The percentage of steel cans being recycled in Japan has continued to rise, reaching 84.2 percent last year, according to the Japan Steel Can Recycling Association.
This is the highest percentage logged yet, up 1.2 percent from 1999. In 1991, the figure was at 50.1 percent.
The survey includes data taken from 86 steel manufacturers.
Of the nearly 1.22 million tons of steel used to make cans, around 1.03 million tons, or 84.2 percent of steel, was reused, said Teruo Sato, managing director of the association.
The association attributed the high rate to recycling legislation, including a container recycling law that went into effect in 1995, and the high percentage of municipalities -- nearly 94 percent -- that separate garbage.
An estimated 184.5 million steel beverage cans were produced in 1999, down for the for the fourth straight year, the report said.
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