The Impact of Japanese Companies' Voluntary Efforts to Shift From Using Plastic to Paper Materials Since 2018.

To address the issue of marine pollution caused by microplastics, the Japanese government started charging for plastic shopping bags in July 2020 and the Plastic Resource Recycling Promotion Law (PRRPL) was passed in April 2022, thereby discouraging plastic use in Japan. However, even before these laws and regulations were established, companies and offices had begun starting to make voluntary efforts to reduce plastic use. Among these efforts, this study focused on the shift from plastic to paper materials and company efforts to lower plastic use. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the social perception of marine plastic pollution since 2018 on companies' adoption of paper materials for containers and packaging. The companies reviewed may have used up to 236,699 tons of paper materials instead of plastic since 2018. This reduction in plastic consumption is expected to decrease emissions by up to 625,424 tons of carbon dioxide (tCO₂) annually, as well as external costs by up to 180.7 million yen. Hence, the shift from plastic to paper materials through firms' voluntary efforts since 2018 has helped to reduce plastic use and ameliorate the effects of global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]