Objective. In the construction industry, a large percentage of the disposed material parts, such as concrete and wood, are recycled in accordance with the “Construction Material Recycling Law.” Similar laws govern the recycling policies in other industries. PVC pipes are recycled by the “Japan PVC Pipe and Fittings Association” in Japan, and most of the recycled material is exported. Thus, observing the trends of the recycling system prevailing in East Asia, the aim of this research is to quantitatively comprehend the situation of the recycling system in Japan. In this study, we examine the PVC scrap material flow in Japan and other East Asian countries and quantitatively evaluate the PVC emissions and utilization of the recycled materials in each country.
Results and Discussion. In this paper, we analyze the material flow of PVC products by investigating the amount of PVC production, emission, recycling, and final disposal. Firstly, we examined the amount of PVC produced in each country. PVC pipes are one of the main PVC products, with approximately 20% to 30% demand. On the other hand, the demand for PVC window frames differs in each country. In Korea and China, the frame is a popular product; however, in Japan and Taiwan, there is little demand. Secondly, we estimated the amount of emission. PVC scrap emissions in Japan peaked at 1,310 kton in 1999 and dropped to 1,180 kton in 2011. In Korea, they peaked at 600 kton in 2008 and dropped to 550 kton in 2011, whereas in Taiwan, they peaked at 900 kton in 2000 and dropped to 520 kton in 2011. The demand in China is rapidly increasing. The Chinese emission amounts have been the largest among the four countries since 1999. The Chinese emissions were 7,110 kton in 2011. Finally, we examined the amount of recycling and final disposal. In Japan, 11% of the total emissions are collected and recycled; 8% of the collected emissions are exported, and 3% are used as recycled material. Finally, 89% of the total emissions are disposed. In contrast, other East Asian counties, such as Korea and China, established a recycling system to manage the emitted scrapped PVC materials. In addition, they import recycled materials. Therefore, the status on PVC emissions’ management differs between these countries because of the differences in their emission problems and demands for PVC materials. While Korea and China focus on demand, Japan adopts policies that focus on the amount of emissions.
Conclusions. The present analysis of the material flow reveals that a large amount of scrapped PVC materials emitted in Japan are exported and used in other East Asian countries. This system is affected by the demand in other countries. Therefore, reconstructing the rigid PVC recycling system of Japan should target the recycling situation of East Asia as a whole.
