Plastics in Japan and the world, in numbers
This page sets out how much plastic is produced and used, where it goes after disposal and how much leaks into the sea, using official statistics, reports by international organisations and peer-reviewed studies. Japan generated 9.11 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2024, with an effective utilisation rate of 89% (Plastic Waste Management Institute). The Ministry of the Environment's FY2025 estimate puts plastic outflow from Japan to the sea at 16,000 to 31,000 tonnes a year (provisional).
This page was compiled by Karatsu Farm & Food as part of the Karatsu Data Bank. It presents figures and statements from the sources without conclusions or evaluative language. Values we calculated are marked "our calculation". Estimates that use different methods or base years are shown in separate tables rather than compared in one. No values were read off charts. Most sources are in Japanese, and English wording of Japanese sources is our translation.
| Sector | Amount | Share (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|
| Packaging and containers | 3.58 million t | 41.3% |
| Electrical and electronic equipment | 1.54 million t | 17.8% |
| Transport (cars etc.) | 1.04 million t | 12.0% |
| Construction materials | 0.94 million t | 10.8% |
| Household goods | 0.90 million t | 10.4% |
| Other (balance) | 0.55 million t | 6.3% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fisheries | 0.12 million t | 1.4% |
How much plastic Japan produces and uses
Resin production in Japan peaked at 15.21 million tonnes in 1997 and was 8.53 million tonnes in 2024, down 0.35 million tonnes from the previous year (Plastic Waste Management Institute). Domestic consumption of resin products in 2024 was 8.67 million tonnes. Packaging and containers were the largest sector at 3.58 million tonnes, followed by electrical and electronic equipment at 1.54 million tonnes and transport at 1.04 million tonnes.
What happens after disposal
Japan generated 9.11 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2024. Mechanical recycling (1.80 million tonnes), chemical recycling (0.23 million tonnes) and energy recovery (6.08 million tonnes) together give an effective utilisation rate of 89% (Plastic Waste Management Institute). A Ministry of the Environment council document of 29 September 2026 cites the same 89% (Ministry of the Environment, Japan). Incineration without energy recovery took 0.69 million tonnes and landfill 0.32 million tonnes.
From its 2025 release, the institute revised its definition of incineration with energy use to align with ISO standards. Values published before the revision therefore cannot be compared directly with the new values. For example, total plastic waste for 2023 was 7.69 million tonnes in the earlier release and 9.06 million tonnes in Plastic recycling basics 2025.
| Item | Value | Calculation |
|---|---|---|
| Annual consumption per person | about 70 kg | Domestic consumption of resin products 8.67 million t ÷ total population 123,802,000 (our calculation) |
| Daily consumption per person | about 190 g | The value above ÷ 365 days (our calculation) |
| Annual plastic waste per person | about 74 kg | Plastic waste generated 9.11 million t ÷ total population (our calculation) |
| Plastic packaging waste per person | Second only to the United States | Statement in the Ministry of the Environment reference materials (November 2018), citing UNEP "Single-use plastics" (2018) |
Per person
Dividing domestic consumption of 8.67 million tonnes by the total population gives about 70 kg per person a year, or about 190 g a day. Plastic waste of 9.11 million tonnes works out at about 74 kg per person a year (our calculation; population from Statistics Bureau of Japan). For international comparison, Ministry of the Environment reference materials state that Japan's plastic packaging waste per person is second only to that of the United States (Ministry of the Environment, Japan, citing UNEP 2018).
| Item | 2019 | 2060 projection (no additional policies) |
|---|---|---|
| Plastics use | 460 Mt | 1,231 Mt |
| Plastic waste | 353 Mt | 1,014 Mt |
| Leakage to aquatic environments (rivers, lakes, ocean) | 6.1 Mt | 11.6 Mt |
| Stock accumulated in rivers and the ocean | 140 Mt | 490 Mt |
| Item | 2020 | 2040 projection (no additional policies) | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastics use | 435 Mt | 736 Mt | p.13 |
| Plastic waste | 360 Mt | 617 Mt | p.13 |
| Mismanaged waste | 81 Mt | 119 Mt | p.13 |
| Macroplastic leakage to the environment | 20 Mt | 30 Mt | p.13, p.24 |
| Microplastic leakage to the environment (estimable categories only) | 2.7 Mt | 4.1 Mt | p.87 |
| Share of waste that is recycled | 9.5% | 14% | text of Figures 2.6 and 4.4 |
| Share of recycled material in plastics use | 6% | 6% | p.13 |
Global outlook
The OECD's 2022 report projects that, without additional policies, global plastics use will grow from 460 Mt in 2019 to 1,231 Mt in 2060, and plastic waste from 353 Mt to 1,014 Mt (OECD, 2022; OECD, 2022). It estimates that 6.1 Mt leaked to aquatic environments in 2019, of which 1.7 Mt reached the ocean.
