**"Bottles that Return Across the Sea - Hachijojima's Attempt at Resource Recycling" - September 1998**.

**"Bottles that Return Across the Sea - Hachijojima's Attempt at Resource Recycling" - September 1998**.

In the late 1990s, with environmental awareness on the rise, recycling systems were being developed across the country. On Hachijo-jima Island in Tokyo, the geographical limitations of the island made the waste problem even more serious. Landfill sites were limited and incineration was not an easy task. In 1998, the entire town began collecting and recycling PET and other bottles. A system was introduced whereby retailers would charge a deposit at the time of sale, which would be refunded if the bottles were returned after use. Retailers, local governments, and residents worked together to attach identification stickers and collect the bottles. At the time when the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law was being implemented nationwide, Hachijojima took advantage of the difficulty of operating the system and sought a unique recycling model of collecting the containers and packaging by sea to the mainland. This was an effort to integrate the system and its operation in a down-
to-earth manner, with the government and private sector sharing roles on the remote islands, where costs are inherently high. This model attracted attention as a "prototype of circulation linking regions and cities" that could be applied to remote islands and mountainous areas throughout Japan.