Category Archives: Waste

School “Artificial Turf” Chemical Problem

Chemical pollution, Waste

Open Letter of Inquiry on Artificial Turf

Japanese: https://nishoren.net/cuj/?p=180

20 March 2023

Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Office of Education

To: Kayoko Hama, Superintendent of Education

Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ)

Co-Chairperson: Azuchi Kameyama

Co-Chairperson Miyoko Sasaki

Co-Chairman Martin Frid

Open letter of inquiry regarding artificial turf

We are a consumer organization working for safe and secure living.

We understand that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is “promoting the turfing of schoolyards and other areas in all public elementary and junior high schools in Tokyo to further enhance the educational environment,” and recently we often see schoolyards with artificial turf instead of natural grass. However, in recent years, plastic pollution has become increasingly serious, and efforts to reduce the use of plastic are being made around the world. Artificial turf, in particular, is the most common microplastic found in rivers.

Professor Hiroshi Okochi of Waseda University has pointed out that artificial turf may also contribute to microplastic pollution in the atmosphere.

Therefore, we would like to ask the following questions, and would appreciate it if you could answer them by April 20. Your answers will be posted on the organization’s website.

Please explain in detail the main purpose of the schoolyard turfing project. Do you think artificial turf is effective in achieving these objectives? For example, do you think that artificial turf is not appropriate as a place for children to connect with nature?

CUJ heard that the schoolyard turfing project was originally part of the “Green Tokyo 10 Year Project” and was intended to counteract the heat island effect. Will artificial turf work as a heat island countermeasure?

Artificial turf will eventually deteriorate and will need to be replaced. The artificial turf cannot be burned or recycled as it is, and most of it is land filled at final disposal sites. What is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s policy on the disposal of artificial turf?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government subsidizes the cost of turfing school grounds. If artificial turf is to be installed, will it be subsidized as well? We think it needs to be reviewed.

The Tokyo Shimbun (1 July 2021) reported: According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Office of Education, artificial turf schoolyards are used in approximately 120 ward elementary schools in 23 wards, and in Adachi Ward, 28 of 69 ward elementary schools have adopted artificial turf.

How many of Tokyo’s 23 wards’ public elementary and junior high schools currently have artificial turf and how many have natural turf? If possible, please tell us by ward. We would also appreciate it if you could tell us the situation of elementary and junior high schools in Tokyo other than those in the 23 wards.

Campaign to Reduce the Use of Plastics

Corporate Responsibility, Environment, Waste,

Consumers Union of Japan is stepping up the campaign against plastic waste. We are asking major convenience stores and coffee shop chains what they are doing in Japan, as their stores in other countries appear to be moving faster to reduce the use of plastic containers and cups.

Questionnaire on Reusable Container Initiatives

To: Seven & I Holding, FamilyMart, Lawson, Starbucks Japan, Doutor Coffee

27 May 2021

According to media reports, reusable container initiatives are progressing overseas. For example, 7-Eleven in Taiwan has announced a plan to eliminate the use of all disposable plastics by 2050, and has introduced a reusable cup system in four of its stores. In addition, FamilyMart in Taiwan has also started selling lunch boxes in reusable containers. Furthermore, Starbucks in South Korea has announced that it will eliminate disposable cups by 2025. Some McDonald’s stores in London, UK have introduced reusable takeout cups that can be returned to other McDonald’s stores after the drink is finished.

We hope that Japanese companies will also promote reuse in order to reduce the use of single-use plastics. Therefore, we would like to ask you about your company’s efforts to reuse containers.

1) Please let us know the material of each of the beverage and food (lunch box, etc.) containers that you provide for both in-store and take-out.

2) Do you have any plans to change your take-out containers from one-way containers to reusable containers?

3) If the plastic recycling promotion bill currently being discussed in the Japanese Parliament is enacted, cutlery and straws may be legislated (reduced use) next year. Examples of legislation methods include charging a fee, point card promotion schemes, and switching to alternative materials. It has been shown that point card promotion schemes does not reduce the amount of plastic bags used. Also, switching to alternative materials will not reduce the amount of waste. We believe that charging a fee is the most effective way to reduce the amount of waste. Please let us know what your policy is.

 

Japan Resources – No 175

Biotechnology, Chemical pollution, Waste,

Please click here CUJ-JR-175 for the latest issue of Japan Resources, our English newsletter.

This year CUJ celebrates its 50th anniversary.

We hope you will continue to stay updated with CUJ’s activities and news on our English website, and support our campaigns!

Contents:

From the Editors: Hot, Hotter & Hottest
CUJ 50th Anniversary Seminar
Japan-South Korea-Taiwan Joint Statement on RNA Interference Potato
G20: Ban Microcapsules in Home and Personal Care Products
Glyphosate in Bread
Please Join Our One Million Signature Petition Campaign: “Regulate All Gene-edited Food!”

G20: Ban Microcapsules in Home and Personal Care Products

Chemical pollution, Environment, Waste,

May 10, 2019

Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ)

Japan Endocrine-disruptor Preventive Action (JEPA)

Toxic Watch Network Japan

Chemical Sensitivity Support Center

Association for Voluntary Ban on Fragrance

Consumers Union of Japan Kansai group

Mr. SEKO Hiroshige, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry

Mr. HARADA Yoshiaki, Minister of Environment

Mr. NEMOTO Takumi, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare

Urgent Proposal
To Ban Microcapsules in Home and Personal Care Products

We urge the Japanese government to lead the world in regulating microplastics at G20 in Osaka.

