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Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that a shift in economic behavior during the high-growth era was a critical factor behind a swift tempo in which plastics infiltrated every aspect of life in Japan. This is why recycling is doomed to remain of marginal importance as the solution for the plastic waste problem.

Paper long abstract:

The city of Minamata made history as the site of one of the most disastrous environmental pollution cases in Japan, giving its name to Minamata disease, a neurological syndrome caused by methylmercury poisoning from the industrial wastewater released by the Chisso Corporation’s chemical factory. Minamata has become a definitive symbol of both the dark side of postwar Japan’s high growth and the rise of its citizens’ movement. But one detail that has fallen into obscurity is the pivotal role played in Japan’s postwar history of the product to which the citizens of the Minamata Bay succumbed. PVC was the first of many types of plastic materials that have since the 1950s infiltrated the Japanese landscape.

Plastic was not merely indispensable for the growth of the automobile and electronic industries, but also functioned as a critical fabric in the construction of postwar life, from vinyl tunnels and FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) bathtubs to multilayer onigiri wrapping and Heattech underwear. Half a century after the embrace of the promise of comfort and convenience embodied by such products, plastic has emerged as a major social problem in Japan, as per capita plastic waste generation skyrocketed. While the ideal of circular economy remains at the forefront of public debate about the solutions for the plastic conundrum, the Japanese industry explores new avenues of growth.

As this paper will demonstrate, a spectacular growth of the Japanese petrochemical industry was a critical factor behind a swift tempo in which plastics infiltrated every aspect of life in postwar Japan. The strategy of constantly developing new products was not only crucial for the success of the high-growth policies, but also generated a shift in the ethics of economic behavior that has never faded away. This is why, as this paper will argue, recycling is doomed to remain of marginal importance as the solution for the plastic waste problem in Japan. Instead, we need to pay more attention to the process of replacement of fossil fuel resins by innovative materials, which will allow for the tenacious continuation of the dizzying cycle of consumption inculcated during the era of high growth.