Japan is set to introduce a new policy that will require manufacturers and importers of mobile batteries, portable power supplies, and tobacco-heating and e-cigarette devices to collect and recycle them in cooperation with local authorities in a move to bring the country’s e-waste management system in line with global circular economy trends.
The policy, expected to take effect from the fiscal year 2026, will designate these products as “specified recyclable items”, expanding Japan’s recycling obligations to cover a new generation of battery-powered devices that contain rare metals and pose fire risks if discarded improperly.
Since April 2017, manufacturers have been voluntarily collecting mobile batteries, with 60 member companies of the Japan Portable Rechargeable Battery Recycling Center (JRBC) participating in the programme. As for smartphones, collection is carried out at around 8,500 locations nationwide, including carrier shops and retail stores, with 3.63 million units collected in fiscal 2023.
Many of the newly targeted products contain lithium-ion batteries and critical minerals that Japan hopes to recapture and reuse. Authorities have also warned of the growing number of fires linked to improperly discarded batteries in devices such as portable power supplies, and plan to offer subsidies for detection and fire-suppression systems at recycling sites.
“In recent years, fire-accidents caused by built-in lithium batteries have increased, and the balancing of safe collection and resource circulation is required,” said the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in August when it first announced the plan.
The announcement also reflects Tokyo’s mounting urgency to strengthen waste management and resource recovery. Although the country’s overall recycling rate reached 19.5 per cent in fiscal 2023, landfill waste still totalled around 3.16 million tonnes, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
Both METI and the environment ministry have acknowledged that large volumes of small electronic devices containing valuable metals are still discarded without recovery.
Global e-waste trends
Governments and industries worldwide are increasingly turning to recycling to address both supply-chain vulnerability and climate goals.
The International Energy Agency reports that patents in lithium-ion battery recycling grew by an average of 56 per cent annually between 2017 and 2022, while the US-based research firm Global Market Insights estimates that the lithium-ion battery recycling market will reach US$7.2 billion in 2024 and expand at an annual rate of more than 20 per cent through 2034.
Japan has linked its expanded recycling initiative to its broader Green Transformation (GX) strategy and carbon pricing framework, under which the government aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46 per cent by 2030 from 2013 levels and reach net zero by 2050.
In the battery and critical-metals sector, public-private partnerships are targeting recycling ratios of 70 per cent for lithium and 95 per cent for nickel and cobalt in used storage-battery streams by fiscal 2030.
Recycling used batteries not only strengthens material security but also reduces environmental impact. A Stanford University study found that using recycled materials for batteries cuts greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 81 per cent and reduces energy use by as much as 89 per cent compared with mining new metals.
