Verification of recycling rate of food and beverage containers using material flow analysis

摘要

We investigated and analyzed the material flow of post-consumer containers for food and beverages in order to understand and discuss currently used definitions of the recycling rate of containers because such an analysis has not yet been done. Here we focus on the post-consumer recycling rate, which refers to how much of the total amount of containers emitted by consumers is recycled. Firstly, we investigated amounts of collected or recovered containers, i. e., steel cans, aluminum cans, and glass bottles (one-way bottles), by interviews and questionnaires in Y City, located in the Tokyo metropolitan area. This study revealed almost the entire (81 to 110%) material flow of post-consumer-stage containers. Secondly, taking into account yield from dealers, we estimated the amount shipped to secondary material producers and then calculated the post-consumer recycling rate. The post-consumer recycling rate that was determined based on the material flow analysis in this paper is defined differently from the generally reported recycling rate. Our values were lower than those generally reported, but the differences between our values and the generally reported values were dependent on the type of containers. Throughout the study, we indicated the importance of material flow consideration in discussing recycling rates and their implications.