Top > Press Releases > Back Issues > October 2009 > Implementation status of the Program to Promote the Spread of Green Home Appliances by Utilizing Eco-Points (as of the end of September)
Ministry of the Environment
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
Secretariat for Green Home Appliance Eco-Points
The Program to Promote the Spread of Green Home Appliances by Utilizing Eco-Points has been conducted under the FY 2009 supplementary budget in order to [1] promote global warming countermeasures, [2] stimulate the economy, [3] and facilitate the wider use of televisions for terrestrial digital broadcasting. Under the program, the government has been accepting applications for eco-points from individuals since July 1 and those from corporations since August 7. The government summarized the program’s implementation status from July to September and hereby releases it. The key points of the report are as follows:
- The total number of applications accepted reached approximately 2.65 million at the end of September. About 1.1 million applications were submitted during the month of September. Compared with about 1.5 million received during the previous two months (July and August), this suggests a steady growth in the number of applications. The number of points issued, which totaled about 10.4 billion at the end of August, also doubled to reach about 23.4 billion at the end of September.
- Registrations for eco-points earned from the purchase of TVs accounted for about 60% of the total applications in the number of units, and purchases for replacement (recycling) accounted for about 70% of the total of the three designated items. Applications for exchanging eco-points with gift certificates and prepaid cards accounted for more than 90%, a trend unchanged from the previous month. (With some exceptions, companies that have offered gift certificates and prepaid cards will make environmental donations according to the number of eco-points exchanged for their items.)
- Eco-points have been exchanged for environmental donations by 94 applicants since September 11, when the government started accepting applications for exchange.
Regarding the corporate sector, as of the end of September, 2,174 corporations have submitted applications.
| Number of applications | Eco-points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of applications accepted | 2,652,950 | - | - | - |
| Eco-points issued | 1,543,314 | 100.00% | 23,362,630,000 | 100.00% |
| - Air conditioners | 362,441 | 23.48% | 3,330,419,000 | 14.26% |
| - Refrigerators | 215,919 | 13.99% | 2,687,503,000 | 11.50% |
| - TVs | 964,954 | 62.52% | 17,344,708,000 | 74.24% |
| - Recycled products (total of three items) | 1,104,963 | 71.60% | 3,687,521,000 | 15.78% |
| Eco-points yet to be exchanged | - | - | 3,580,617,284 | 15.33% |
| Number of exchanged items | 1,890,678 | 100.00% | 19,782,012,716 | 100.00% |
| (1) Points exchanged for products | 1,879,610 | 99.41% | 19,608,332,705 | 99.12% |
| A. Gift certificates, prepaid cards | 1,779,327 | 94.11% | 19,083,273,354 | 96.47% |
| - Rail, bus and ferry fares | 12,446 | 0.66% | 120,647,520 | 0.61% |
| - Food and restaurant gift certificates | 81,253 | 4.30% | 575,288,600 | 2.91% |
| - Gift certificates for daily necessities-related products | 417,792 | 22.10% | 3,245,351,400 | 16.41% |
| - Travel and hotel vouchers | 33,460 | 1.77% | 317,387,280 | 1.60% |
| - Gift certificates issued by retail chains | 597,292 | 31.59% | 6,036,626,500 | 30.52% |
| - Prepaid cards issued by retail chains | 168,009 | 8.89% | 1,877,794,634 | 9.49% |
| - Gift certificates issued by credit card companies | 460,768 | 24.37% | 6,851,270,400 | 34.63% |
| - Gift certificates for mail-order catalogs | 8,307 | 0.44% | 58,907,020 | 0.30% |
| B. Regional gift certificates | 48,153 | 2.55% | 302,607,990 | 1.53% |
| C. Nationwide regional products | 37,799 | 2.00% | 160,351,209 | 0.81% |
| D. Prefecture-specific regional products | 13,086 | 0.69% | 59,075,852 | 0.30% |
| E. Energy-conservation and eco-friendly products | 1,245 | 0.07% | 3,024,300 | 0.02% |
| K. Environmental donations | 94 | 0.005% | 60,011 | 0.0003% |
| (2) Points exchanged at the store of purchase | 10,974 | 0.58% | 173,620,000 | 0.88% |
| - Terrestrial digital TV antenna installation | 8,671 | 0.46% | 152,909,000 | 0.77% |
| - Energy-efficient light bulbs and batteries | 2,303 | 0.12% | 20,711,000 | 0.10% |
Notes
• The eco-points issued refer to the total of eco-points for which applications have been examined and registrations have been completed.
• he number of exchanged items refers to the total of items for which order information has been sent to companies providing the items for exchange.
• It takes about one to two months to place orders to the providers of exchange items after the acceptance of applications. Applications with illegible entries may take longer to be processed. Please be aware that you may experience difficulty reaching the secretariat over the telephone because of the extremely large number of inquiries being received. The secretariat is trying to improve the situation by allocating more staff to busy sections or other means. We apologize for any inconvenience.
• The number of exchanged items exceeds that of eco-points given because an applicant can request up to four items for exchange at a time.
• As of the end of September, 2,174 corporations have submitted applications. Detailed data are still being compiled and will be released later.
Release Date
October 16, 2009
Division in Charge
Information and Communication Electronics Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau
