A process known as "horizontal recycling" is gaining a foothold in Japan, with the practice able to contribute to a more sustainable society while addressing the nation's addiction to plastic.
Horizontal recycling refers to recovering and processing used products into raw materials to be used to reproduce the original item.
For example, although most used plastic bottles are collected and recycled into fiber and other items, such as food trays, beverage manufacturers are now focusing on recycling them into new plastic bottles.