This proposal refers to a research and development (R&D) strategy for environmentally sound management and utilization of plastics to promote development of society in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable ways. Various types of chemical substances, including plastics, are found everywhere in our daily lives. They have brought tremendous benefits widely to our society; however, there are often concerns about their negative impacts on ecosystem and human health. Therefore, the sound management of chemical substances is a critical issue for sustainable development, and it is one of the targets of "Responsible Consumption and Production", the Goal 12 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The sound management of chemical substances has impacts on economy as well. This is because little information on the safety of the new materials or the chemical substances hampers introduction of the products to the markets of other countries, and thus, it is important to strengthen the research capability in the field of the safety, such as environmental risk assessment, to enhance industrial competitiveness.

The term, "wise use" of chemical substances, not only means the maximization of economic and social values of the chemical substances, but also the minimization of their negative impacts onto the environment. To take "wise use" into action, we need to (1) use alternatives, or avoid using chemical-based materials if appropriate, (2) manage wastes appropriately, and (3) develop new materials with less environmental risks. Accordingly, R&D needs to relate to socio-economic impact assessment, development of new materials, appropriate waste management, and environmental risk assessment. The current R&D puts more focus onto new materials and waste management, but here, we propose environmental risk assessment is also important.

The action against plastic waste problems is one of the important international issues today; however, solving the plastic problem alone will give short-term solution, and we need concurrently to give rise to science and technology (S&T) base that enables to deal with wider range of issues regarding the sound management of chemical materials, including plastics. Therefore, this proposal consists of two R&D themes: Theme 1 addresses the issue on plastic wastes, and Theme 2 addresses the issue on strengthening the S&T base that contributes to improve environmentally sound management of chemical substances.

Theme 1 is expected to be promoted in an integrated way under the leadership of the national government. Common vision should be shared, and knowledge and technologies obtained from individual R&D tasks should be also shared and integrated into a comprehensive knowledge from which we could get some information about environmental risk of plastic wastes. This type of R&D program could be called as "mission-oriented R&D program". This program is needed to be considered and planned as soon as possible, because environmental risk assessment of plastic wastes is actively discussed by international academic community, and significant progress is expected over the next ten years.

In theme 2, it is necessary to promote each R&D task with the aim to raise the S&T base for environmental risk assessment of chemical substances. The range of R&D related to environmental risk assessment is broad. Scientific and technological advancements in related fields have facilitated progress in this field. Data-driven approach is one of major trends in this field in recent years. In order to strengthen the S&T base, it is thus necessary to encourage cross-sectional R&Ds that goes beyond the traditional disciplines such as toxicological science, materials science, computational science, life science, chemistry, physics etc. Collaboration between academic societies is needed.

Cooperation between industry, academia and government is important as well. It would be necessary to build an ecosystem, in which they recognize and share the facing issues, deepen discussions to solve the problems, advance R&D in an integrated and strategic manner, and return research outcomes smoothly into economic activities and our daily lives.