Govt. to help firms set up plastic recycling facilities

Japan's environment ministry is set to provide support to businesses that establish large-scale production bases for recycling plastic.

The move comes after the situation in and around Iran affected the distribution of chemical products derived from naphtha, a petrochemical used as a raw material for plastics.

The ministry says that, as of 2024, about 70 percent of the naphtha consumed in Japan was imported. It notes that the remaining 30 percent was produced domestically, but refined from crude oil, much of which has to be imported.

The ministry is considering offering support to business operators that establish a facility to produce reprocessed plastic. The operators will collect large amounts of waste plastics from discarded automobiles, home appliances, food trays and other items. They will then sort them out and crush them, before manufacturing recycled plastics.

The ministry plans to include the necessary funding in its budget request for the next fiscal year.

The Plastic Waste Management Institute, which consists of chemical makers and others, says that only about 4.7 percent of waste plastic was processed into recycled plastic in the country as of 2024.

In Japan, only small-and medium-sized facilities produce recycled plastic. Its limited supply, high costs and inconsistent quality are cited as challenges.

The ministry aims to solve these issues with its support program. It hopes to meet about 20 percent of the domestic naphtha consumption using recycled resources in the future.