'About Japan' webinar series 218: Market Situation and Potentials in Japan for Plastic Recycling Technologies

What business opportunities does the Japanese plastic recycling market offer to EU SMEs?

Japan is the second-largest consumer of single-use plastic packaging in the world after the USA. The current material recycling rate is less than 10%. Due to the global push towards recycling-oriented practices, Japan is actively seeking innovative technical solutions to tackle the problem of plastic waste. Governmental measures include a milestone strategy based on the 3Rs and renewable resources, the Plastic Resource Circulation Act of 2022, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the ban on plastic exports. Looking ahead to 2035, the domestic market for recycled plastics and materials is expected to reach 504 billion yen, while the market for recycled plastics alone is expected to hit 355.3 billion yen, more than doubling its current size. This means interesting business opportunities for companies offering advanced sorting and separation technologies or innovative solutions for material and chemical recycling.

The webinar is targeted to EU companies seeking to newly develop or strengthen their current positions in Japan’s plastic recycling market.

In 40 minutes from your desk, discover:

• The characteristics of the Japanese plastic recycling market
• Market access and domestic key actors
• Recommendations for entering the Japanese recycling market

Programme:

• Introduction
• Expert’s presentation
• Q&A Session

Speakers:

Rolf Fobker, Project manager, ECOS GmbH; Johanna Schilling, Managing Director & CEO, ECOS GmbH. Dr. Rolf Fobker has been project manager in the field of environmental technologies and renewable energies at ECOS Consult since 1996. From 1982 he studied metal-organic chemistry at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster and graduated as a chemist in 1988. In 1991 he received his doctorate in the subject. After teaching until 1995 for mechanical engineers in the chemistry department of the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, Rolf Fobker graduated in 1996 with an apprenticeship in environmental protection at the Environmental Academy Fresenius, Dortmund. His focus at ECOS Consult is on environmental technologies, including renewable energy, recycling, product and production integrated environmental protection (PIUS) and IT. Rolf Fobker acquired special skills in German-Japanese project management as well as research and studies.

Johanna Schilling started at ECOS Consult in January 2000 as a project manager and became Managing Director in 2021. From 1992 to 1998 Johanna Schilling studied Japanese and German at the University of Trier. She also spent a year studying at the Chiba State University in Japan on a scholarship of the Japanese Ministry of Education Culture and the German Academic Exchange Service. She is fluent in Japanese and has special expertise in German-Japanese cooperation in the areas of project management, business consulting, public relations, trade fair participation, event moderation and management training.

Registration deadline: 16 October 2023

Moderator: Sofia Smerzi, Business Support Coordinator, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation
Organiser: EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation - Brussels Office

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