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Resource Circulation Center

The Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics

The Act on Promotion of Resource Circulation for Plastics (Act No. 60 of 2021) came into effect on April 1, 2022. This law aims to promote plastic resource circulation by all entities in accordance with the principle of the 3R +Renewable throughout the life cycle, from product design to waste disposal of plastic products.

Specially, it includes the following measures.

  1. At the "design and manufacturing" stage, formulating design guidelines for plastic products (e.g., reduction of plastic usage, reuse of parts, use of recycled plastic) and establishing scheme in which designs that comply with those guidelines are certified by the government.
  2. At the "sales and supply" stage, establishing criteria regarding measures to be taken by suppliers of specified plastic products, and reducing plastic waste by rationally using of specified plastic products.
  3. At the "discharge" stage, promoting eff¬orts such as sorted collection and recycling by municipalities, voluntary collection and recycling by manufacturers, and waste reduction and recycling by waste generators.

Establishment of the Resource Circulation Research Center

Following the enforcement of the Act, JWRF established the Resource Circulation Research Center in April 2022, as a designated survey institution to conduct technical survey (design survey) on the compatibility of plastic products to the design guidelines for plastic products.
JWRF has been designated by the competent ministers as a designated survey institution on April 27, 2022, based on the Act and conducts technical surveys (design surveys) upon receipt of the application.

In addition to its duties as a designated survey institution, the Resource Circulation Research Center also plans and conducts surveys and research related to resource circulation, collects and provides information, and conducts a wide range of other tasks related to resource circulation.

Applications for design surveys are currently under preparation. As soon as the competent ministers establish the design guidelines for certification for each plastic product field, JWRF will start accepting applications for design surveys.