The 2024 report updates these figures with projections to 2040 (OECD, 2024). Plastics use rises from 435 Mt in 2020 to 736 Mt in 2040, and macroplastic leakage to the environment from 20 Mt to 30 Mt. The share of recycled material in plastics use stays at 6%. Because the two editions use different base and projection years, this page shows them in separate tables.
| Rank | Country | Amount (million t/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 1.32-3.53 |
| 2 | Indonesia | 0.48-1.29 |
| 3 | Philippines | 0.28-0.75 |
| 4 | Viet Nam | 0.28-0.73 |
| 5 | Sri Lanka | 0.24-0.64 |
| 6 | Thailand | 0.15-0.41 |
| 7 | Egypt | 0.15-0.39 |
| 8 | Malaysia | 0.14-0.37 |
| 9 | Nigeria | 0.13-0.34 |
| 10 | Bangladesh | 0.12-0.31 |
| 20 | United States | 0.04-0.11 |
| 30 | Japan | 0.02-0.06 |
| Rank | Country | Amount (t/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippines | 356,371 |
| 2 | India | 126,513 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 73,098 |
| 4 | China | 70,707 |
| Rank | Country | Amount (Mt/yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 9.3 |
| 2 | Nigeria | 3.5 |
| 3 | Indonesia | 3.4 |
| 4 | China | 2.8 |
Country rankings of plastic emissions
Country rankings depend on what each study measures, its base year and its method. A study of inputs from land to the ocean in 2010 (Jambeck et al., 2015) ranks China first; a study of river emissions to the ocean in 2015 (Meijer et al., 2021) ranks the Philippines first; a study of macroplastic emissions to the whole environment in 2020 (Cottom et al., 2024) ranks India first. Because the three cannot be compared in one table, they are shown separately.
Cottom et al. state of high-income countries that "none are ranked in the top 90 polluters".
| Category | Outflow (t/yr) |
|---|---|
| (1) Macroplastics | 1,300-8,600 |
| (2) Intentionally added microplastics | 610-2,500 |
| (3) Unintentionally generated microplastics | 14,000-20,000 |
| (4) Microplastics total, (2)+(3) | 15,000-23,000 |
| Total, (1)+(4) | 16,000-32,000 |
Plastic flowing from Japan into the sea
The Ministry of the Environment's FY2025 estimate puts plastic outflow from Japan to the sea at 16,000 to 31,000 tonnes a year (Ministry of the Environment, Japan, page 3), compared with 13,000 to 31,000 tonnes in the previous year's estimate. The summary table on page 42 of the same report gives a total of 16,000 to 32,000 tonnes, an upper value that differs from the text. The ministry describes these as provisional formulas and values, "not final values".
Macroplastics account for 1,300 to 8,600 tonnes and microplastics for 15,000 to 23,000 tonnes, of which 14,000 to 20,000 tonnes are generated unintentionally. A different method (the macro-statistics method, FY2023) gives 2,300 to 24,000 tonnes.
| Zone or sea area | What the source states | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Japan as a whole (39 prefectures, 80 sites) | Plastics are 92% of beach litter by count and 60% by weight. The top item by count is oyster-farming spacer pipes (24.5%); the top item by weight is wood (28.9%) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Upstream Tsushima Current | Top item by count is plastic rope and string (fishing gear, 20.8%), second is caps (15.4%). Top item by weight is wood (30.6%). PET bottles with Chinese or Taiwanese labels were the most common, more than half | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Upstream Kuroshio Current | Buoys (fishing gear) rank first by both count and weight. PET bottles with Chinese or Taiwanese labels were the most common, more than half | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Seto Inland Sea | 55.8% of items by count are oyster-farming spacer pipes, and the top two items are oyster-farming materials. As an enclosed sea, PET bottles with Japanese labels exceed 70% in every prefecture | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Inflow into the Seto Inland Sea | 1,280-3,120 t a year (range of mean values; provisional, for FY2023) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Offshore floating litter (density of other plastics) | East China Sea 28.4 items/km², Sea of Japan side 27.1 items/km², Pacific side 22.6 items/km² | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
Regional differences
The Ministry of the Environment's beach litter composition survey (Ministry of the Environment, Japan) groups Japan into six zones by ocean current. In the "upstream Tsushima Current" zone, rope and string from fishing gear rank first by count, and PET bottles with Chinese or Taiwanese labels were the most common, more than half. In the enclosed Seto Inland Sea, oyster-farming materials top the count, and PET bottles with Japanese labels exceed 70% in every prefecture. The survey site in Saga Prefecture is Kotari Beach in Karatsu City.
No national data set gives the amount of beach litter by region. As a guide to amounts, the density of floating plastic offshore is 28.4 items/km² in the East China Sea, 27.1 on the Sea of Japan side and 22.6 on the Pacific side (Ministry of the Environment, Japan). An estimated 1,280 to 3,120 tonnes of plastic litter flow into the Seto Inland Sea each year (Ministry of the Environment, Japan, provisional). Saga Prefecture's plan mentions "drift items thought to have come from neighbouring countries, such as plastic tanks with Hangul lettering and medical waste including syringes", and notes that in Karatsu Bay "much drift litter also results from river discharge during rain" (Saga Prefecture).
| Estimate or observation | What was measured | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jambeck et al. | Input from land to the ocean (2010 estimate) | 4.8-12.7 million t a year | Jambeck et al., 2015 |
| Meijer et al. | River emissions to the ocean (2015 estimate) | 0.8-2.7 million t a year | Meijer et al., 2021 |
| OECD 2022 | Leakage to aquatic environments / of which to the ocean (2019 estimate) | 6.1 Mt / 1.7 Mt | OECD, 2022 |
| OECD 2024 | Macroplastic leakage to the environment (2020 to 2040 projection) | 20 Mt → 30 Mt | OECD, 2024 |
| Eriksen et al. | Plastic floating on the ocean surface (estimate based on observations from 1979 to 2019) | 82-358 trillion particles, 1.1-4.9 Mt (2019 mean: 171 trillion particles, 2.3 Mt) | Eriksen et al., 2023 |
Is plastic flowing into the sea increasing?
There is no measured time series of annual inputs to the ocean. The figures above are all model estimates with different methods and base years, so no trend can be read from them side by side. An observation-based study reports that plastic floating on the world's ocean surface followed a fluctuating but stagnant trend until 2005 and has increased rapidly since (Eriksen et al., 2023). The OECD projects that leakage to the environment will keep rising without additional policies (OECD, 2024).
| Indicator | Karatsu City | Japan | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic containers and packaging sent for recycling (excluding white trays) | 0 t | 682,000 t | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Recycling rate | 16.9% | 19.3% | Ministry of the Environment, Japan, Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Waste generated per person per day | 891 g | 839 g | Ministry of the Environment, Japan, Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| Separate collection of plastic containers and packaging | Not carried out (collected as burnable waste) | Carried out by 1,349 of 1,741 municipalities (77.5%) | Karatsu City, Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| When | What | Source |
|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | Plastic containers and packaging sent for recycling: 0 t | Ministry of the Environment, Japan |
| October 2026 | Pilot of separate collection starts in the Nishi-Karatsu school district (about 2,600 households, five months) | Karatsu City |
| FY2028 | Planned start of separate collection of plastic containers, packaging and plastic products across Karatsu City and Genkai Town | Karatsu City and Genkai Town |
| April 2036 | Assumed start of operation of the new waste treatment facility in Kitahata Kishiyama; the waste to be handled includes 716 t of plastics a year | Karatsu City |
Karatsu in numbers
Under Karatsu City's household waste rules, plastics and vinyl other than PET bottles go into burnable waste (Karatsu City). A city briefing document states that "in Karatsu City, everything except PET bottles is incinerated" (Karatsu City, Environmental Facilities Division). In FY2024, the amount of plastic containers and packaging sent for recycling was 0 tonnes, the recycling rate was 16.9% (Japan: 19.3%) and waste per person per day was 891 g (Japan: 839 g) (Ministry of the Environment, Japan). Nationally, 1,349 of 1,741 municipalities collect plastic containers and packaging separately (Ministry of the Environment, Japan).
