I myself no longer pay attention to the “plastic bag fee”.
This initiative came into effect in July 2020 as part of an effort to reduce our environmental impact, and now, more than four years later, what results have been achieved?
Going back, we started our current business in July 2019. Shortly before that, I traveled to Europe for 3 weeks with my family to visit my friends living there - this gave me the opportunity to learn a little bit about the ideas and realities of sustainability. Later, after returning to Japan, I repeated various researches and practices. However, at the time, the more I thought about it, the more I still remember feeling bewildered by the gap between Europe and Japan.
Plastic bags is one good example. Before the law was enforced, we used to take those bags home with us without fail. What kind of changes have we seen in Japan today?
I believe that in Japan, plastic bags are consumed mainly at supermarkets, which handle groceries, and at convenience stores, which offer convenient shopping so I've focused my research on these two areas.
[National Supermarkets Association]
The Association compiles and publishes statistics based on a questionnaire survey, and even if the statistics do not cover the entire country, they are quantified in an easy-to-understand manner. The table below shows the transition. (Table is in Japanese)
Source : National Supermarket Association (Annual Statistical Survey)
[Convenience Stores] *Comparison between 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson
Unfortunately, only FamilyMart has published the reduction rate of plastic bags in a graphical and easy-to-understand manner. (In Japanese)
For 7-Eleven and Lawson, we were able to confirm by these figures.
Source：FamilyMart (sustainable resource use and prevention of environmental pollution)
7-Eleven Less than 80%
Family Mart 76.7%
Lawson 75.9%
For both supermarkets and convenience stores reduction of plastic bags were at a rate of over 75%. Is this number high? Low? Since it means that at least 8 out of 10 customers declined to use plastic bags, it can be said that this is a significant achievement compared to the situation before the introduction of the fee system.
However, as you can see from both trends, the situation will remain the same after 2021. I myself feel that it may be difficult to raise this figure further, as I still see many people walking around my neighborhood with plastic bags on their way home from shopping.
So why do people still buy plastic bags even if they are charged for them? When we looked further, the following answers stood out.
- I don't have my own bag, or I forgot to bring my own bag
- I shop at stores that give me free bags
- I always reuse the bag at home as trash can
Some of the reasons are unavoidable, but perhaps this is the main reason why we cannot raise the declination rate further.
Another answer is that they give us free bags. The reason for this is that plastic bags can be distributed for free if certain conditions are met.
- Those that contain at least 25% biomass material.
- Those with 100% marine biodegradable plastic content
- Those with a plastic film thickness of at least 50 micrometers
[Plastic bags made of biomass materials]
The plastic bags that are currently being charged for are mainly made of biomass material blends, which simply put, are petroleum-based materials mixed with biomass materials. This may reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but it is not a biodegradable material. In comparison, “marine biodegradable plastics” are excellent materials because they biodegrade in the ocean even if they flow out into the ocean for some reason. However, it is not widely used due to cost reasons.
Source: https://www.kaneka.co.jp/solutions/phbh/ (from Kaneka Corporation website)
[How the profits generated by the plastic bag fee will be used]
The profit will naturally increase because the cost to the company will decrease as plastic bags are declined or paid for. So, where are these profits being spent? I was curious and a very important point!
To give you an example
- Aeon Retail - Donations to local governments or various organizations in each area.
- 7-Eleven - Installed plastic bottle collectors in their stores and donated to organizations that protect the environment.
- Lawson - donation of rice to food banks and donations to environmental organizations.
- COOP - donation to forest preservation activities.
These are very good activities. Companies with many stores can make a lot of profit. I hope that they will continue their various efforts for future generations.
What did you think?
Various companies are moving forward with big goals for the future of 2030 and 2050. It is important that both “what we can do as individual” and “what big companies can do as a corporation" move in the same direction. We believe that a good future lies ahead.
