00:00Japan loves plastic. The viral egg sandwich, onigiri, sushi, even single servings of fresh fruit.
00:07All of these things come swaddled in layers of plastic.
00:10But the Iran war has forced Japan to rethink its affinity for the material.
00:15Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have derailed supplies of naphtha,
00:19a key oil feedstock used in making packaging items like plastic.
00:23That's caused price hikes and shortages, forcing retailers to look for alternative materials.
00:28Convenience store giants Lawson and Family Mart have introduced measures like biomass shopping bags and paper coffee cup lids to
00:35address the crisis.
00:36Some grocers have scrapped packaging altogether.
00:39Environmentalists are hoping that the naphtha shock will be a wake-up call for Japan.
00:43Regardless of the war, the country could be facing a plastic shortage by 2030 if it doesn't curb usage and
00:49get a handle on recycling.
00:50But reversing Japan's penchant for single-use plastic will be no small task.
00:54The habit is rooted in the country's obsession with convenience and food hygiene, plus plastics relatively cheap.
01:01Japan produced 63 kilograms of plastic waste per person in 2023,
01:06and ranked second in the world for plastic packaging waste per capita, just behind the US.
01:11So far, government initiatives to curb plastic use, like charging for shopping bags, have yielded some success.
01:18But many think the government could do more to incentivise behavioural shifts, like subsidies or providing more support for sustainable
01:25materials instead.
01:26Phase 1
01:26Let's take this talk this day.,
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