TOKYO -- Until the onset of COVID-19, Japan, long a bastion of plastic use, had just begun contributing to the global movement to shift away from the ubiquitous material. National output of plastic last year declined 4% to 5.5 million tons, following a downtrend in recent years as businesses and consumers in the country sought more environmentally friendly alternatives.
Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Demand for plastic food containers and droplet-blocking shields picked up in Japan, boosting the country's production of plastic products by 3% on the year to 4.71 million tons for the 10 months through October, putting it on track for the first full-year increase in three years, according to data from Japan's industry ministry.
