The current global resource recycling rate is low at 8%, which is by no means sufficient. While there are cities in the United States where the recycling rate is 6% and 89% of waste is landfilled, Europe has a high recycling rate, with Denmark at 63% and the Netherlands aiming for 100% by 2050.
Japan's resource recycling rate is below 20%, and 80% of waste, including plastic, is incinerated. In Japan, this is called thermal recycling (reusing combustion energy), but actual material recycling is low at 8%. In 2017, China's waste import restrictions forced countries to process waste domestically, and in Japan, a new plastic law will come into effect in April 2022, marking a full-scale movement to reduce waste domestically.
We need to change our mindset that economic development is impossible without extracting natural resources from the Earth and allowing CO2 and waste to pile up. Activities such as sustainability and carbon neutrality, which aim to bring negatives closer to zero, are insufficient; a regenerative perspective is needed, in which negatives can be turned into positives through economic activity.
For products designed in an era that did not anticipate waste issues, there is a limit to how much recycling can be improved, no matter how much recycling technology advances. By designing products with recycling in mind from the product development stage, the recycling rate of the product can be dramatically improved.
Extending product life cycles also contributes greatly to reducing waste and improving recycling rates. A circular economy in which recycling rates are increased throughout society can be realized by manufacturers proactively designing products so that users can repair them themselves, establishing parts supply systems, and disclosing product specifications.
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