1. History

Looking back at the history of national movement for waste reduction and 3R initiatives to date in Japan, it was understood that it started with the establishment of the National Conference for Promoting Waste Reduction in 1992 to promote the waste reduction with cooperation of all stakeholders such as citizens, businesses and government, in response to the explosive increase of waste and tightening the capacity of final disposal sites associated with economic growth.

This activity was renamed the 'Zero Waste Partnership Conference' in 2000 in order to realize a Sound Material-Cycle Society through 3R initiatives, such as reducing waste generation itself, with the aim of building a sustainable society in the 21st century.

‘3R’ expresses three initials of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, that are very important to promote a Sound Material-Cycle Society.

Furthermore, based on the agreement on the '3R Initiative' proposed by Japan at the G8 Summit in June 2004, '3RPromotion Forum' was established and started its activities since 2006, to promote the 'Zero Waste International Action Plan', by expanded and developed the 'Zero Waste Partnership Conference'.

As a public organization that does not represent any special interests, the Forum has been promoting the creation of a Sound Material-Cycle Society through the 3R activities together with all parties and organizations concerned.

2. Reiwa Era (from 2020)

Now that we have entered the Reiwa Era (from 2020-), the increasing demand for resources, energies and foods, and the increase in the amount of waste generated, including plastic waste, has become more serious across the world, and it has become a global trend to strengthen the decarbonisation including the waste sector, and to reduce additional plastic pollution to zero, and so on.

In addition to the existing efforts to create a Sound Material-Cycle Society through the 3Rs, it is now more than ever necessary to provide information to citizens in an easy-to-understand manner in order to thoroughly recycle and utilize resources, based on the current recognition of national and international issues related to resource circulation and circular economy.

3. Today and Future

In the context above mentioned, April 2024, the name of the organization has been changed to the '3Rs and Resource Circulation Promotion Forum' from ‘3R Activity Promotion Forum' to strengthen the platform function that brings together citizens, businesses, government and research institutions. More than ever, the Forum has decided to strengthen cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment and other ministries, as well as with our members, and also to enable a wide range of stakeholders to share information and collaborate with each other.

3Rs and Resource Circulation Promotion Forum will implement new activities to expand these platform functions following a wide range of social need and take new initiatives that go beyond conventional thinking.