“Hirogaru Recycle” Event: Games and an Original Show for a Fun, Exhilarating Experience to Learn About Recycling

On Sunday, September 14, 2025, USJ in collaboration with its corporate marketing partners Coca‑Cola (Japan) Company and Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan held the Hirogaru Recycle event, where entertainment such as games and an original show were used to teach about recycling in a fun way.

Since November 2024, Universal Studios Japan has been working in cooperation with the Coca-Cola System to carry out “bottle-to-bottle” horizontal recycling, in which plastic bottles are collected for recycling processing and then remade or reused.

This event was planned to serve as an opportunity to introduce an even greater number of people to the “bottle-to-bottle” efforts at the Park. A total of 58 people, including children and their families from nearby elementary schools, were invited to learn and gain insight about recycling through fun, hands-on experiences.

• • USJ, Coca-Cola (Japan) Company, and Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan held the Hirogaru Recycle event, a fun way to learn about recycling, on Sunday, September 14, 2025.
• • The event provided opportunities to learn about recycling in a fun way through original content, such as Bottloop Factory and Take a Peek Inside a Recycling Box.
• • The event came to a close in true Universal Studios Japan style with a recycling-themed original show.

The attention of the attendees was immediately captured from the start of the event by Bottloop Factory, a game machine that was all about recycling. By making the learning process into a game, Bottloop Factory provides an opportunity to learn about the “bottle-to-bottle” process carried out at the Park, through which old plastic bottles are remade into new ones.

After the attendees all listened to a talk about recycling, they participated in the game.
Instead of the usual coins, the machine was started by inserting empty plastic bottles brought by the attendees. The attendees completed missions within the game to learn about the process through which used plastic bottles are transformed into 100% recycled plastic bottles. Some of the attendees learned for the first time about how plastic bottles are transformed this way, making this game-based experience a great opportunity to become more familiar with recycling.

In addition to the game experience, the event also hosted exhibits and workshops to further raise awareness of recycling. Among these was “Take a Peek Inside a Recycling Bin,” originally organized by Coca-Cola (Japan) Company for Recycling Day 2023 and brought back for this event.

This exhibit displays the “wrong” waste—that is, items other than plastic bottles—that was retrieved from recycling bins in town. This hands-on experience gave the attendees a real taste of the challenges that waste collectors face every day, with the goal of teaching them that recycling bins are not to be used as trash cans.

Looking inside the recycling bins, attendees saw all kinds of “wrong” waste, ranging from everyday items like bicycle saddles and microphones, to dangerous items like batteries and gas canisters that could easily cause serious accidents at the collection facilities. These items were used so attendees could experience the real challenges involved with recycling bins.

Other exhibits included one about the plastic bottle recycling process, and another about recycled coaster flakes made from plastic bottles collected within the Park, providing various perspectives through which to better understand recycling.

The event also featured a reusable bag workshop. Here, attendees made their own original reusable bags choosing from three designs—sea, flowers, and animals—in support of SDGs.
Parents and children had fun talking about what kind of reusable bag to make, what tools to use, and so on. Some attendees showed each other their finished bags and gave each other high fives, making for a fun atmosphere in which to embark on action for the environment.

The event was capped off with an original show of the kind that only Universal Studios Japan can present. The attendees all got together to have a great time at the recycling-themed show, which used items like coaster panels and plastic bottles.

Friends from Sesame Street™ appeared at the show to give a super-energized summary of the importance of the proper sorting of bottles, labels, and caps, as well as the efficient “bottle-to-bottle” process.

At the event’s finishing time, the attendees were beaming as they left the venue carrying the reusable bags that they had made themselves. The Hirogaru Recycle event was an opportunity for the many attendees to gain insight about recycling in a fun way through entertainment, and we believe that it helped them learn in a more active manner.

Going forward, USJ will continue its efforts to contribute to local communities, thereby building a super-energized regional society and a future full of children’s smiles.