Being smart to better deal with plastics

Convenience and issues with plastics

Plastics bring convenience and various benefits to our lives through use in place of traditional natural materials for a wide variety of products that take advantage of their properties. Light, strong and easy to both color and mass-produce, even in complex shapes — plastics are utilized for many kinds of stationery, such as files, correction tape, and erasers.
Meanwhile, some plastics end up as litter or are disposed of illegally. Because they have not been properly treated, they leak into oceans, causing the marine pollution that affects whole ecosystems which has become an emerging global issue.
In order to resolve this situation, the government is promoting plastic resource circulation in an integrated way, for example, thorough control of single-use plastic production, adoption of effective, efficient and sustainable recycling as well as utilization of recycled materials and bio-plastics.
The PLUS Group supports these measures taken by the government and putting our efforts in accelerating 3R (reuse, reduce and recycle) and proper treatment for plastics.
These efforts contribute to SDGs Goal 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communications”, Goal 12 “Responsible Consumptions and Production”, and Goal 14 “Life Below Water”.

Release of Clear Paper Folder

In December 2019, PLUS launched Clear Paper Folder that is disposable as burnable waste, reducing plastic usage by approximately 70 percent. This is just one of the efforts being made by PLUS for file products, which are traditionally made with plastic materials.
This paper product reduces plastic by approximately 800g for 100 clear plastic folders, and these folders can now be disposed of as burnable waste. By reducing the use of plastic, we contribute to saving limited fossil resources.
With this effort, we have reproduced the performance of a clear plastic folder: transparent surface makes it easy to read the documents inside; The moderately thick front cover is water and oil resistant for carrying and storing. It also has paper-made features that it can be written on. We are planning to launch this clear paper folder both domestically and worldwide.

Registration with “Plastics Smart” by the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan

In agreement with the philosophy of the “Plastics Smart” campaign promoted by Ministry of the Environment, PLUS has been a registered member of this campaign since August 2019.
The campaign was set up by Ministry of the Environment, who intend to accelerate the resolution of marine plastic waste issues by proliferating efforts to “be smart to better deal with plastics” all over the world. These efforts include the total eradication of littering, control of the production of unnecessary single-use plastics and thorough sorting of waste.
To date, PLUS’s registered activities include PLUS Clean Festival 2019, an activity to clean up the areas around its offices and near-by rivers conducted by its 17 group companies both in and outside Japan, the Single-use Plastic Waste Reduction Campaign and the sales launch of the Clear Paper Folder. These efforts are showcased on the ministry’s campaign website.

"Plastics Smart" campaign official website by Ministry of the Environment：
・PLUS Clean Festival 2019：http://plastics-smart.env.go.jp/case/?id=1192
・Single-use Plastic Waste Reduction Campaign：http://plastics-smart.env.go.jp/case/?id=1404
・Release of ”Clear Paper Folder"：http://plastics-smart.env.go.jp/case/?id=1426