From the asahi.com:
China’s demand for PET bottles could cause the demise of Japan’s recycling industry. `There is the strong possibility that the recycling system in Japan will be completely destroyed in a year or two.’TAKEHIKO MATSUMOTO Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association
For municipalities, it makes financial and environmental sense. Shipping used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles to China brings in a tidy profit and the waste is recycled all the same.
But others in Japan don’t see it that way. In fact, some say if used PET bottle exports to China continue to grow, the end of an industry in Japan is inevitable.
“There is the strong possibility that the recycling system in Japan will be completely destroyed in a year or two,” says Takehiko Matsumoto, an official of the government’s Japan Containers and Packaging Recycling Association (JCPRA).
