Hajime Ohta

Keidanren Executive Counselor
(1-9-4 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100 Japan)

Abstract

In order to deal with the problem of waste, it is essential for government, industry, and the general population to take their share of the responsibility and to cooperate in tackling this issue together.

The business world in Japan has been addressing this matter through efforts both by individual corporations and at the industrial level by reducing the volume of waste generated and promoting recycling. Businesses have also cooperated in sponsoring the promotion of constructing superior treatment facilities. In addition, our organization has issued a "Keidanren Appeal on the Environment" as a declaration of initiatives to be taken by the business world in the future. In line with this appeal, various industries have drawn up their own voluntary environmental action plans, including numerical targets for waste reduction or recycling, and concrete measures for the achievement of these targets. We intend to sustain and further intensify our efforts to deal with the issue of waste and to build a recycling-based society through annual reviews of the progress achieved under these various plans, the results of which we will make public.

Key words: share of responsibility, Keidanren Appeal on the Environment, voluntary environmental action plans, numerical targets, concrete measures