The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced at the end of September 2006 that it will promote the reutilization over recycling for beer and other glass bottles in the latest …
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced at the end of September 2006 that it will promote the reutilization over recycling for beer and other glass bottles in the latest draft revision to its ordinance for container and packaging material recycling. The present ordinance stipulates that if beverage companies collect 90% or more of their bottles, municipal governments must cover the remaining 10% or less of the costs of recycling. In the draft, this applies even if companies have recovered around 70% of the bottles, meaning that municipalities will be covering the costs of recycling of the remaining 30%. However, this is expected to draw objections from municipal governments, and some adjustments will probably be needed. The ministry is also considering letting supermarkets and other food retailers deduct the amount of food wrappings and containers they have collected themselves from their annual recycling obligations in order to promote self-collection efforts.