Greenhouse gas reduction by material replacement of plastics in household waste

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of 3R Plus principle, GHG reduction effect by plastic material replacement from household waste was estimated in addition to waste prevention effect.

Regarding waste prevention, 37 items that were avoidable were assumed to be reduced by 50%. For material replacement, 19 plastic items were assumed to be replaced by paper, wood, glass, and metal, respectively (bioplastics were excluded). As a result, the GHG reduction potential was estimated to be 96,000 t-CO₂eq compared to the current scenario, while the plastic material replacement was additionally reduced by 11,000 t-CO₂eq. In addition, the results showed an expected reduction of 52,000 t-CO₂eq by achieving Kyoto City's 2030 target. Other GHG reduction effects of 3R policies not evaluated in this study will be evaluated in the future.