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  5. Holding an Experience-Based Event called the “Circular Economy Laboratory” at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai to Provide People with an Opportunity to Enjoy Learning about the Concept of the Circular Economy

Holding an Experience-Based Event called the “Circular Economy Laboratory” at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai to Provide People with an Opportunity to Enjoy Learning about the Concept of the Circular Economy

July 24, 2025

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), in collaboration with the publisher of the Survival Science Manga Series (Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.), will hold an experience-based event on creating a circular economy at the EXPO Exhibition Center WASSE (South) within the venue of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, with a view to raising people’s awareness of the circular economy and providing them with an opportunity to learn about the behaviors that contribute to the circular use of resources. This event will last for seven days from Tuesday, September 23 to Monday, September 29.

1. Overview

In the Circular Economy Laboratory, participants, including both adults and children, will be able to have hands-on experience of a circular economy in one area of the venue and also enjoy listening to guest speakers and participating in a program that will run on a special stage established for the event.

Specifically, the event will provide participants with a hands-on opportunity to learn about the choices they can make that contribute to a circular economy in their daily lives, such as when buying or using items, and about the appropriate method for sorting end-of-life products and how the sorted products will be recycled (for circular use).

2. Importance of a circular economy

A circular economy is an economic system that makes efficient and circular use of resources throughout the life cycles of products across the market, while making effective use of social stock and maximizing added value through the provision of services. Although initiatives for the 3Rs have been promoted to reduce waste and reuse and recycle resources, a transition to a circular economy, which is more advanced than the 3Rs concept, is becoming a global trend in the effort to make maximum use of resources in a sustainable manner. 

According to a survey* in Japan, however, public awareness of the circular economy is 8.5%, and the percentage of people who know specific details regarding it is as low as 2.0%. In light of this fact, METI aims to provide people with more opportunities to deepen their understanding of the circular economy and to incorporate it into their daily lives. 

*Third survey on sustainable customers conducted by DENTSU INC.

3. Details of the event

The event will be held in collaboration with the publisher of the Survival Science Manga Series, in order to provide people with an opportunity to enjoy learning about the concept of the circular economy and its implementation.

Period

From Tuesday, September 23 to Monday, September 29, 2025, open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (closing at 7:00 p.m. on September 29 only)

Organizer

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

Collaborator

Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. (Publisher of theSurvival Science Manga Series)

Venue

EXPO Exhibition Center WASSE (South) within the venue of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai in Yumeshima, Osaka

Official website

Notes

Related Link

Division in Charge

Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy Division, GX Policy Group, Innovation and Environment Policy Bureau