We are a coalition of six Japanese citizen groups acting against unacceptable fragrance attack called “KOGAI” (香害=scent damage) in Japan. Recently, many of home and personal care products contain more and more synthetic fragrance substances. Of note, fabric softeners have caused unprecedented adverse health effects to Japanese people including children. When CUJ opened a telephone consultation “KOGAI 110” for two days in 2017 to collect voices from KOGAI victims, it received more than two hundreds phone calls from all over the country.

Meanwhile, microplastic marine pollution is getting more serious worldwide and drastic measures are required. Although the efforts to reduce microbeads in cosmetics and toothpastes have been started voluntarily by the manufacturers, it seems that the microcapsule problems have not been clearly recognized in Japan and no measures have been taken. Since the major purpose of fragrance encapsulation technology used in home and personal care products is to last the fragrance long, we believe that the technology is one of the main causes of KOGAI.

The microcapsules used in fabric softeners and synthetic detergents are supposed to be broken into smaller pieces in the environment and the debris could cause plastic pollution in the soil and the ocean. Moreover, micro-size particles, including air pollutant PM2.5, may reach deep into the lungs when inhaled. Consequently, the microcapsule debris could be very harmful to humans.

Therefore, we urge G20 governments to ban microcapsules in home and personal care products. We hope the Japanese government to lead the world in regulating microplastics at G20 in Osaka.

Proposals

1. The microcapsules in home and personal care products should be banned. In addition, the reduction plans for microcapsules should be explicitly included in “The Plastic Resources Recycling Strategy” proposed at G20 in Osaka.

2. It should be explicitly stated that microcapsules are included in microplastics in “The Law concerning Adequate Disposal of Marine Debris in the Way of Good Scenes and Environments on Beaches and Sea Surroundings to Protect Beautiful and Rich Nature” and “the Plastic Resource Recycling Strategy”.

Reasons for the Proposals

  1. Microplastics are fine plastics with a size of 5mm or less. There are two types of microplastics: “primary microplastic” which is intentionally manufactured in micro size such as microbeads and microcapsules, and “secondary microplastic” which is manufactured in larger sizes and be broken down to micro size in the environment.
  2. It is unclear whether microcapsules are included in the microplastics category in “The Plastic Resources Recycling Strategy” and “The Law Concerning Adequate Disposal of Marine Debris in the Way of Good Scenes and Environments on Beaches and Sea Surroundings to Protect Beautiful and Rich Nature” revised in June 2018. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) submitted to the European Commission a proposal report on a regulation of “intentionally added microplastics” in January 2019. In the proposal, ECHA recommended that microcapsules contained in home and personal care products should be banned in the European region within five years.
  3. Many fabric softeners, synthetic detergents, and other home and personal care products contain microcapsules made of plastics (synthetic resins) to encapsulate fragrance substances. The fragrance encapsulation technology is used in 10 to 20% of synthetic detergents and about 60% of fabric softeners (including scented beads) worldwide. Therefore, numerous pieces of microcapsules could be emitted in the air, the ocean, and the soil from the laundry and the waste water. In any cases some of the microcapsules could be transported in human bodies and cause adverse health effects. The microcapsule wall materials are melamine resins, polyurethanes, polyureas, and polyacrylates. When microcapsule wall materials are polyurethane, an extremely dangerous substance called isocyanate could be released into the environment. We believe that the microcapsules in home and personal care products should be banned immediately, since it could exacerbate plastic pollution of the soil, the ocean, the air, and human bodies.

Contact Information:

Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ)

Nishi Waseda 1-9-19-207

Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo

Japan 169-0051

How to Reduce the Use of Plastics?

Chemical pollution, Environment, Waste

A world-wide debate about the dangers of plastic pollution has led to the introduction of stricter laws in many countries. Japan seems to lag behind so far, but consumers can start reducing the use of plastics in many ways. Many people already bring their cloth bags to the supermarket when you go shopping. In some shops, you get a 2 Yen reduction on the price, but if everyone was serious about it, and the amount raised to 10 Yen or even more, the effect would be immediate.

In the Sugiura household, we tried to reduce the amount of plastic wrapping for food. It wasn’t an immediate success as not everyone went along with the plan. However, little steps can have remarkable consequences. Consumers Union of Japan is asking readers and members to contribute with their own creative proposals.

Essay: The Bizarre World of Plastics

When plastic materials were first discovered, they were brittle and fragile. Thus, a number of additives and “plasticizers” were introduced to counter the effects of ultraviolet light and make the materials more flexible and useful. Flame retardants were introduced as well. By the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, plastic pollution intensified. Plastic materials must be disposed of, making the garbage problem severe. In Tokyo, the toxic air pollution from the Yume-no-shima incinerators created health problems as increasing amounts of trash were thrown away by consumers.

No thought went into what would happen to plastic materials that were left in the environment. The degradation takes time. Plastic materials basically just turn into smaller plastic fragments. It becomes an invisible danger as animals ingest the fragments, even entering the human food chain. In spite of this, the makers of plastic materials, including Showa Denko, Mitsubishi Chemical, BASF and Du Pont, claim that their novel products are bio-degradable. This has led to the rather bizarre state of the world we are now facing, where the idea that plastics can simply be thrown away has been increasingly promoted.

By Amagasa Keisuke, CUJ