Glass is a usually transparent, non-crystalline, amorphous solid, used for various applications, ranging from windowpanes to glass bottles and optics. In Japan, glass is commonly used for packaging. Liquor bottles, food, and condiment containers, and medicine bottles represented the
. The demand for more sustainable packaging materials is increasing as the Japanese government enforced a law to reduce the use of disposable plastic products in April 2022. Convenience stores, restaurants, as well as Japanese companies that use large amounts of disposable plastic are required to minimize their use, which might improve the market for glass containers in Japan.
Glass packaging falls behind after paper packaging
However, paper dominates the packaging materials market. In 2021, paper and paperboard products were responsible for most of Japan's
shipment volume of packaging materials. Paper packaging is becoming increasingly common as a replacement for plastic products, as the material is recyclable and, therefore, more sustainable. Even though glass is infinitely recyclable, reusable, and consequently a more sustainable alternative to plastic packaging, paper is often more attractive as it is lighter, less fragile, and easier to transport.
Recycling of glass
According to the Container and Packaging Recycling Law, plastic, paper, PET bottles, aluminum, and glass should be collected separately to be recycled. The
recycling rate of glass bottles stood at 70 percent in recent years and was much higher than the overall recycling rate of waste in Japan, which remained at around 20 percent throughout the past decade.
Japanese glass manufacturers rank among global players
Regarding the trade of glass and glassware, Asian countries and the United States were Japan's main trading partners. The export value of glass from Japan exceeded the import value in recent years since the country has glass manufacturers that rank among global leaders in the industry: AGC represented the
leading glass manufacturing company in Japan. The company also ranked among the
leading global glass companies based on revenue, alongside other Japanese glass manufacturers such as Kyocera and Nippon Sheet Glass.
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