business

Gov't to urge companies to curb use of microplastics

11 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© KYODO

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

11 Comments
Login to comment

There should be no urging. The government should just ban them.

Plastics are now being found in table salt and human stools.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Wishy washy, again the government will claim to combating something while actually doing nothing at all.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The sooner we find a way to dispose of plastic in a clean way the better. I only knew until recently that we just dump plastic in the ground in big holes with no idea what to do with it. I always thought it was recycled. yes im uneducated.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

”Urge” “Refrain” utterly pointless. Ban them with immediate effect.

Papigiulio, you are not alone, most of us have been in the dark or even actively mislead on this. The only effective way of stopping this is by people power (politicians will ever do anything) stop buying plastics, use alternatives, take off all the unnecessary plastic wrapping from your shopping and leave it with the retailer (they will soon pressure manufacturers to stop it if they are left with piles of plastic. Do not buy any cosmetic/washing product with micro beads in it (if it does not clearly state no micro beads assume it has and don’t buy it, again economic pressure will get things changed faster than anything else.)

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Micro plastics should be banned worldwide and go back to using pumice stone.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The ministry unveiled the draft of the revised policy at a meeting of a panel of experts, with one of the members emphasizing the difficulty of tackling the waste after it ends up in the ocean.

I dont know which is worse, plastic waste in the ocean, or nuclear waste contaminated water being dumped.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Crickey

"...again the government will claim to combating something"

The government is actually trying to do something. What are the companies - the ones actually causing the problem -- "combatting"?

I'm tired of dealing with a dozen or so crinkly wrappers just for a single chocolate bar. That's ridiculous and the companies responsible know it. Time for enforcement.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wishy washy, again the government will claim to combating something while actually doing nothing at all.

It is also a classic example of confusing different environmental issues that need different approaches.

Microplastics cannot be filtered out of wastewater and should be banned. Ordinary people cannot be expected to understand exactly what is in what products and choose better ones. The offending products should just be banned. Sunblock that includes coral damaging chemicals, i.e., most of them, should also be banned.

Single use plastics should not be encouraged, but do not need to be banned. Only a tiny percentage of Japan's plastic ends up in the ocean. It is mostly burnt, some is recycled, some is sent to China where whatever happens. All of Japans microbeads end up in the ocean because they cannot be filtered out. The same will go for chemicals in sunblock.

Fishing gear is a huge ocean pollutant and should be taken very seriously. However, it is not ordinary people's problem. It is a fishing industry problem. Talking about it at the same time as drinking straws is confusing and shifts the blame from those responsible.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I usually take off any packaging that I don’t need and leave it in the shop-they’ll get the message if enough of us beingdo the same.....

3 ( +3 / -0 )

take off all the unnecessary plastic wrapping from your shopping and leave it with the retailer

I usually take off any packaging that I don’t need and leave it in the shop

This is a good idea but, please give me some examples of unncessary plastic? Im already refusing those plastic bags and they start grumbling because they have to put the tape on each product.

Other than that I cant imagine any other plastic that i can remove there.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Papigiulio, if Japan is as bad as the UK then most fruit and veg is wrapped in one ot more unnecessary layers of plastic, they do not need to be wrapped in plastic. Just an example, sure you can find many others once you start looking.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites