Japan introduces Circular Economy Collaboration with World Economic Forum

Published on : Friday, March 5, 2021

Attaining a circular economy needs transforming policy and business. Also, it will need a new way of approach to alliances and partnerships.

At this week’s Japan Circular Economy Roundtable, the Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ) and Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) has declared the introduction of the Partnership on Circular Economy. This Roundtable was hosted by the World Economic Forum.

This new association will attract business leaders and government together to get the circular economy faster in Japan. In this public-private partnership, best practices will be combined and distributed to broader stakeholders in Japan within the supply chain, including domestic and international consumers. The association is hoped to develop with the help of this collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Circular Economy Initiative.

The partnership will initiate dialogue between the public and private sector in recognizing the main areas, barriers and impending actions required towards the circular transition. The Forum will help in shaping up the strategy and approach to move ahead.

For other business and policy leaders, this transformation of Japan will set an example. In the world, the country is one of the largest generators of plastic packaging waste per capita, as per the U.N. Environment program.
The newly announced partnership of the Japanese government builds on other recent efforts to address plastics waste, such as a plastic bags charge.

Also, in 2021, the government released guidance for companies to perk up sustainable finance and a Roadmap for Bioplastics Introduction (to promote substitution of fossil-based plastics with sustainable materials), and has drafted a new bill aimed at advancing plastic resource circulation.

“Japan is now accelerating ‘Three Transitions’ towards: a decarbonized society, a circular economy, and a decentralized society to redesign the socioeconomic system,” said Shinjiro Koizumi, Minister of the Environment, Japan.