The Japanese magazine Diamond Weekly reported that as an indispensable container for liquid beverages, the disposal of plastic bottle waste is becoming a thorny issue in the beverage industry. This problem originated in China’s last year’s 'foreign garbage' ban. China as a former 'Western garbage' is the largest importer, and the policy of prohibiting the import of waste is profoundly affecting the whole world. Japan has lost the largest plastic bottle garbage disposal site, and the beverage industry closely related to it is full of anxiety.
According to Diamond Weekly, although there are also companies that recycle plastic bottles in Japan, they only target plastic bottle garbage in household waste. After sorting, cleaning, handling labels and outer packaging, these garbage can be recycled as resources. The recycling trouble, the low value of plastic bottle garbage, the Japanese government chose to export these garbage in large quantities. In 2017, the total output of Japanese plastic bottle garbage reached 240,000 tons, while China accounted for 87%.
In July last year, the ban on 'foreign garbage' issued by the Chinese government had a major impact on Japan. Plastic bottle garbage in Japan lost its disposal site. Data show that in 2018, there were 50,000 tons of plastic bottles in Japan. The government has found alternative countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, but a lot of garbage is still not being processed.
Since last year, Japan has set off an unprecedented wave of bottled coffee. Transparent plastic bottles and stylishly designed bottled coffee have become popular products of major beverage companies, which has led to an increase in plastic bottle waste. The problem of plastic bottle garbage has arisen, and the industry will independently formulate industry rules and take countermeasures. The Japanese Ministry of the Environment is also increasing the capital investment in waste disposal and introducing recycling equipment. For Japanese beverage companies, the future The competition for food packaging materials will become fierce.