MOE Japan Selects Projects for the FY2022 Program for Supporting Municipalities to Promote Plastic Resource Circulation

MOE Japan publicly called for applications for the FY2022 program for supporting municipalities to promote plastic resource circulation, targeting municipalities who work to create pioneering models contributing to the promotion of efficient collection and recycling of plastic resources.

(1) Sorted collection and recycling of plastic product waste by municipalities

-Hachinohe City, Aomori Prefecture
Project name: Environmentally-friendly plastic recycling project utilizing eco-towns
Outline:
The city installs collection boxes at community halls and other public facilities within the city, conducts a demonstration project to collect used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products, and verifies environmental and economic effects.
 
-Iwate Town, Iwate Prefecture
Project name: Project for self-sustaining decentralized plastic recycling
Outline:
The town collects plastic waste, which is all incinerated as combustible waste at present, examines its composition, and verifies environmental and economic effects when recycling it as new products or resources.
 
-Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture
Project name: Recycling project for plastic products
Outline:
The town conducts sorted collection of plastic products, examines its composition, verifies environmental and economic effects, and disseminates information about this project to local residents.
 
-Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Project name: Feasibility study on plastic resource recycling
Outline:
The city conducts a survey concerning used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products, and considers sorting and treatment systems suited to individual types of recycling business operators based on the results of the survey, thereby aiming to build a future recycling system covering all plastic waste.
 
-Nasushiobara City, Tochigi Prefecture
Project name: Achievement of advanced plastic recycling and resource circulation within communities
Outline:
The city conducts a demonstration to collect used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products at collection sites, ascertains the current status through examining the composition of collected waste under this project, and also considers a plastic resource circulation model, verifies effects, and ascertains residents' levels of understanding through a questionnaire survey.
 
-Oizumi Town, Gunma Prefecture
Project name: Demonstration experiment for collection of plastic products for achieving a zero-carbon city
Outline:
The town collects used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products to understand increases in the amount of waste and the workload, and utilizes the obtained data in talks with residents' associations that manage garbage collection sites, garbage collectors, and municipal associations.
 
-Edogawa Ward, Tokyo Metropolis
Project name: Demonstration experiment for introducing sorted collection and recycling of plastic resources
Outline:
In order to implement a plan to start collection of plastic resources, including plastic products, in model areas in the ward from FY2023, the ward conducts analysis and examination of the composition of waste and a questionnaire survey in FY2022 to verify the amount of plastic waste to be collected and to consider efficient collection system.
 
-Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Project name: Demonstration on collection and recycling of used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products
Outline:
In order to smoothly conduct collection and recycling of used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products in the city as a whole, the city designates model districts and conducts demonstration to ascertain the composition of collected waste and verify effects. At the same time, the city compiles issues concerning recycling and ascertains residents' levels of understanding through a questionnaire survey.
 
-Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture
Project name: Demonstration project for collection and recycling of plastic resources
Outline:
The city collects used plastic products, which are incinerated as combustible waste at present, together with used plastic containers & packaging, examines the composition of the collected waste and bale quality, and conducts demonstration of recycling, thereby ascertaining issues and effects upon the transition to a new system and also ascertaining residents' levels of understanding through a questionnaire survey.
 
-Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Project name: Project to develop an intermediate treatment facility
Outline:
The city conducts a composition analysis and a physical and chemical analysis of collected plastic product waste at the storage facility to ascertain its composition, components, lower heating values or other data necessary for setting planned waste quality.
 
-Hyogo (Ono City, Kasai City and Kato City) Prefecture
Project name: Model project for joint collection of plastic resources by three cities that constitute a municipal association
Outline:
Ono City, Kasai City and Kato City, which are adopting different methods for sorted collection of plastic resources, conduct detailed composition analyses including of materials, taint, impurities, of plastics in combustible waste for the purpose of ascertaining the estimated amount of used plastic containers & packaging and plastic products to be collected, creating a transition model, and verifying effects. At the same time, they ascertain the estimated amount of incinerated waste when conducting sorted collection and recycling of plastic resources, and verify the effects of possible reduction of CO₂ emissions from the Clean Center.
 
-Fukuoka (Munakata City, Koga City, Fukutsu City, and Shingu Town) Prefecture
Project name: Project on sorted collection of plastic in Munakata and Koga areas and dissemination of sorted collection within Fukuoka Prefecture
Outline:
Sorted collection of plastic products is conducted in some areas in Munakata City and Koga City. The cities conduct a composition analysis, sorting and compression, and recycling of the collected plastic products and verify environmental and economic effects. The obtained results are to be utilized in consideration on a system of sorted collection and recycling in Munakata City, Koga City, Fukutsu City and Shingu Town.
 
 
(2) Voluntary collection and recycling of used plastic products by municipalities in collaboration with manufacturers
 
-Akita Prefecture
Project name: Demonstration project for building a scheme to improve efficiency in collecting used products and to promote circulation of recycled resources
Outline:
The prefecture collects and recycles agricultural plastic waste through a voluntary collection in collaboration with JA Ogatamura, and verifies environmental and economic effects. Additionally, the prefecture organizes information exchanged using the information sharing platform, which connects waste generators and recyclers, and conducts surveys and examinations concerning waste treatment technologies, such as crushing and washing of agricultural plastic waste.
 
-Tokyo Metropolis
Project name: Bottle recycling project for everyone
Outline:
Voluntary collection of used containers is conducted in cooperation between residents' associations and four daily necessities companies (Unilever Japan Service K.K., Kao Corporation, The P&G Japan Limited, and Lion Corporation). The Tokyo metropolis promote awareness and understanding among residents, including by holding briefing sessions, and verify the effectiveness of such activities.  It also conducts a test of picking plastic bottle containers in order to increase the amount of collected used bottles.
 
-Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Project name: Demonstration project to collect used edible oil containers
Outline:
The city collaborates with The Nisshin OilliO Group, Ltd. and installs collection boxes for used edible oil containers in the city to ascertain the status of disposal of used edible oil containers, the amount collected and properties by collection sites, and availability of collected containers for recycling, thereby preparing basic materials for deliberations on social implementation.
 
-Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Project name: Unite for Smile. UMILE Shonan Higashi
Outline:
Fujisawa City, Chigasaki City and Samukawa Town create effective PR materials upon commencing collection of used shampoo containers, etc. by utilizing a loyalty program by a manufacturer (Unilever Japan Customer Marketing K.K.). The cities, the town, and the manufacturer conduct dissemination and awareness-raising activities by using their own PR tools (including HP, SNS, PR magazines, leaflets, and posters), and verify the environmental and economic effects of the project.