Japan’s Circular Economy Vision Under the Action Plan | Chapter 7Building a Circular Society and Transitioning to a Circular Economy

A circular society is defined as a society that restrains the consumption of natural resources and reduces environmental burdens as far as possible. Policy is expanding toward tracking waste generation and treatment and managing resource inputs, circulation, and outputs as a single material flow.

The Fifth Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society was approved by the Cabinet in August 2024 and set fiscal 2030 as the target year for material-flow indicators. It provides a framework for continuously assessing resource productivity, natural-resource consumption per capita, the share of renewable and circular resources used as inputs, input-side and output-side circular use rates, and final disposal volumes.

The policy focus is shifting from simply increasing recycling volumes to transitioning to a circular economy that improves the quality and demand for recycled materials and connects product design, manufacturing, distribution, use, collection, and treatment.

Companies are required to prepare plans for using recycled resources and submit periodic reports, adopt environmentally conscious design, make products easier to recycle, and participate in collection and recycling businesses. A stable supply of recycled materials and expanded demand will reduce dependence on resource imports and affect the competitiveness of related industries and the creation of new markets.

Municipalities need to manage waste and human-waste treatment, secure final disposal sites, separately collect plastics and small electronic appliances, prevent fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, and develop disaster waste treatment plans. Using local resources simultaneously supports employment, local industries, decarbonization, and improved disaster-response capacity.

Residents and consumers are required to participate in these systems through everyday actions, including sorting waste, reducing food loss, curbing single-use plastics, and properly disposing of small electronic devices and batteries. Information campaigns, awards, and educational activities help establish the 3Rs as sustained daily habits.

Internationally, common rules on circularity disclosure and transboundary movements of hazardous waste affect corporate activities and resource trade. Through cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and international organizations, Japan is advancing the overseas expansion of domestic circular industries while sharing systems, technologies, and human resources.

In fiscal 2023 material-flow results, resource productivity was about 509,000 yen per tonne; natural-resource consumption per capita was about 12.1 tonnes per person per year; the share of renewable and circular resources used as inputs was about 30.1%; the input-side circular use rate was about 17.0%; the output-side circular use rate was about 43.6%; and final disposal volume was about 12 million tonnes. Compared with fiscal 2000, resource productivity rose by about 101%, while final disposal volume fell by about 79%.

For municipal waste in fiscal 2024, total recycling volume was 7.38 million tonnes and final disposal volume was 3.06 million tonnes. Planned treatment volume for human waste and septic-tank sludge was 19.06 million kL, of which 98.8% was treated at human-waste treatment facilities or through sewerage systems. For industrial waste, recycling volume was 200.79 million tonnes and final disposal volume was 8.75 million tonnes in fiscal 2023.

By sector, the effective utilization rate for waste plastics was about 89% in 2024; 14.58 million units of four categories of home appliances were collected; recycling rates ranged from 72% to 93% by item; and food loss was about 4.64 million tonnes in fiscal 2023. The implementation rate for recycling and related measures among food-related businesses was 90%, but it was 34% in the food-service industry, leaving differences among business types.

Institutionally, a bill amending the Act on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources was enacted in May 2025, incorporating plans for using recycled resources, environmentally conscious design, recycling of GX raw materials, and circular economy commerce. The Act on Advancement of Recycling Businesses and Other Matters took full effect on November 21, 2025, establishing a certification system for advanced recycling businesses.

Japan is providing 40 billion yen in support over three years from fiscal 2025 to encourage longer product lifespans, easier recycling, technology development, and capital investment. The industry-government-academia partnership Circular Partners was launched in September 2023 and has more than 850 members.

For regional measures, the Resource Circulation Municipality Forum was held in seven regions nationwide, with more than 2,000 participants in total across national and regional editions. Three municipalities were selected as Biomass Industrial Cities in fiscal 2025, bringing the cumulative total to 107 municipalities. Waste incineration facilities included 710 heat-utilization facilities and generated about 10.5 billion kWh of electricity from waste.

In proper treatment, 106 newly identified cases of illegal industrial-waste dumping were recorded in fiscal 2024, and 2,920 cases remained as of the end of March 2025. Fire incidents and other accidents requiring firefighting and attributable to lithium-ion batteries and similar items totaled 9,923 in fiscal 2024; the electronic manifest adoption rate was 86.9% as of the end of March 2025; and the fiscal 2030 target capture rate for contracted industrial-waste treatment volume is 75%.

In Fukushima Prefecture, removal from 1,362 of 1,372 temporary storage sites and similar locations for removed soil and other materials was completed as of February 2026, and restoration was completed at 1,303 sites. Cumulative deliveries to the Interim Storage Facility reached about 14 million m3 by the end of March 2026. Under the legal framework requiring final disposal outside the prefecture within 30 years after the start of interim storage, efforts are advancing to reuse materials and reduce final disposal volumes.

In international cooperation, the 12th Meeting of the Asia-Pacific 3R and Circular Economy Forum, held in March 2025, adopted the Jaipur Declaration, which established a shared vision for 2025 to 2035 and 13 goals. The Clean Cities Platform in Africa had expanded to 48 countries and 239 cities as of April 2026.