1. How PET Bottles Are Recycled into Egg Cartons and Clothes
Collected PET bottles are washed and crushed into small pieces called "flakes" at factories. These flakes are melted with heat into sheets, then pressed into molds and cut into shapes like egg cartons [5]. However, the destination of PET bottles is not limited to egg cartons. According to the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association, in fiscal year 2024, the products made from collected PET bottles were 71.2% new bottles, 18.1% sheets, 10.4% fibers, and 0.3% molded products [4]. The sheets become egg cartons and food trays, while the fibers become car interior materials, carpets, and clothing [4].
The recycling rate itself is high. In fiscal year 2023, for designated PET bottles, the sales volume was 636,000 tons, and the recycling volume was 541,000 tons, resulting in an 85.0% rate [3]. This recycling volume includes both domestic and overseas destinations. Among the recycled PET resin used domestically, the applications for the 392,000 tons that could be investigated were: 215,000 tons for bottle-to-bottle recycling, 120,000 tons for sheets, and 29,000 tons for fibers [3]. These figures and the 71.2% mentioned earlier cannot be directly compared because the scope of the data collection differs.
2. How Plastic Containers Become Pallets or Fuel for Steel Mills
Plastic containers and packaging, such as snack bags and food trays, are recycled in two main ways [6]. The first is material recycling. The plastic is melted and turned into pallets for shipping goods, recycled resin, and materials for civil engineering, construction, gardening, and agriculture. The second is chemical recycling. In coking furnaces at steel mills, plastic is thermally decomposed together with coal to extract oil, gas, and coke. Other methods include gasification and using plastic as a reducing agent for iron ore in blast furnaces [7].
According to the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association, the ratio between these two methods changes significantly by year. In fiscal year 2024, material recycling was 49.5% and chemical recycling was 50.5%. However, in fiscal year 2025, material recycling was 64.7% (233,814 tons) and chemical recycling was 35.3% (127,617 tons) [6]. Therefore, one cannot simply say "half is chemical recycling" without specifying the year.
3. Where Japan's 7.69 Million Tons of Waste Plastic Goes
According to the material flow chart by the Plastic Waste Management Institute, the total waste plastic generated in Japan in 2023 was 7.69 million tons. Of this, 89% was effectively utilized [1]. The breakdown is: material recycling 22%, chemical recycling 3%, and thermal recycling (energy recovery) 64%. The remaining 11% consisted of simple incineration at 8% (580,000 tons) and landfill at 3% (240,000 tons) [1].
These three methods are explained as follows: material recycling uses waste plastic as raw material for new plastic products; chemical recycling chemically decomposes waste plastic into raw materials; and thermal recycling recovers heat from incineration for electricity generation, among other uses [2]. Adding roughly 22% + 3% + 64% equals roughly 89% (sum of rounded numbers). However, when you hear "89% was recycled," it may give a different impression than the actual breakdown. The 64% portion is for burning to use heat. The portion where the plastic itself becomes raw material for new products corresponds to the 22% for material recycling and 3% for chemical recycling.
4. What "Thermal Recycling" Means and Why It Is a Japanese Term
"Thermal recycling" is said to be a Japanese-made English term. In English, it is often called Energy Recovery, and in Europe, it is distinguished from recycling because the definition of recycling does not include burning [8]. However, utilizing heat is not necessarily bad. According to an explanation by Mitsui Chemicals, in Europe in 2020, 42% of the 29.5 million tons of collected waste plastic was directed to thermal recycling [9].
Reasons cited for the widespread use of thermal recovery include the fact that it can be done at existing incineration facilities and that the heat generation of plastic is said to be 2 to 3 times that of paper [9]. Even for the same 64%, the impression changes depending on whether it is called "recycling" or "energy recovery." The key is to separate the linguistic classification from the actual path the waste takes.
5. Why About 70% of Recycled Plastic Materials Were Exported
The total amount of material recycling products was about 1.25 million tons in 2023. Of this, about 70%, or approximately 880,000 tons, was exported. Only about 370,000 tons were used domestically [1]. This export refers to remade products and recycled raw materials. It is different from sending waste itself to foreign countries.
The numbers show that even if you think "we are recycling domestically," much of the destination for the remade materials was overseas. However, which countries received them and for what specific purposes they were used is not clear from the materials in this article.
6. How You Can Investigate Plastic Recycling Yourself
What you can do today: Look at the back of egg cartons, snack bags, and PET bottles to find marks or text indicating the material. If you find them, check your town's sorting guide to see which category that material falls into.
What you can do by going out: If you find a collection box at a supermarket or nearby, read what items are accepted there. The destination after collection is sometimes listed in materials or guides provided by the operator of the location.
Official information: Year-by-year figures can be verified through the Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association's "Recycling Destinations in Numbers" [4][6] and the Plastic Waste Management Institute's material flow chart [1].