For the first time, the Japanese Environment minister defined specific targets to limit the use of plastics, ordering a 25% reduction by 2030 and the obligation for commercial activities to make customers pay bags. According to the the government’s draft presented to the National Council for environmental monitoring, in addition to the new regulations on the recycling of plastic products, 2 million tons of plant biomasses per year will be added by 2030 – to accelerate the return of CO2 in the atmosphere, a level 50 times higher than current values. The government has also presented a plan for the recycling or re-use of 100% of plastic containers by 2035, through their incineration for the development of thermal energy.
The Tokyo government had been criticized at the end of the G7 meeting in Canada in the last June, after refusing to join the treaty to control plastic pollution in the oceans. For this reason, the Japanese Environment Ministry had said it was willing to update the targets and eventually exceed the numerical targets of the Treaty. Japan is the second country for plastic consumption per person, behind the United States. On average every single citizen uses from 300 to 400 bags a year.