Recently more and more plastic bottles are being collected after use and made into new products. The recycled material has been turned into uniforms for schools and companies, egg cartons, and even business cards. But this is not enough. Because of their convenience, plastic bottles are being manufactured and collected in ever-increasing numbers, and without corresponding new ways to reuse them, problems with garbage will worsen. The challenge now is to make it possible to reuse plastic bottles for their original purpose - holding drinks and food products - and the cooperation of consumers is the key to making this a reality.

Environmental Awareness Growing
Most of the plastic bottles that are collected and reused end up being turned into fiber. Led by middle schools in the Tohoku area, new students at some 800 elementary and middle schools carry school bags that have been woven from the fiber produced by recycling ten 1.5 liter plastic bottles. While these bags cost the same as previous school bags - between ¥5,000 and ¥8,000 (between $40 and $64 at ¥125 to the dollar) - the fiber is stronger than nylon, so they can last up to five or six years.

Fibers obtained from plastic bottles are also used in the production of school and corporate uniforms. With environmental education becoming more prominent in schools and with the implementation of the new Law on Promoting Green Purchasing in April 2001, momentum for the use of products made from recycled materials appears likely to build.

From Bottle to Bottle
The Containers and Packaging Recycling Law has been implemented in stages since 1997. It requires consumers to sort their waste, municipalities to collect it separately, and businesses to use recycled materials in the creation of new products. Plastic bottles, mainly used to hold drinks like tea or water, are light and sturdy, and their use continues to grow year after year, as does the number of recycled bottles. According to the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association, 362,000 tons of plastic bottles were produced in Japan in fiscal 2000 (April 2000 - March 2001), 125,000 tons of which were recycled, giving Japan a world-best recycling rate of 34.5%, well ahead of the United States (22.3%) and Europe (22.0%). The association forecasts that Japan's recycling rate will jump to 44% in fiscal 2001.

Because plastic bottles are so bulky, they have the potential to become a major cause of problems if they are collected and not reused. At present, they are mainly made into sheets that are then used as fiber or to make plastic egg cartons, so creating demand for new uses is seen as important. The task ahead is to reuse these plastic bottles again as containers for drinks and food products. Up to now, it has not been possible to attain a 100% guarantee of safety, but technology has advanced to the stage of practical use. Industry insiders are appealing to consumers for help in making this dream a reality, urging them to remove the caps from plastic bottles and rinse them out before setting them aside for recycling.