PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2013

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 20 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 06/13 www.petpla.net R e d u c e R e u s e R e c y c l e PET bottle recycling global and local – initiatives and associations – Part 1 Recently recycling has become a topic of major importance, both strategically and exis- tentially, as far as the plastics producing and plastics processing industries are concerned. For this reason we have decided to devote a series to this topic in which we will be describ- ing the international recycling scenarios, the local recycling structures that vary from one country to another, the facts, differences in terms of consciousness and awareness plus the conclusions to be drawn from these factors and any measures adopted. We shall be start- ing with Japan, a country that embraced the topic of recycling at an early stage and which, in our opinion, provides the character of a model. by Wolfgang von Schroeter 3 R i n J a p a n Plastics represent one of modern life’s key players; they are what make affordable products possible in the first place. Nevertheless plastics are objects of public criticism, including and more particularly PET. The sub- ject of complaint is the “intolerable” pollution of the environment. Recy- cling is the response to be addressed to the critics, i.e. recirculation and re-use of the plastics in new products. As a result: a lessening of the burden on the environment whilst at the same time protecting oil as a resource, this being the basic raw material used in plastics. We at PETplanet Insider have in the past run reports about recycling processes on numerous occasions. Japan is one example of the successful social process of recy- cling. At the same time, the process is without doubt enhanced by the character-based features of the Japa- nese as a nation; that is, by an ability to conduct an unemotional analysis, to take decisions objectively and as a community and to implement them logically. Everyone within a society needs to take part and the Japanese do take part, at the same time offering commitment and discipline. These are optimum pre-conditions for success- ful recycling. The fact that decision- making processes in Japan take a long time due to the involvement of a large number of bodies is surely not a disadvantage here. Japanese cities are clean. In recent years, a typical district area in Japan makes at least twelve dis- tinctions between types of waste – among which bottles, PET bottles, other plastics are three of the major categories. Much of Japan’s waste is picked up by waste trucks. Littering is an offence, but much more than that: littering causes a loss of face, if for