EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation Waste Management and Recycling in Japan Opportunities for European Companies (SMEs focus) Tokyo September 2015 Christine Yolin 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. 2 Disclaimer ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................... 5 List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 6 List of figures, tables and graphs .......................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................................. 10 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 11 A. Waste management and recycling in Japan and Europe.......................................................... 13 1. Legislation .......................................................................................................................... 13 a. Legal Framework ............................................................................................................ 13 b. 3Rs, Waste Hierarchy and Life-Cycle Assessment ......................................................... 18 c. Pollution control in Japan ............................................................................................... 20 d. Objectives regarding Climate Change ............................................................................ 22 e. The Circular Economy Concept ...................................................................................... 23 2. Outline of the Waste Treatment ........................................................................................... 25 a. Definition and Classification of waste ............................................................................ 25 b. Roles and responsibilities of different entities ................................................................ 26 c. Material flow indicators .................................................................................................. 27 d. Municipal waste .............................................................................................................. 29 e. Industrial waste ............................................................................................................... 33 f. Competitive landscape .................................................................................................... 36 3. Specific waste streams ........................................................................................................ 38 a. Packaging waste .............................................................................................................. 38 b. Food waste ...................................................................................................................... 46 c. E-waste ............................................................................................................................ 48 d. PCB waste ....................................................................................................................... 55 e. Plastic waste .................................................................................................................... 59 4. Waste as energy source ....................................................................................................... 64 a. Renewable energy in Japan ............................................................................................. 64 2 b. Biomass Strategy in Japan .............................................................................................. 69 c. Feed-in Tariff .................................................................................................................. 70 d. Incineration ..................................................................................................................... 71 5. Concrete examples of waste management in Japan ............................................................ 73 a. “Tokyo Model”: Clean Authority Tokyo (CAT23) .......................................................... 73 b. Mitsubishi Material Corporation: “Can to Can” recycling system ................................. 77 c. Ishizaka Sangyo Co., Ltd.: Construction waste .............................................................. 81 d. Programs for the creation of “New-Towns” .................................................................... 83 B. Potential Business opportunities for EU companies ............................................................... 91 1. Opportunities....................................................................................................................... 91 a. Opportunities of the Japanese market in general ............................................................ 91 b. Opportunities of the Japanese waste market ................................................................... 91 c. Business Opportunities on the Japanese waste market ................................................... 92 2. Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 100 a. Challenges of the Japanese market in general ............................................................... 100 b. Challenges of the Japanese waste market ..................................................................... 101 C. Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 103 1. Recommendations for European companies ..................................................................... 103 a. General recommendations of doing business in Japan.................................................. 103 b. Sector specific recommendations .................................................................................. 110 2. Recommendations for European support organizations .................................................... 114 a. Services that meet the needs and expectations of SMEs ............................................... 114 b. Topics for research or cluster missions ......................................................................... 115 c. Topics for discussion ..................................................................................................... 117 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 118 Annex ................................................................................................................................................ 119 Table of references ............................................................................................................................ 139 3 Disclaimer The information contained in this publication reflects the views of the author and not necessarily the views of the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation or the views of the EU Commission or Japan authorities. While utmost care was taken to check and translate all information used in this study, the author and the EU-Japan Centre may not be held responsible for any errors that might appear. 4 Executive summary This report is primarily intended for EU Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that consider approaching the Japanese waste market and is meant to give them an overview of this sector as well as recommendations to take advantage of the business opportunities it offers. The Japanese waste market is a mature market but it is still in evolution due to environmental, economic, social and political circumstances, domestically and around the world. Resource scarcity and energy dependence call for a circular economy, further exploiting waste as a resource. The overall reduction of waste generation is also one of the main objective. When considering entering this market, companies should first understand the main concern (limited space) and conception (responsibilities’ sharing) that drove the Japanese approach to waste management. Biomass and R&D for strategic materials recovery from urban mines appear to be the most promising opportunities for EU SMEs in Japan. Regarding treatment facilities, few new constructions are to be expected in the near future but the many existing plants throughout the country are potential outlets for innovative machinery and technology as replacement parts. Same as for other sectors, finding a good partner is often the first and most important step to enter the market. As a natural result, the main expectation from companies towards support organization is to introduce them to relevant parties and help them build a network. 5 List of abbreviations ACRA Japan Aluminum Can Recycling Association CAT23 Clean Authority of Tokyo 23 cities EU European Union FIT Feed In Tariff FY Fiscal Year (in Japan from April 1st to March 31st) GHG Greenhouse Gas HH Household IGES Institute for Global Environmental Strategies