Karatsu City plans to start separate collection and recycling of plastics across Karatsu City and Genkai Town in FY2028 (Karatsu City and Genkai Town). Ahead of this, it has been running a pilot with about 2,600 households in the Nishi-Karatsu school district since October 2026 (Karatsu City). The new waste treatment facility planned for Kitahata Kishiyama is assumed to start operation in April 2036, and its environmental impact assessment scoping document includes 716 tonnes of plastics a year among the waste to be handled (Karatsu City).
Frequently asked questions
Q1. How much plastic flows from Japan into the sea?
The Ministry of the Environment's FY2025 estimate is 16,000 to 31,000 tonnes a year (page 3 of the report). The summary table on page 42 of the same report gives a total of 16,000 to 32,000 tonnes, so the upper values differ. Macroplastics account for 1,300 to 8,600 tonnes and microplastics for 15,000 to 23,000 tonnes. The ministry describes these as provisional, not final, values.
Q2. How much of Japan's plastic waste is recycled?
According to the Plastic Waste Management Institute, Japan generated 9.11 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2024. Mechanical recycling took 1.80 million tonnes, chemical recycling 0.23 million tonnes and energy recovery 6.08 million tonnes, giving an effective utilisation rate of 89%. Incineration without energy recovery took 0.69 million tonnes and landfill 0.32 million tonnes.
Q3. Which countries emit the most plastic into the ocean?
Studies measure different things for different base years, and the rankings change. A 2010 estimate (Jambeck et al., 2015) ranks China first; a 2015 estimate of river emissions to the ocean (Meijer et al., 2021) ranks the Philippines first; a 2020 estimate of macroplastic emissions to the whole environment, not only the ocean (Cottom et al., 2024), ranks India first.
Q4. Is the amount of plastic entering the ocean increasing?
There is no measured time series of annual ocean inputs; all the figures are model estimates. Observations show that plastic floating on the world's ocean surface followed a fluctuating but stagnant trend until 2005 and has increased rapidly since then (Eriksen et al., 2023). The OECD projects that, without additional policies, macroplastic leakage to the environment will rise from 20 Mt in 2020 to 30 Mt in 2040.
Q5. Does Karatsu City collect household plastics separately?
Under the city's district waste guides (March 2024), plastics and vinyl other than PET bottles go into burnable waste. In FY2024, the amount of plastic containers and packaging sent for recycling was 0 tonnes. The city plans to start separate collection city-wide in FY2028 and has been running a pilot in the Nishi-Karatsu school district since October 2026.
