A New Partnership Model for Japan: Promoting a Circular Flow Society

Information and Economic Initiative for the Circular Flow Society (ICFS) is a Japanese Non Profit Organization founded in February 2001 whose membership comprises of the chief executive officers of a range of Japanese companies. Amongst others, its aims are to conduct research and exchange information about industrial developments relevant to the Circular Flow Society, propose new models for how the Circular Flow Society might look and organise and support trials and demonstration projects. As new Japanese environmental legislation comes into force, ICFS is pioneering the partnership approach to achieving a Circular Flow Society by attempting to forge links between material and economic flows. Various research projects are underway covering topics such as green procurement, environmental benchmarking and, perhaps most interestingly of all, how to go about developing a corporate-NGO hybrid in the Japanese context.