Estimation of the Potential Amount of Single-Use Plastic Reduction Based on Material Flow Analysis

Abstract

As one of the milestones in the Resource Circulation Strategy for Plastics of Japan, a target was set for the reduction rate of single-use plastics. To achieve this target, various actions are being taken such as charging plastic shopping bags and reducing thickness of plastic packaging materials. However, there is a lack of discussion regarding the impact of individual actions on the whole single-use plastics and the feasibility of the goal achievement with the current actions. In this study, we surveyed the types of single-use plastics for which reduction actions are being taken, estimated the potential amount of reduction in each plastic type, and projected the feasible reduction rate of single-use plastics by accumulating the results of bottom-up estimations. As a result, it was found that there was a large gap between the top-down target and the feasible reduction rate. Moreover, the results suggested that current actions mainly contributed to the reduction in waste generation from the household sector, while leaving room for reduction in single-use plastics that would be generated from the industry sectors.