1. GLOBAL FORUM ON ENVIRONMENT:
PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
THROUGH EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
Action to
Home Appliance Recycling Act
of Japan
Hideaki Kikuchi
Member of Working Group on Waste Management and Recycling
Commitee on Environment and Safety
KEIDANREN
June 19, 2014

2. Keidanren VoluntaryAction Plan on the Environment
Keidanren formulated the “Voluntary Action Plan” on environmental measures for
wastes and has advanced industry efforts by conducting follow-upsurvey every year.
Keidanren set a new target in December 2010 to "reduce the 2015 industrialwaste
treatmentamount to a level of 65% of 2000 (about 89% of 1990)".
The final disposal volume of industrialwaste in fiscal 2012 was the level of decrease by
about 74.8% compared to that in fiscal 2000 (about 92.2% of 1990).
Along with the target of industrial waste treatmentreduction,industries also have
reduced the environmentalburden throughout product life cycles for building a sound
material-cyclesociety .
In particular,industry segments(Electricaland Electronics,glass, rubber, automobile
and so on) have developedand sold the products of design for environment such as
reduction quantity/volume,design for easy recycling.
Keidanren Fundamental Perspectives in the Environmental Issue
Responding to climate change and overcoming environmental and resource restrictions
are inescapable issues in achieving sustainabledevelopmentfor the global economy.
Utilizing its world-leadingenvironmental and energy technologies,Japan must
contributeto create low-environmental-impactsocieties both domestically and
internationally,by means including lower CO2 emissions, recycling,and coexistence with
nature.

3. 1. Policies and measures should be tailored to national / regional
circumstances and characteristic of products.
2. Each stakeholder (not only producers but also the central/ local
governments and consumers) must play a responsible role
respectively so that the initiative as a whole society will be
optimised.
3. Discussions should be focused on not only legal and regulatory
frameworks but also voluntary action and easing of regulations.
Therefore, the best practices can be shared globally.
The Japanese business community is determined to contribute to
the revision of the OECD's guidance manual.
Expectations towards the OECD

4. Overview of the Home Appliance Recycling Act
Waste
generation
Collectionand
transportation
Recyclingand
others
Waste generators(consumersand others)
●Proper transfer and Paying the costsof collection
and recycling
Municipalities
manufacturersand
importers
Designatedbodies
Retailer
●Obligation to collect
(i)Designated appliances that the retailers sold
(ii)Designated appliances that retailers are requested to collect
by customers who buy new appliances to replace them
●Obligation to transfer
Targetedproducts under Home
Appliance Recycling Act：
Air conditioners TV
Electric washing machines
and clothes dryers
Electric refrigerators
and freezers
●Obligation to collect
(i)Unavailability of obligated entities
(ii)Contracting-out by small- and
mid-sized manufacturers
circumstance in
the way of used
item(re-useor
import)
Municipalities
Source:
Waste and
Recycling
Subcommitte
e(2014/5/20)
/Committee
on industrial
Science and
Technology
Policy and
Environment
/Industrial
Structure
Council,
partial
modification.
・364 designated collection sites
・49 recycling plants
Designated appliances manufactured
or imported
●Recycling obligation to achieve the statutory
recycling targets

5. Home Appliances Recycling Process
■General Recycling Process of Air Conditioners
At a carry-in entrance of a home
appliance recycling plant: Indoor
and outdoor units are loaded in
cargo containers.
Refrigerantfluorocarbons are
recovered by dedicated
equipment. Recovered
fluorocarbons will be
destructed at designated
treatment facilities.
Major components of outdoor
units such as printed circuit
boards, compressors, and heat
exchangers are manually
removed after recovering
Removed heat exchangers:
They will be also recycled to
materials.
〔Source: Association for Electric Home Appliances Homepage (as of June, 2014)〕

6. Environmentally Conscious Design for Electric Home Appliances in Japan(Mainly Recycling)
■Material indicators for plastic parts
Indicator: >PS-HI FR(17)<
Meaning:
High-impact polystyrene (PS-HI)
containing a flame retardant with a
combination of aromatic bromine
compound and antimony compound
(FR(17))
Indicates that refrigerant and refrigerant oil can be effectively
recoveredfrom the compressor’s refrigerant charging pipe if the
refrigerator is laid down on its right side
■Example marking locations for the direction of
the compressor’s refrigerant charging pipe
Implementation of Recycling workshop
Dismantling by planners and
designers themselves
Evaluation of empirical results and feedback to the design
Identification of issues and measures
in dismantling of equipment

7. Amount of four items of home appliances
Estimated waste home appliance flows（FY2012)
From
households
and firms
(incl.
leasing/
rental firms)
17,020,000
Collected by retailers
984,0000
Movers
730,000
Recycled by the Manufacturers
1,134,0000
Collected by construction scrappers
440,000
Collected by local governments
168,000
Collected by
scrappers
1,290,0000
Managed as municipalwaste
by local governments
55,000
Sold for reuse
4,240,0000
flea market
1,460,000
illegal dump
117,000
reuse by secondhand dealers
(within Japan)
1,350,000
onlineauction
50,000
reuse by secondhand dealers
(Abroad)
1,380,000
Abroad
1,380,000
scrap in
Abroad
1,370,000
scrap
within
Japan
20,000
Collected by secondhand dealers
2,650,0000
Collected with the truck
1,750,000
free pickup area
900,000
Collected by
secondhand dealers
1,490,000
Exported by scrap exporter
Recycled by licensed waste disposers
200,0000
product
scrap
Source: Waste and Recycling Subcommittee(2014/5/20)/Committeeon industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment /Industrial Structure Council