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October 29, 2025
 

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Workers collect recyclable garbage including plastic bottles on World Environment Day in Tokyo in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023
New solutions tackle Japan’s waste problem at its core
Issues like the plastics and climate crises seem insurmountable — until we apply "systemic design," as several Japanese initiatives are showing.
A member of the India team sorts through rubbish at the end of the first round of the Spogomi World Cup 2023 final, in which teams pick up as much rubbish as possible in a set amount of time, in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2023
Load of rubbish: Litter-hunters vie for world title in Tokyo
The Spogomi World Cup saw 21 countries battle it out to collect the most rubbish within a set time limit.
Overflowing trash next to a vending machine in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, which is popular with tourists, in March
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 18, 2023
Trash cans make techie comeback in Japan as tourists flood cities
This week, the tourist-heavy Dotonbori district in Osaka installed around 20 new technologically enabled garbage cans called SmaGO.
Staff at the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon 2023 collect used paper cups after the event on Oct. 15.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023
Japanese paper-makers pioneer domestic recycling of paper cups
Until now paper cups have typically been discarded as flammable waste, but are made from high quality pulp that can be reused.
Baby soap donated by sanitary products company Saraya to the city of Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, has been distributed at child care support facilities in the city.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2023
Donation platform matches firms with local governments in Japan
The platform not only helps improve the welfare of residents, but also allows companies to make effective use of inventories.
Plastic waste in Yangon's Shwepyithar township. In a working-class neighborhood of Myanmar's Yangon, plastic waste is piled a meter high, the toxic product of what a recent investigation says is rampant dumping of Western trash.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 20, 2023
'License to hide': Western plastic waste dumped in Myanmar
For years, sites across Shwepyithar township have been filling up with trash that chokes fields, blocks the drainage of rains and causes fire risks.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2023
Japan tries 'nudge theory' in bid to curtail littering by tourists
Thea measures come as littering and other problems related to overtourism are worsening in popular destinations.
Commercial fishermen form the word "SOS" to spread the message about ocean acidification caused by fossil fuel emissions, in Homer, Alaska, in 2009. Ocean acidification is one of nine planetary boundaries that determine life on Earth.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Sep 14, 2023
Humanity pushing Earth far beyond 'safe operating space': study
Six of nine planetary boundaries — within which the world is livable for most species, including our own — are already deep in the red zone.
A municipality worker collects garbage, most of which is plastic and domestic waste, along the shore of Jakarta.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 4, 2023
Trash to treasure: Indonesian firm turns plastic into bricks
The company mixes volcanic ash, mountain stones, plastic waste and cement to make its bricks, which do not contain sand like regular ones.
A clothing packaging warehouse near Barcelona last month
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Sep 1, 2023
Fast fashion firms prepare for EU crackdown on waste mountain
Fast fashion, or making and selling cheap clothes with a short lifespan, is "highly unsustainable," the European Commission said in July.
Environmental activist Yakov Demidov inspects a landfill on the outskirts of Penza, Russia.
WORLD / Society
Sep 1, 2023
Russian teen eco-activists fight for future as risks mount
Environmental groups in Russia not linked to the government have long faced pressure from authorities.
The Environment Ministry plans to launch a survey in fiscal 2024 on how manufacturers recycle plastics and metals contained in industrial waste.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2023
Japan to conduct survey on closed-loop recycling
Closed-loop recycling is spreading in recent years on the back of improvements in technology to remove impurities from recyclable waste.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 13, 2023
Akita faces debris collection challenge month after massive flooding
The delay in debris collection is hampering disaster reconstruction in Akita, a city official said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2023
AI robots can’t clean our plastic-plagued oceans alone
AI technology can help mitigate environmental damage but it can’t solve the problem of the plastics polluting the oceans.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 30, 2023
Jumbo problem: Sri Lanka's battle with plastic pollution
The island's unprecedented economic crisis means there has been a pile-up of trash because of a shortage of fuel for garbage trucks.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 26, 2023
The world is losing the 'war on plastic.' What can be done to curb waste?
The U.N. this month took a major step toward what could become the world’s first treaty to curb plastic pollution. But a recent report highlights the immense challenge that lies ahead.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 15, 2023
How South Korea puts its food scraps to good use
South Korea, which banned food scraps from its landfills almost 20 years ago, now turns the vast majority of it into animal feed, fertilizer and fuel for heating homes.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 3, 2023
After rough start, U.N. plastic treaty talks end with mandate for first draft
By the session's close, countries agreed to prepare a 'zero draft' text of what would become a legally binding plastics treaty.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 29, 2023
Recycling in focus as plastics treaty talks get underway in Paris
Many countries have said a goal of the treaty should be 'circularity' — or keeping already produced plastic items in circulation as long as possible.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 23, 2023
Realizing the power of bokashi and microorganisms in farming
Farmers worldwide have shown a preference for bokashi, whose top proponents include Okinawa-based researcher Teruo Higa, over traditional composting because it is much quicker to prepare.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
At first summit with Trump, Takaichi pledges 'new golden age' for alliance
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi raises her fist as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech in front of U.S. Navy personnel on board the U.S. Navy's USS George Washington aircraft carrier at the American naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
Trump arrives in Japan for security and trade talks in test for Takaichi
U.S. President Donald Trump is welcomed by Emperor Naruhito upon his arrival at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Monday evening.
Japanese firms keep expanding in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia
A Nishiyama Seimen employee works at its factory in Sapporo.
Bear kills another person in Japan in record year for fatal attacks
Police investigate the scene of a bear attack that killed one person and injured three others on Friday in the village of Higashinaruse in Akita Prefecture.
Tokyo Film Festival opens with global stars and a spotlight on Asian storytelling
Director Junji Sakamoto (left) walked the Tokyo International Film Festival red carpet with Sayuri Yoshinaga (center) and Non (right), who both play mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest, in the biopic "Climbing for Life."
Hawks aim to bring energy from Japan Series blowout to Koshien
Hawks players celebrate victory over the Tigers at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka on Sunday.
Spanish artist and Japanese writer duos diversify the manga talent pool in Japan
"Menheim” is a dark fantasy manga with a story that centers on a girl’s quest to find a cure for her ill brother.
Japan’s youth are apathetic toward the climate crisis. Could anime change that?
“Future Kid Takara,” a series of anime shorts to be aired on NHK Educational TV in November, attempts to educate children about climate change.
Loss to Wallabies doesn't dampen Japan’s optimism
Japan's Michael Leitch controls the ball during the match against Australia on Saturday.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell
By Alex K.T. Martin

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