A salient feature of the Japan Clean Ocean Material Alliance, or CLOMA, established in January 2019, is the significant variety of its member companies.

It includes companies spanning upstream and downstream portions of the supply chain; this means not only materials makers, but also food and everyday item-makers that use containers and packaging, logistics and retail companies, in addition to those operating recycling services. Participating entities totaled 335 as of May 27.

Japan, which is not blessed with abundant natural resources, has actively sought effective ways to use resources and established systems to reduce negative environmental impact.

However, marine plastic waste is now a global issue that cannot be overcome by just one country. That is why CLOMA was established with the aim of bringing together Japanese industry’s technologies and expertise, acquired over many years, toward accelerating innovation and promoting society-wide cooperation.

CLOMA’s road map

Since its inception, CLOMA has promoted sharing technological information that facilitates selecting optimum alternative materials for different purposes. The alliance has also advanced efforts to match companies in industries, including logistics, food and consumer goods, that are interested in new technologies for overcoming the plastic waste issue. In mid-May, it came out with the “CLOMA Action Plan” that will guide its activities.

The plan’s overall aim is to recycle 60 percent of containers and packaging by 2030 and recycle 100 percent of plastic products by 2050.

It further sets out medium- to long-term goals, specific measures to achieve them, technological issues that should be addressed and plans for tests. These efforts are covered by the following five activity areas: reducing the amount of plastic used, improving material recycling rates, developing and introducing chemical recycling technologies, developing and using biodegradable plastics and developing and using paper and cellulose materials.

The METI Journal looks into the current plastic waste situation and efforts to develop materials and products with a low environmental load, and discusses how we can shape a sustainable future.

Changing behavior

In January, a unique idea for reducing disposable plastic shopping bags was tested at convenience stores inside government ministry buildings, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance. The test was aimed at assessing the impact on consumer behavior of putting a behavioral economics concept called Nudge theory into practice.

Organizers distributed cards with a printed message saying, “I don’t need a disposable bag,” intended for shoppers to show cashiers their preference. While similar card systems are often used at Japanese retailers, different card designs were trialed in this test to see if there was any difference in the number of shoppers who declined plastic bags.

At a store inside the METI building, cards with a design featuring a photo of a beach strewn with marine litter were used, while the cards introduced at a store at the Ministry of Finance only had the message printed on a blank background.

As the word indicates, the idea behind Nudge theory is to provide preferable options to curb people’s behavior in desired ways while respecting their freedom. The January test was part of a new initiative to explore ways to alter consumer behavior in order to reduce plastic waste through methods other than charging for disposable bags.

At the end of July, a meeting of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), which is an international initiative to address the plastic waste issue, was held in Tokyo. About 500 people, including relevant corporate parties and experts, participated in the forum.

This organization was established chiefly by Procter & Gamble Co., Dow Chemical Co. and BASF SE. From Japan, three major chemical companies — Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp., Mitsui Chemicals Inc. and Sumitomo Chemical Co. — became members.

The 40 member companies participating in this initiative plan to invest $1.5 billion over five years. They have created an outline to facilitate infrastructure for waste management, develop products that are easier to recycle and promote the spread of such products. The outline also includes clean-up efforts to collect waste in oceans and rivers.

At the forum, P&G Vice President Virginie Helias, serving as chief sustainability officer responsible for the company’s environmental and social section, pointed out that, “Innovation is crucial to maximize the value of used plastics.”

She then called for further participation from the Japanese corporate sector, saying, “Japan has the technology to enable to reuse used plastics as resin.”

Hitoshi Ochi, president of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, said, “Contributions from Japanese companies are essential at a time when the degree of plastic waste issues in Asia is said to be the most serious in the world.”

Sumitomo Chemical President Keiichi Iwata stressed the significance of international collaboration.

“Marine plastic waste issues wouldn’t be resolved through an effort by a specific company and industry. So, the AEPW is a groundbreaking alliance,” Iwata said.

Hiroki Yokote, director of the Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Division at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, expressed a sense of expectation for the initiative.

“What’s important in promoting such measures is not implementing a restriction on economic activities. It is an attitude leading to innovation while working on collecting (waste) in an appropriate manner,” he noted.

Cross-industrial effort

Looking at the situation in Japan, there is the Japan Clean Ocean Material Alliance, which is working on addressing marine plastics waste issues.

As of July, 238 companies and organizations have become members, including Kao Corp., Ajinomoto Co., Asahi Group Holdings Ltd., Suntory Holdings Ltd, Aeon Co. and Sony Corp., in addition to the above mentioned Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Sumitomo Chemical and Mitsui Chemicals. The organization is chaired by Kao President Michitaka Sawada.