Source ledger
| Source | Publisher | Date | URL | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic recycling basics 2025 (in Japanese) | Plastic Waste Management Institute | 2025-12 | https://www.pwmi.or.jp/pdf/panf2.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Production, disposal, recycling and treatment of plastic products in 2024 (material flow, in Japanese) | Plastic Waste Management Institute | 2025-12-24 | https://www.pwmi.or.jp/column/column-2700/ | 2026-10-13 |
| Joint council meeting material (effective utilisation rate of 89% in 2024, in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-09-29 | https://www.env.go.jp/content/000433865.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Population estimates as of 1 October 2024 (in Japanese) | Statistics Bureau of Japan | 2025-04 | https://www.stat.go.jp/data/jinsui/2024np/index.html | 2026-10-13 |
| Plastics in Japan and abroad: reference materials (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2018-11 | https://www.env.go.jp/press/files/jp/110267.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Global Plastics Outlook: Economic Drivers, Environmental Impacts and Policy Options | OECD | 2022 | https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/global-plastics-outlook_de747aef-en/full-report | 2026-10-13 |
| Global Plastics Outlook: Policy Scenarios to 2060 | OECD | 2022 | https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/global-plastics-outlook_aa1edf33-en/full-report | 2026-10-13 |
| Policy Scenarios for Eliminating Plastic Pollution by 2040 | OECD | 2024-10-02 | https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/10/policy-scenarios-for-eliminating-plastic-pollution-by-2040_28eb9536/76400890-en.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Jambeck et al. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science 347:768-771 | AAAS (peer-reviewed) | 2015-02-13 | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352 | 2026-10-13 |
| Meijer et al. More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean. Science Advances 7:eaaz5803 | AAAS (peer-reviewed) | 2021-04-30 | https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz5803 | 2026-10-13 |
| Cottom, Cook and Velis. A local-to-global emissions inventory of macroplastic pollution. Nature 633:101-108 | Springer Nature (peer-reviewed) | 2024-09-04 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07758-6 | 2026-10-13 |
| Eriksen et al. A growing plastic smog, now estimated to be over 170 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world's oceans. PLOS ONE 18(3):e0281596 | PLOS (peer-reviewed) | 2023-03-08 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281596 | 2026-10-13 |
| Estimate of marine plastic litter outflow from Japan, FY2025 review (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-08-31 (updated) | https://www.env.go.jp/content/000426522.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Results of the FY2024 survey of beach litter composition (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-03 | https://www.env.go.jp/content/000396903.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Estimate of plastic litter inflow into the Seto Inland Sea, FY2025 review, provisional (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-08 | https://www.env.go.jp/content/000425800.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Report on the distribution of floating and seabed litter in offshore waters, FY2024 (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan (contractor: Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology) | 2025-03 | https://www.env.go.jp/content/000415171.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Saga Prefecture regional plan for coastal drift litter, September 2025 (in Japanese) | Saga Prefecture | 2025-09 | https://www.pref.saga.lg.jp/kiji00352458/3_52458_367947_up_2no2qav5.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Municipal solid waste survey FY2024, Saga Prefecture municipal data (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-03-27 | https://www.env.go.jp/recycle/waste_tech/ippan/r6/data/shori/city/41/01.xlsx | 2026-10-13 |
| Generation and treatment of municipal solid waste in FY2024 (press release, in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-03-27 | https://www.env.go.jp/press/press_03502.html | 2026-10-13 |
| Separate collection and recycling under the Containers and Packaging Recycling Act, FY2024 results (in Japanese) | Ministry of the Environment, Japan | 2026-03-31 | https://www.env.go.jp/press/press_03687.html | 2026-10-13 |
| How to sort and put out household waste, by district (in Japanese) | Karatsu City | 2024-03 | https://www.city.karatsu.lg.jp/page/2664.html | 2026-10-13 |
| Briefing material on the new waste treatment facility (in Japanese) | Karatsu City, Environmental Facilities Division | 2026-09-04 | https://www.city.karatsu.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/27095.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Pilot of separate collection of plastic resources (in Japanese) | Karatsu City | 2026-09-03 (updated) | https://www.city.karatsu.lg.jp/page/51247.html | 2026-10-13 |
| Karatsu City and Genkai Town regional plan for a sound material-cycle society, phase 3 (in Japanese) | Karatsu City and Genkai Town | 2025-11-19 | https://www.env.go.jp/recycle/waste/3r_network/5_region/project_list/41_saga/02_karatsu_r8.pdf | 2026-10-13 |
| Environmental impact assessment scoping document for the new Karatsu waste treatment facility (in Japanese) | Karatsu City | 2026-07 | https://www.city.karatsu.lg.jp/page/47800.html | 2026-10-13 |
What this page does not cover
It does not evaluate the efforts of individual municipalities or companies, does not use forecasts by market research firms and does not use values read off charts. Figures that could not be checked against primary sources are not included. Our own beach clean-up and bottle-cap collection records are on データで見る唐津の海ごみ・ビーチクリーン活動 (in Japanese).
About this page
Compiled by Hiroaki Kojima, Vice Director, Karatsu Farm & Food / Contact: kojima@karatsu-f-f.com (contact page) / Published: October 13, 2026 / Markdown: en/plastic-data.mdRelated links
▶ Karatsu Data Bank
▶ Nature Credits: Income, Costs and Who Gets Paid
▶ 日本と世界と唐津のプラスチックの統計（日本語）