Japan has approved a broad circular economy plan aimed at boosting its domestic supply of recycled metals and cutting reliance on imported raw materials. 

In the steel sector, the government wants to ramp up the availability of high-quality scrap used to produce low-emission "green steel" with processing capacity for such materials set to grow by about 2 million tons a year. 

The move comes as global supplies tighten, with major economies stepping up efforts to secure both primary and recycled resources.