Automakers, like other industries, are branching out into recycling businesses and developing easy-to-recycle vehicles in anticipation of a new auto-recycling law that is expected to go into effect in Japan in 2004.

Although dealers and scrappers already recycle about 5 million vehicles a year for their metals and other materials, the Japanese Government believes that increased costs and too few recycling facilities have eroded Japan’s recycling program, resulting in an increased number of abandoned vehicles. The new law is aimed at reversing the situation.

Under the law, domestic and foreign automakers would collect recycling fees from car buyers and be responsible for collecting freon, air bags and shredder dust from scrap dealers and then disposing of the materials. In addition, the law would require automakers to develop ways to facilitate vehicle recycling.

Automakers are responding. Nissan Motor Co.’s fully remodeled “March” subcompact is 95 percent recyclable—one of the highest rates in the industry—due to its use of polypropylene and other easy-to-reuse materials. In addition, the car has just 12 sections, compared with 32 in the previous “March,” which reduces by 40 percent the time it takes to dismantle the car.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp., meanwhile, is working on an inexpensive compact furnace for melting automotive waste. The company plans to set up a test furnace with a monthly capacity of 15 tons by the end of the year. Dowa Mining plans to invest more than $20 million ($2.7 billion yen) to equip its smelting unit in Akita Prefecture with the capacity to process 4,400 tons of automotive scrap a month.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) called the law “extremely well timed” and said that it promised to “pave the way for meaningful and lasting progress in this important direction.”