Japan’s expanded polystyrene association, JEPSA, has published its national figures for how used EPS was treated in 2025. The association reports that 49.2% was materially recycled, including 0.7 percentage points attributed to chemical recycling.
A further 42.9% underwent energy recovery, while 7.9% was reported as other disposal or non-utilisation.
Material recycling and energy recovery are different outcomes
JEPSA also presents a combined “effective utilisation” figure of 92.1%. That total includes both material recycling and energy recovery. It should therefore not be described as a 92.1% recycling rate.
For material circularity, the directly relevant figure is the reported 49.2% material-recycling share. The figures concern used EPS treated in Japan during 2025; they do not measure recycled content in new EPS products or the share of EPS production made from secondary material.
A national recycling network
JEPSA also publishes information on a network of EPS recycling-related facilities across Japan, including sites authorised to receive externally generated used EPS. That infrastructure helps explain how material can move from users and businesses into recycling routes.
Japan is an important seafood market, and EPS is widely used for fish and seafood distribution. The national figures are not a fish-box-specific recycling rate, but they provide broader evidence of an established EPS recycling system in a market where seafood packaging is an important application.
The results provide a useful national-scale picture: almost half of used EPS was reported as materially recycled, while a substantial additional share was recovered for energy. Keeping those outcomes separate gives a clearer view of where material circularity stands and where further improvement remains possible.
Sources used in this article
JEPSA: 2025 results PDF
JEPSA: 2025 results press-conference notice
JEPSA: EPS recycling facilities overview
Tokyo Shimbun / PR TIMES: Japanese-language reproduction of 2025 results
