A recent integrated review by Japanese media summarizes Japan's circular economy model for used goods and resources as "the trend of price incentives for buyers intensifying," covering recycling, second-hand distribution, and the peripheral survival conditions of the circular economy sector. The article argues that rising consumer goods prices are shifting it from its long-standing reliance on "involution and volume competition" toward an emphasis on ordinary sales.

Specifically, on one hand, there is an update to the production capacity chain. Rising consumer goods prices across various enterprises are prompting consumers to gradually take the initiative in selling within the vintage market. Japan's circulation of idle personal goods has already put growth on the agenda as a continuing theme: there are approaches that started with on-site purchasing and are vigorously implementing ways to circulate waste resources among the aging population, as well as solutions such as transaction platform closed loops supported by traffic aggregation. At the clothing and styling level, mixed B2B and B2C links of different forms and regions are all extending their adaptability to shallow local handling and tiered sales of second-hand clothing. Meanwhile, the operational logic of "returning proceeds to sellers" in different markets is often reflected in the ledgers of contracted used-goods recycling and processing companies, with most local enterprises relying on the buy-sell spread to obtain additional service add-ons. The price increases from fabrics to waste materials have in turn raised cost tolerance for roadside buying and other links, with some even pushing them to secondary trading to clear inventory.

At the same time, companies at different levels of the chain are gradually extending due to internal raw material price increases, and some plan to strengthen further profitability by expanding their locations. Part of the more core spirit is: once refurbishing old goods and recycling become the premise of stable operations, structural adjustments to the items sold depend heavily on market momentum. Therefore, even within the broad categories of the second-hand market and used-goods recirculation, the positional differences of Japanese enterprises make "sorting and selling by category" a reference model for profit concentration and cost dilution. This business logic is also well worth referencing for re-export-oriented used clothing trade chains to adapt to the pace of downstream format transformation.

For export chain enterprises: given the current situation where local CPI is affected by energy price elasticity, causing demand shifts in the circulation chain, this discussion reflects that a situation of smaller pressure on the circulation system and store acceptance instead provides faster room for maneuver for segmented players in the global market. In short: for roles in overseas export processing or secondary circulation, controlling localized turnover structures and profit compensation may be a necessary preparation for adapting to the continuous backflow generated by a buyer's market, and is also one of the good complementary adjustment levers for overseas manufacturers to connect with the gap growth that waste textiles may bring.

Source: 물가 상승은 '파는 쪽'을 돈 벌게 한다. 리유스·순환 경제 관련 엄선 20종목[왕도부터 알짜까지 완전 망라·2026년 가을판]｜日本個別株デューデリジェンスセンター · Originally published 2026-09-28