Top > Press Releases > Back Issues > December 2009 >Implementation status of the Program to Promote the Spread of Green Home Appliances by Utilizing Eco-Points (as of the end of November)

Implementation Status of the Program to Promote the Spread of Green Home Appliances by Utilizing Eco-Points (as of the end of November)

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 November and hereby releases it. The key points of the report are as follows:

- The total number of applications from individuals accepted in November was about 1.20 million, and the number of applications to which points have been issued was about 1.27 million (19.7 billion points). Both figures indicated a slight but steady growth from the previous month.
- An analysis of applications from individuals by age and prefecture indicated that about half the total applications were from people aged 60 and older and that applications were submitted from evenly across the country.

1. Implementation status for individuals (as of November 30, 2009, total number of applications)

    Eco-points
Number of applications accepted 4,972,279 - - -
Eco-points issued 4,059,294 100.00% 62,178,501,000 100.00%
- Air conditioners 788,151 19.42% 7,150,149,000 11.50%
- Refrigerators 608,425 14.99% 7,422,240,000 11.94%
- TVs 2,662,718 65.60% 47,606,112,000 76.56%
Eco-points issued 4,059,294 100.00% 62,178,501,000 100.00%
- Replaced 2,824,003 69.57% 9,481,089,000 15.25%
- New purchase 1,235,291 30.43% 52,697,412,000 84.75%
Eco-points issued 4,059,294 100.00% 62,178,501,000 100.00%
Eco-points yet to be exchanged - - 5,684,477,500 9.14%
Number of exchanged items - - 56,494,023,500 90.86%
 
Number of exchanged items 5,137,592 100.00% 56,494,023,500 100.00%
(1) Points exchanged for products 5,089,094 99.06% 55,712,645,000 98.62%
A. Gift certificates, prepaid cards 4,784,768 93.13% 54,086,279,883 95.74%
- Rail, bus and ferry fares 30,953 0.60% 292,590,670 0.52%
- Food and restaurant gift certificates 190,337 3.70% 1,361,387,900 2.41%
- Gift certificates for daily necessities-related products 1,028,167 20.01% 7,899,731,200 13.98%
- Travel and hotel vouchers 90,407 1.76% 904,755,220 1.60%
- Gift certificates issued by retail chains 1,514,074 29.47% 16,257,170,700 28.78%
- Prepaid cards issued by retail chains 465,644 9.06% 5,222,708,963 9.24%
- Gift certificates issued by credit card companies 1,439,924 28.03% 21,952,356,700 38.86%
- Gift certificates for mail-order catalogs 25,262 0.49% 195,578,530 0.35%
B. Regional gift certificates 150,992 2.94% 966,728,225 1.71%
C. Nationwide regional products 105,464 2.05% 474,287,815 0.84%
D. Prefecture-specific regional products 38,531 0.75% 169,959,816 0.30%
E. Energy-conservation and eco-friendly products 5,782 0.11% 12,849,890 0.02%
K. Environmental donations 3,557 0.069% 2,539,371 0.0045%
(2) Points exchanged at the store of purchase 48,498 0.94% 781,378,500 1.38%
- Terrestrial digital TV antenna installation 39,470 0.77% 694,017,900 1.23%
- Energy-efficient light bulbs and batteries 9,028 0.18% 87,360,600 0.15%
Notes

• The eco-points issued refer to the total of eco-points for which applications have been examined and registrations have been completed.
• The 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.
• 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.

2. Implementation status for corporations (as of November 30, 2009, total number of applications)

Number of corporations that have submitted applications: 7,794

*Applications following Application Procedures A (except for applications only for registration of corporations) and B are counted.

- Application Procedure A: The application procedure for corporations in general (all corporations except those eligible for Application Procedure B)
- Application Procedure B: The application procedure for small-to-medium companies that expect to apply for eco-points for less than 10 items in total.

    Eco-points
Corporations of Eco-points issued 2,511 - - -
Eco-points issued 6,054 100.00% 81,148,000 100.00%
- Air conditioners 725 11.98% 6,540,000 8.06%
- Refrigerators 393 6.49% 3,466,000 4.27%
- TVs 4,936 81.53% 71,142,000 87.67%
Eco-points issued 6,054 100.00% 81,148,000 100.00%
- Replaced 2,514 41.53% 8,104,000 9.99%
- New purchase 3,540 58.47% 73,044,000 90.01%
Eco-points issued 6,054 100.00% 81,148,000 100.00%
Eco-points yet to be exchanged - - 57,821,140 71.25%
Points exchanged for products・ Environmental donations 1,605 26.51% 23,326,860 28.75 %
Notes

• The eco-points issued refer to the number and the total of eco-points that have been registered after applications for the registration of corporations and purchased items have been examined.
• The breakdown of the number of exchanged items and environmental donations is not provided because the number of cases in which eco-points have already been exchanged for products is limited. A general trend is that, as in the case with applications by individuals, more than 90% of eco-points are exchanged for gift certificates and prepaid cards.
• The number of corporations to which eco-points have been issued is smaller than that of corporations having submitted applications because there are applications that are still under examination, that are incomplete, and that have been submitted by corporations engaged in production, import or sale of eligible products*.
*This program does not allow corporations engaged in the production, import or sale of any products eligible for eco-points to apply for eco-points.
• Applications by corporations are more strictly examined than those by individuals by requiring the submission of original certificates of registration, tax payment and seal registration.

Release Date

December 15, 2009

Division in Charge

Information and Communication Electronics Division, Commerce and Information Policy Bureau