• Waste management in Japan
• Circular economy in Japan
• Waste management in Asia
• Disaster waste management

Transition of 3R implementation

It has been over a decade since 2000, the year which is called the first year of the sound material-cycle society in Japan. Over those years, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R)" initiatives have been initiated and advanced in various sectors. The Japanese government has enacted numerous recycling-related laws such as the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law, the Home Appliance Recycling Law, and the Food Recycling Law (external link). In addition, business operators have been undertaking voluntary initiatives outside these legal frameworks.

What is often done for the effective implementation of those initiatives is to create a roadmap. There are different types of roadmaps including the ones presenting a concrete short-to-medium term implementation plan (e.g. a few years) and those based on medium-to-long term projections. The Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (the "Fundamental Plan") formulated by the Japanese government falls under the former category. Development of the latter type of roadmaps or strategies is called "scenario planning." (For details on the scenario planning for the sound material-cycle society, see a related article in the November 2, 2009 issue [in Japanese].) The First Fundamental Plan was formulated in 2003. The Third Plan (external link) was approved by the Cabinet at the end of May 2013.^*1

An outline of the Third Fundamental Plan is as follows. The Plan presents two fundamental directions as its two main pillars: establishing a sound material-cycle society with a focus on "quality of recycling," and promoting international efforts. More specifically, "a focus on quality of recycling" means (1) promoting 2Rs (Reduce, Reuse) that has a higher priority than recycling, (2) recovering useful metals from end-of-life products, and (3) promoting advanced recycling such as horizontal recycling. In other words, the Plan shows transition from an epoch encouraging indiscriminate mass recycling to a new epoch promoting quality recycling that incurs less environmental burden and consumes less resources (see a related article in Japanese) and advancing 2Rs.^*2

Indicators presented in the Fundamental Plan and advancing 3R efforts

The Third Fundamental Plan not only presents specific initiatives to be taken by each entity but also sets "effort indicators" to measure and evaluate the degree of progress made in the on-going 3R initiatives, and to encourage further efforts. The draft Third Plan presents 27 indicators on sub-item level, some of which set a concrete target to achieve. Since formulation of indicators is important for advancing those efforts, one of the key issues for drafting the Third Plan was therefore setting appropriate indicators in view of the above-mentioned transition to the new epoch and in anticipation of next phase of 3R implementation. The next section explains the concept of phased implementation of 3R initiatives by introducing the discussion on the drafting of the Third Plan, in which I participated.

Phased implementation of 3R initiatives

For drafting the Third Plan, a document entitled "draft concept note on setting effort indicators" was presented as a reference material for the 74th meeting of the Sound Material-Cycle Society Planning Committee of the Central Environmental Council held in September 2012. The draft concept note stated that too many indicators might lead to less impact of the message that each indicator must deliver, and that the existing indicators therefore need to be integrated and organized based on the degree of the progress made in the implementation of 3R initiatives. While the note emphasizes the technical side of reducing the number of indicators, the review of the progress in the on-going 3R initiatives is closely related to the issues to be considered for their phased implementation including "what initiatives should be taken in the next phase," and "whether the efforts in the current phase have been successful and can be completed."

Fig.1 is a conceptual diagram on phased implementation of a 3R initiative. The horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents degree of progress made in the implementation of the 3R initiative. In the first phase, the 3R initiative is initiated at a certain location (e.g. in Japan or other countries). A necessary 3R policy in this phase would be to keep the time required for launching the 3R initiative ("lead time") as short as possible. Thus, policymakers need to urge relevant entities to start the implementation by providing them with relevant information about the initiative. In the second phase, good practices from some advanced efforts are widely shared with other regions and stakeholders. In this phase, the primary focus of the 3R policy shifts to sharing practical knowledge and creating an enabling environment for securing necessary funding for the implementation. In the third phase, the implementation efforts are adjusted and strengthened to generate greater effects. Of course, consideration of effectiveness is important in any effort during the first and second phases as well, because the effort that is more effective than others can be selected for wider implementation to maximize the overall effect. However, the effectiveness that is valued in the third phase comes from creativity and ingenuity within a certain effort in order to maximize its effect.

In summary, as the implementation of 3R initiatives advances, main focus in their effort indicators or evaluations shifts from the number of actions to their effects. Some initiatives may instantly generate the effects expected in the third phase, but those cases are rare. If it takes too long to reach the third phase, focusing too much from the beginning on the final effects may discourage the 3R efforts, and thus should be avoided. However, allowing the implementation efforts to stagnate in the first or second phase should also be avoided. For strategic implementation of 3R initiatives, it is important to identify the most suitable types and methods of implementation for each phase.

Similar to a main character of a role-playing game, 3R efforts gradually move to higher levels over time. However, unlike the game, no one tells us when they have moved to the next level. Those who implement, support and promote 3R initiatives need to monitor the transition and progress of their implementation efforts in the country, discuss and exchange opinions on the progress, and take appropriate actions accordingly.