Ditching plastic straws isn't enough. Here's how to achieve zero waste.

The author critiques Japan's plastic waste policies as symbolic and insufficient compared to global standards, urging the government to implement a mix of regulations, incentives, and systemic production changes to support a circular economy.

• Japan's 'Resource Circulation Policy for Plastics' aims to follow the 3R (Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle) and 'Renewable' principles, including bio-based plastics and recycled plastic markets, but lacks a specific implementation plan for its goal to reduce single-use plastic by 25% by 2030.
• The Japanese government's mandate to charge for single-use plastic bags, effective April 2020, is viewed as less ambitious than policies in Kenya, where plastic bag manufacture and use are illegal, and the United Kingdom, which aims to end all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.
• Plastic bags represent only 2% of plastic production in Japan, and current regulations fail to control the total number of bags used, assign specific business responsibilities, or provide a roadmap for reducing the production of existing plastic products.
• The Zero Waste Academy has demonstrated that community efforts can achieve over 80% resource recovery, but the final 20% required for zero waste necessitates systemic changes in production and policy.
• To achieve systemic change in Japan, the author advocates for a multi-stakeholder partnership involving NGOs, businesses, community members, and policymakers to establish circular economy infrastructure.

APA

Sakano, A. (2019). Ditching plastic straws isn't enough. Here's how to achieve zero waste. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-act-on-plastic-pollution/

Chicago

Sakano, Akira. Ditching plastic straws isn't enough. Here's how to achieve zero waste. World Economic Forum, 2019. https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-act-on-plastic-pollution/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Sakano |first1=Akira |title=Ditching plastic straws isn't enough. Here's how to achieve zero waste. |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=26 June 2019 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-act-on-plastic-pollution/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{sakano2019ditching, author = {Sakano, Akira}, title = {{Ditching plastic straws isn't enough. Here's how to achieve zero waste.}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2019}, month = jun, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/nature-and-biodiversity/how-to-act-on-plastic-pollution/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }