Recycling Stocks Are Hot! Five Japanese Stocks to Watch Amid ¥1 Trillion in Circular-Economy Investment

The government held a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers on the circular economy on 21 April 2026 and is said to have formally adopted its Circular Economy Action Plan. The plan includes a policy of mobilizing ¥1 trillion from the public and private sectors by 2030, which is expected to support facility development and technological innovation to strengthen recycling. The policy is driven in part by efforts to review reliance on overseas resources, including dependence on China for rare metals and volatility in crude oil and naphtha prices, raising expectations for growth among related companies.

Recycling-related businesses are influenced not only by government policy but also by higher resource prices and growing supply risks. Japan is said to be working to build domestic resource-recovery supply chains to reduce its reliance on imports of critical minerals and crude oil. Matsuda Sangyo, whose core business is precious-metal recycling, could benefit from these trends, while the increase in waste expected in the 2030s is also cited as a tailwind for the recycling business.

Recycling-related subthemes encompass different materials and business models and are classified into 5 fields: urban mining and metal recycling; waste-plastic recycling; solar-panel and lithium-ion battery recycling; industrial waste treatment and environmental solutions; and reuse. Matsuda Sangyo, Envipro Holdings and Asaka Riken are cited in areas including precious-metal recovery, lithium-ion battery recycling and solar-panel recycling. Daiseki Environmental Solutions, TRE Holdings, Midac Holdings, Hard Off Corporation and Geo Holdings are also introduced as related stocks.

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