Shibuya Ward Creates Paper Cycle for Local Production, Consumption; Recycled Toilet Paper Made from Scrap Paper

By Sho Matsushita / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:16 JST, April 19, 2025

The Shibuya Ward Tourism Association and local businesses in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, are working together to turn paper bags, receipts and other scrap paper into toilet paper for local elementary schools.

The association is asking other businesses and retail outlets to participate in the project, saying, “Our goal is to realize the ‘local production, local consumption’ of paper in [Tokyo’s] Shibuya Ward.”

A key component of the project is collecting used paper from participating businesses. In mid-March, a collection wagon stopped outside Freak’s Store Shibuya, a local clothing and goods retailer, and a female employee handed over a box of discarded receipts and flyers.

Daytona International, the Shibuya Ward-based company that operates the Freak’s Store outlet, said that from December through February, about 2,800 kilograms of used paper was collected from its stores and headquarters and turned into more than 15,600 rolls of recycled toilet paper.

Daytona International distributed some of the toilet paper to public elementary schools in the ward and gave some to customers as a souvenir.

Recycled paper is also used in the toilet paper’s packaging, which has information on it about the company’s recycling efforts.

“Awareness of the effort to collect used paper is spreading within the company,” said Mami Saikawa, 33, a member of the company’s brand strategy department. “The feedback from our customers has also been very positive.”

Initiated by the association in 2023, the project aims to “contribute to sustainable urban development and create products that can be used locally.”

The project includes plans to collaborate with Shizuoka-based paper manufacturer Corelex Shin-Ei Mfg. Co. to produce toilet paper from used paper collected from businesses and stores in Shibuya Ward. Daytona International joined the initiative last summer, and paper collection began in December.

Corelex Shin-Ei has been collecting used paper in collaboration with more than 100 institutions, including inns in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, since 2010. It continues to supply them with recycled toilet paper.

While the Shibuya Ward Tourism Association currently only collects used paper from Daytona-affiliated businesses, it hopes to expand its collection network to include local hotels and commercial facilities and has cited the efforts of those involved with the program in Atami.

“If many businesses and stores participate, it will reduce waste and lower the cost of buying toilet paper,” said Hiroyo Koike, 45, the association’s secretary general. “Eventually, we may be able to sell it as a product of ‘local production, local consumption’ in Shibuya Ward.”