Web-Site Survey of Recent Ecomaterial Developments in Japan

Abstract

One of the gravest environmental problems facing us today is how to manage materials we use and produce as a result of the industrial development in the 20th century. The concept of ecomaterials was proposed with their full life-cycle taken into consideration in 1991 and has widely developed now. There have been many governmental activities for the creation of sustainable society in Japan such as enactments of environmental laws and regulations. Many Japanese enterprises have been also engaged in a lot of activities for environmental protection. Owing to their endeavour, ecomaterials in Japan have been developed and their number has increased yearly. The research was made on how ecomaterials are currently used in Japan. All the information was obtained from the Web-sites 2004 year version environmental reports of the organizations concerned. In this paper, ecomaterials produced by two hundred and sixty six listed companies on the stock market were researched and classified into six categories. It also indicates the realization on the part of Japanese companies of the importance of ecomaterials resulting in the advancement of related research activities. Higher materials efficiency products of user friendly, energy saving and high performance type, which are the results of years of engineering research and development are being promoted as newly improved and efficient products. It seems that the time is approaching when it is necessary to consider as a part of environmental problems the limited availability of natural resources and to promote a sustainable society from a broader perspective.

Eco-MCPS: a Newly Developed Web-Based Database for Eco-Materials in Japan

“…Scientists and engineers have been working on the advancement of sustainable technologies, and considerable knowledge and technology are now accumulated in companies' websites 4) or environmental reports. However, these data are scattered and are not categorized.…”

Recent Ecomaterial Developments and Environmental Achievements of Major Industries in Japan

“…Our research on ecomaterials in Japan [6][7][8][9][10][11] started in 2001 with the view of sorting out and analyzing endeavours on the part of Japanese industries at that time for the development and manufacture of ecomaterials best suited to ''sustainable society''. In the early stage of our research, we adopted the classification into the six categories proposed by Halada and Yamamoto, and then have later switched to the new type of classification proposed by Japanese ''Ecomaterials Forum''.…”