Since the first synthetic plastic was invented in 1907, an explosion in the world’s population and increased consumerism over the last century have led to a massive demand for — and the production of ...

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has a plastic problem. In a country where cleanliness and neat packaging have long been considered good service, almost everything, from single bananas to individual pieces of ...

Environmental groups in Japan recently urged the Japanese government to focus more on creating a society that produces and consumes much less plastic in its policy efforts to tackle the dire problem ...

When international delegates arrived at Karuizawa Station for the Group of 20 environment ministers' meeting earlier this month, they were greeted by local schoolchildren, bilingual volunteers — and a ...

A massive amount of plastic waste that washed ashore at a beach on the Sadamisaki Peninsula in Ikata, Ehime Prefecture, is seen in this file photo taken on July 4, 2018. (Mainichi/Yusuke Komatsu) ...

Japan, like many industrialized nations, faces a garbage crisis. For years it shipped countless used plastic to China, the main global destination for recyclable materials. However, these exports ...