Tag - plastic

 
Menu
Search
 
November 18, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

PLASTIC

EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2019
Banning (some) free plastic bags
Japan's effort to reduce plastic waste by forcing retailers to charge for shopping bags has too many exemptions.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 29, 2019
Vancouver becomes first Canadian city to ban plastic straws and bags
Vancouver voted late on Wednesday to ban the use of plastic straws and bags from April next year, making it the first major Canadian city to enact such a wide-reaching ban, according to the city.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 22, 2019
Massive increase in concentration of microplastics seen on beach facing Japan's Ise Bay
Some 60,000 particles of microplastics per square meter — meaning one particle per 16 square millimeters — are estimated to exist at Nasanohama beach on Toshi Island in Toba, Mie Prefecture, a study by Yokkaichi University professor Satoshi Chiba has revealed.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2019
In a first for Japan, dish liquid's bottles to use recycled marine plastic
Procter & Gamble Japan K.K. will release a dishwashing liquid in a bottle made from marine plastic waste collected from the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2019
Malaysia working to clear hundreds of plastic waste shipments at ports, officials say
Malaysia is negotiating with countries sending their plastic waste to the Southeast Asian nation to take back the trash and is waiving storage fees to clear hundreds of containers of scrap stranded at ports across the country for months, officials say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2019
Plastic reuse the most efficient way to solve marine waste issue, experts say
Although marine plastic has become a prominent environmental issue in recent years, plastic is too valuable a resource to ever truly go away, so effectively managing such waste and placing it in a circular economy system would be the most efficient way to solve the issue, experts at a Tokyo seminar said...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Oct 11, 2019
Gifu women turn plastic waste found on beaches into accessories
Four women in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, are creating accessories made from plastic fragments collected at beaches in Aichi Prefecture, selling them amid growing global concerns over the microplastic waste in the ocean.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 10, 2019
New app MyMizu aims to reduce plastic waste in Japan, one drink at a time
In a country drowning itself in plastic, the creators of a new app called MyMizu are attempting to change seemingly entrenched views and cultural norms regarding sustainability.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2019
Japan, U.S. and EU to jointly measure plastic waste inflows into the oceans
Japan plans to lead a new initiative to gauge the amount of marine plastic waste released from individual countries in cooperation with the United States and the European Union, according to informed sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 17, 2019
Uniqlo to sell clothes made from recycled plastic bottles
Fast Retailing Co., the operator of the Uniqlo casual apparel chain, says it will produce clothes made from used plastic bottles in cooperation with Toray Industries Inc.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 13, 2019
New Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi vows Japan will take lead role on plastic waste
Koizumi said he wants to make Japan a leader in environmental issues and speak with Fukushima's fishermen about what to do with Tepco's radiation-tainted water.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 26, 2019
Inventor Boyan Slat's mission: Shrink Great Pacific Garbage patch 90% by 2040
Boyan Slat, 25, is an ambitious social entrepreneur. His goal: Reduce 90 percent of an estimated 80 million kg of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, covering an area more than three times the size of France, by 2040. And do it with a technology he likens to raking leaves.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2019
Japan's Environment Ministry plans to boost ocean cleanup budget in bid to tackle plastic waste
The Environment Ministry plans to substantially increase its budget for reducing plastic waste in the ocean in fiscal 2020, in line with an action plan adopted by relevant Cabinet ministers in May, informed sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 15, 2019
Microplastic found even in remote Arctic ice
Tiny pieces of plastic have been found in ice cores drilled in the Arctic by a U.S.-led team of scientists, underscoring the threat the growing form of pollution now poses to marine life in even the remotest waters on the planet.
CULTURE / Books / RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN
Jul 27, 2019
'Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan': Japan's approach to waste is trash
In 'Waste: Consuming Postwar Japan,' Eiko Maruko Siniawer traces the evolution of Japanese values and aspirations from 1945 to the present through the lense of waste and waste consciousness.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Jul 27, 2019
Indonesia plans new regulations to curb rise in imports of plastic waste
Indonesia plans tighter rules to combat a surge in imports of plastic waste, such as a registry of trash exporters and tougher border checks, officials said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 6, 2019
Japan faces an uphill battle to reduce plastic consumption
Anyone following recent coverage of the worldwide plastic waste crisis may note a contradiction in the reporting on Japan's place in the discussion. On the one hand, Japan boasts a very high plastic recycling rate owing to local governments' sorting rules, which are some of the strictest in the world....
Japan Times
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jun 30, 2019
G20 world leaders agree on some issues, but significant gaps remain following Osaka summit
World leaders attending the Group of 20 summit in Osaka reached consensus on a number of topics but failed to come to an agreement on others.
Japan Times
JAPAN / G20 Osaka
Jun 26, 2019
Odds of sweeping deal slim, Japan to use Osaka G20 to tackle plastic waste problem one step at a time
When international delegates arrived at Karuizawa Station for the Group of 20 environment ministers' meeting earlier this month, they were greeted by local schoolchildren, bilingual volunteers — and a wild boar the size of an elephant.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2019
Canada in talks with Malaysia about taking back plastic waste
The government of Canada said on Monday it is in discussions with Malaysia about retrieving plastic waste that originated from Canada and is currently in Malaysia.
A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
Fears rise of rupture in Japan-China ties in wake of Taiwan remarks
Two Chinese tourists wearing kimonos take a selfie as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Saturday.
From France to Mali, a deportee's struggle far from home
Moussa Sacko, a Malian deported from France — where he had lived since he was a young child — stands on a street in Bamako, Mali, in December. Compared with his home in France, Bamako feels like a different planet, Sacko said.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.
Ashfall warning issued in southern Japan as volcano erupts
View of Sakurajima from the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Good fortune, wrapped in fried tofu
Golden "age-fukuburo," a culinary take on Japan's new year "lucky bags," can be served on their own.
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.
The challenges awaiting Japan’s new finance minister
Finance minister Satsuki Katayama answers questions from reporters in a group interview on Oct. 24.
At Ginza’s newest hotel, luxury is a private treasure
At Fufu Tokyo, each guest room comes with its own private "onsen" (hot spring) — a luxury nearly unheard of in the heart of Tokyo's capital.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER