Reference News Network June 1 Japanese media said that the Japanese government, while encouraging the promotion of environmental protection policies outside China, also wants to cooperate with the private sector to develop biodegradable plastics that are almost harmless to the sea.

According to a report on the website of Japan's Nikkei Asian Review magazine on May 30, the plan is part of a campaign to clean up plastic waste in the ocean.

reported that Japan wants to focus on the problem of worsening Marine plastic pollution at the Group of Twenty (G20) meeting in Osaka in June. About 300 million tons of plastic waste is generated globally each year, with an estimated 8 million to 12 million tons ending up in the oceans, according to the United Nations.

Japan's plan calls for public-private partnerships to develop plastic materials that have the least impact on the Marine environment, the report said. The material might be able to dissolve in seawater, for example. That undertaking would include fishing gear, because an environmental group found that 46 percent of the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, between the U.S. states of Hawaii and California, is fishing nets.

The Japanese government also intends to brief participants of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, scheduled to be held in Yokohama at the end of August, on the plastic initiative.

The plan is in line with Tokyo's goal of recycling all plastic bottles, the report said. The government will support the installation of recycling bins next to vending machines and increase the number of times they are recycled. Picking up plastic containers discarded on the ground will also be more frequent. The Abe government plans to offer incentives such as subsidies, get municipal governments and other groups involved. Japan recycles a higher proportion of plastic bottles than the United States or Europe.

Law enforcement against pollution will also be strengthened across Japan and China, the report said. Local governments organize week-long patrols every year to search for illegal dumping, and the campaign will be expanded. Japan will also help emerging countries develop a legal framework to combat plastic pollution and train monitors in Southeast Asia.

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