Estimation of the flow of plastic processing in industrial waste in Hokkaido

Abstract

IIn light of changes in social conditions, such as China's ban on the acceptance of waste plastics at the end of FY 2017, Japan has enacted the Plastic Resources Circulation Act to strengthen domestic recycling of waste plastics. In this study, a database was constructed from information in Hokkaido's industrial waste disposal performance reports for FY 2016 and FY 2018, before and after China's ban on acceptance, to estimate the processing flow of waste plastics. The results showed that the amount of waste plastic disposed of in Hokkaido decreased slightly (by about 7%), the amount of recycled waste decreased by about 19%, and the amount of landfill disposal by the industrial waste contractors themselves who submitted reports increased by about 40%. In the future, further analysis will be conducted using data from FY 2019 as well, to specifically verify the relationship with China's ban on the acceptance of waste plastics. In addition, the project aims to comprehensively resolve issues related to waste plastic disposal in Hokkaido, including not only industrial waste but also general waste.