Container and Packaging Recycling Approaching the Packaging Recycling Problem From Several Angles Simultaneously

The recycling of packaging presents manufacturers of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages with one of their major environmental tasks.
Recycling can take many forms:

Consumers can bring their own containers to the supplier for filling (re-usable);

Returnable containers can be washed and reused by the supplier(refillable);

Containers can be melted down and reused as material for similar containers (e.g., one-way bottles and aluminum cans)(recyclable: bottle-to-bottle);

Containers can be recycled, but for some other purpose (e.g., steel cans and some colored-glass bottles)(recyclable: bottle-to-others).

As things now stand, however, recycling campaigns are facing a great many difficulties, including pressures to make production more efficient, changes in distribution patterns, and consumer preferences for greater simplicity and convenience: some manufacturers are shifting to less recyclable and even to one way containers. We believe that it is incumbent upon beverage manufactures to find solutions to the problems of container recycling, and we at TaKaRa are currently engaged in a variety of efforts to ensure that the recycling movement spreads.

To Support Refillable Systems
The refillable container, the most traditional form of alcoholic beverage distribution, is losing market share as consumers increasingly opt for simpler one-way bottles, cans, and cartons. TaKaRa is the company that uses the most " isshobin" 1.8 liter refillable bottles, the familiar traditional retail unit in the Japanese brewing and distilling industry. In 1994, we even turned our 720 ml bottles, which used to be the main type of one-way bottle, into refillable ones. We also made the bottles for our main products, TaKaRa Jun and TaKaRa Jun Legend shochu, refillable, a change that met an enthusiastic response from restaurants and bars who have to deal with very large volumes of empties. We also established a rental company to handle returnable shipping containers in commercial retailing and contributed capital to establish a company that washes refillable containers, demonstrating our commitment to create systems wherever they are needed. In the economy's current economic phase, it "costs less" to use one-way containers than to use refillable bottles. But we take the ecological costs of one-way packaging into account, and as part of our corporate responsibility to society, we continue to support returnable systems.

To Promote Recycling
One path to increase the efficiency of the human labor inputs necessary to operate refillable container systems is to convert empties into resources that can be used again to make new containers. The idea of making new bottles from the old and new aluminum cans from used cans caught on quickly. TaKaRa cooperates with this approach by designing products suitable for recycling of the resources in them, and it also cooperates with industry groups to improve recycling efficiency. However, considerable problems have been caused by the mismatch between amounts of empties collected and amounts actually recycled.
Using bottle glass in multiple ways
There is currently little demand for glass from bottles made of colored glass; quantities collected always exceed demand. TaKaRa helped to establish CRYSTAL CLAY CORP. to commercialize new uses of glass from used colored bottles. Tiles, blocks, and office flooring panels are among the uses Crystal Clay has found for colored bottle glass. We plan to use these tiles and blocks in the construction of our headquarters in Kyoto as well as in other offices and company housing, and we are working to discover and develop further uses for tomorrow.

Company housing built with crystal clay blocks and tiles

A "crystal clay" tile

Office flooring panels made with bottle glass and the public relations table at TaKaRa's headquarters

PET Bottle Recycling Efforts
Unlike their glass counterparts and cans, PET bottles were born at the height of the throw-away material culture. Light-weight, unbreakable, and recappable, these containers are now indispensable parts of our daily lives. Yet at the same time, their recycling does not have a very long history, and only about 10% of PET bottles are recycled. A variety of attempts are now being made to find ways to promote their recycling. TaKaRa has contributed capital to the establishment of Yono PET Bottle Recycling (YPR CO. LTD) a company established for the express purpose of recycling PET bottles. To increase the market for recycled PET bottles, TaKaRa uses about 50,000 plastic separators made from PET bottle material in its gift boxes, and it is also planning to make tee shirts and other apparel from PET bottle material. Meanwhile, TaKaRa continues its product design efforts to facilitate the recycling and reduction of PET raw materials.

Gift box using recycled PET bottle material in its separator

Recycled PET bottle products

YPR CO. LTD