarized this time, with a view to enacting a new law.

Some companies are trying to collect used products

Some manufacturers of plastic products are also working on the collection and recycling of used products.

Lion, a major daily necessities manufacturer, has been collecting toothbrushes that have been used up for five years as part of its social contribution activities.

By the end of September, 715 schools nationwide participated in the system, inviting schools and companies nationwide to set up collection boxes and have recycling companies and local governments collect them. It means that the toothbrush of the book was collected.

The collected toothbrush is made by crushing the handle made of plastic into small pieces, melting it at high temperature, and recycling it into a flowerpot.

There are challenges in implementing the project

However, it is said that what we are doing now is just social contribution activities, and there are issues in actually doing it as a business.

Recycling reduces the strength of plastic, and the handle of the toothbrush uses various colors, so when mixed, it only becomes a dark color, which limits its use.

In addition, toothbrushes contain different types and quantities of plastic resin depending on the manufacturer, so it is difficult to stably produce recycled products in terms of both quality and quantity.

Furthermore, it is said that it will be difficult for a business to be established unless consumers are thoroughly aware of recycling and reach a certain amount of collection.

Tomoya Chiba, chief of the Environmental Strategy Office of the Lion CSV Promotion Department, said, "When actually commercializing a toothbrush, it is a difficult problem to recycle the toothbrush into what kind of product, and it is very costly to work on recycling by ourselves. We would like to cooperate with other companies and local governments in terms of both technological development and the creation of a collection system. "

Plastic waste from Japan An example of drifting to Hawaii

Plastic waste generated in Japan is also washed ashore in Hawaii, USA, which is more than 6000 kilometers away.

From the images and photographs taken by a local NPO that works to protect the marine environment, it can be seen that a large amount of fine plastic debris is washed ashore in driftwood.

A beer case with the name of a Japanese manufacturer is shown, and according to the staff, there are many plastic trash that is washed ashore in Asian countries such as Japan.

Yuichiro Sekiguchi, a photographer living in Hawaii and the representative of this NPO, said, "I clean the beach every day to protect the beautiful Hawaiian sea, but I find plastic waste that seems to have come from Japan. I feel lonely as a Japanese person. Many cases of sea turtles and fish swallowing plastic waste have been confirmed, and I think that the impact on the environment has already come out. People living in Japan understand that. However, I want you to be strongly aware of the importance of recycling and not producing as much garbage as possible. "

Expert "Government has clear goals for when and how much to reduce"

Associate Professor Sadao Harada of Osaka University of Commerce, who is familiar with the problem of plastic waste, said, "It is very significant that the excessive use of plastic was clearly shown to be a big problem and the direction to expand the responsibility of the business operator was taken. In addition to saying, "There is," he said, "It is essential to consider making it easy to recycle from the product design stage and to create a mechanism that makes it easy to purchase recycled products that tend to be expensive. Until now, consumers and businesses Although it has been left to the voluntary efforts of the people, the government is required to set a clear goal of how much to reduce plastic waste by when. "