Economic and Legal Frameworks for Non-Prescription Medicines 2004 studied by AESGP 6. WASTE A decade from the enactment of the "Containers and Packaging Recycling Law", a review process has been commenced by the advisory bodies of two Ministries, the Industrial Structure Council and the Central Environmental Council. The investigation and the discussion are scheduled for the autumn of 2005 and, if necessary, an amendment of the law will be submitted to the normal session of the National Diet (Parliament) in early 2006. Of most concern seems to be the cost-sharing between the community governments and the private sector, especially for the manufacturer of bottled drinks and designated packages. From November to December 2004, the Ministry of Environment (MoE) carried out a survey in 2 514 Japanese municipalities on the cost born by the community governments based on the above-mentioned law. For the fiscal year 2003, the total cost to these governments for the collection, classification and storage of these types of waste was estimated at 305.6 billion yen (2.3 billion euro). On the other hand, the cost born by manufacturers was approximately 40 billion yen (0.3 billion euro), or only one eighth of what the community governments had to bear. Additionally, concerns were raised about the disposal of aerosol products. In case these items are designated as "difficult to dispose of", a dedicated collection system might be required. Some local pharmaceutical associations have recently started the voluntary collection of unwanted home stocks of unused medicines. For the moment these schemes are limited to the Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures, but there is a possibility for a nation-wide voluntarily collection system for unused medicinal products similar to the one in France.