How Do Japanese Dump Trash? Let Us Count the Myriad Ways

[XemaSab]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/12/international/asia/12garbage.html?hp&ex=

YOKOHAMA, Japan - When this city recently doubled the number of garbage categories to 10, it handed residents a 27-page booklet on how to sort their trash. Highlights included detailed instructions on 518 items.

.....

In towns and villages where everybody knows one another, not sorting may be unthinkable. In cities, though, not everybody complies, and perhaps more than any other act, sorting out the trash properly is regarded as proof that one is a grown-up, responsible citizen. The young, especially bachelors, are notorious for not sorting. And landlords reluctant to rent to non-Japanese will often explain that foreigners just cannot - or will not - sort their trash.

.....

Enter the garbage guardians, the army of hawk-eyed volunteers across Japan who comb offending bags for, say, a telltale gas bill, then nudge the owner onto the right path.

.....

"This is a typical example of bad garbage," Mr. Taniyama said, with disgust. "The problem at this location is that there is no community leader. If there is no strong leader, there is chaos."

[knowbody0]

1. and the transformation of waste

could lead us all to peace on earth

[burrowowl]

2. And in the U$ of A

there are no places, in my region, to recycle: batteries, fluorescent tubes, various plastics, computers, etc.
However, they pickup: leaves, branches, etc. to form gases but not compost.
:crazy: :grr: :shrug:

[Art_from_Ark]

3. As one who lives in this system

I could write a book about this subject.

In this country (Japan), which has few resources and little land to bury unwanted consumer goods in, sorting garbage is imperative. There are days that are set aside for collecting burnable garbage (which is often incinerated in co-generators), glass, steel and aluminum cans, newspapers and magazines, old clothing and fabrics, and miscellaneous refuse. There are, indeed, people who are assigned (usually on a rotating basis, as delegated the neighborhood residents' association) to make sure that the garbage is sorted properly. Not only does this system help to recycle valuable resources, it also helps to keep our garbage collection fees down.

As for foreigners who "cannot - or will not - sort their trash", I have translated numerous pamphlets from various city halls that provide information on how and when to sort garbage. The English translation is then usually translated into a variety of other languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai and Tagalog, so a landlord can give this material to prospective foreign tenants so that they will know exactly what to do with their garbage.

[NuttyFluffers]

4. living in the bay area i think i'm pretty good at it.

but i can just imagine to what heights it must be taken to in japan.

that said i really wish they'd learn to use more universal pictures/symbols for instructions. sometimes directions are a little too complex and then they leave it only in japanese (which mine is not all that advanced). where i live the garbage company does translate into several languages along with using a lot of universal pictures, making it pretty easy. but japanese culture seems to like indirectness, noticing how hard it was at first to find garbage and recycling bins in the country. only towards the last few days of the trip was i able to find where they were "hiding" them. such demur, polite display of garbage cans; so very unlike america's vulgar directness.
:+

[Art_from_Ark]

6. They used to have a lot of marked public garbage containers

on train platforms, in public areas, etc., that were marked in Japanese and English, and symbols as well, but with this new "threat of terrorism" they have removed many of these receptacles. However, you can still find them in front of any convenience store.

[NuttyFluffers]

7. i actually could find them easy on the shinkansen

on the platform they were pretty much every 50 feet.

but yes, the other train platforms they were pretty uncommon. but they are absolutely rare on the city streets, especially around tokyo/imperial castle area. only until i got used to finding them behind pillars and corners and converted into architectural decor. that was a trip to get used to. ^ ^

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Maybe they figure "terra-ists" don't take the Shinkansen

:shrug:

[Andrushka]

9. art

You know, I should have got a photo, but until recently, on the Odakyu line at Machida station, they had a hackneyed Japlish sign on a pole explaining that the bins had been removed because of "the nuisance of terrorism"! I kid you not...damn, why didn't I get a pic...
:hi:

[Art_from_Ark]

14. The "nuisance of terrorism"

Did they spell all the words right, at least? Usually there's a mistake in even the simplest English phrase :+

By the way, the "nuisance of terrorism" = one home-made bomb going off in a trash can in a Shinjuku park a few years ago. So maybe they did mean "nuisance" :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. Gee, when I lived there in the 1970s, it was only

burnables vs. non-burnables, and you had to bring your bagged refuse to the neighborhood collection point. The chirigami koukan came around in a truck every so often to give out tissues in exchange for old newspapers and magazines.

I couldn't help noticing even then, though, that Tokyo managed to collect refuse five times a week when New York City constantly had stinking bags of garbage on the curb, even when the garbage collectors weren't on strike.

[LiberallyInclined]

5. in chicago, they have the bluebag system that is a total joke.

if you put recycleables in the bluebags that you have to buy specially, some alley scrounger will rip it open to get at any aluminum cans.
or- even if you sort out the aluminum, they'll rip it open to make sure.
or- glass jars in the bags break and rip it open, spilling the contents into the regular garbage anyway.(Explanation- the "bluebag" system involves putting the recyclables into blue plastic bags(7-10 gal. bags depending where you buy), and putting the bags into your regular trash cans that are then picked up by one garbage pickup per week. the garbage truck dumps it load onto a conveyor at a sorting center(no lie!) where employees pick the bluebags out of the trash stream before it is then compacted and sent to a landfill.) would you want that job in chicago in the middle of august???
it's no big secret that only about 10% of the recyclables get recovered

http://www.chicagorecycling.org/bluebag.html

in chicago, you can put ANYTHING in the large black cans, and nobody knows what's in it unjless they dig- the garbage collectors hook the cans up to the truck, and they dump automatically. anything else that doesn't fit in the regular cans gets picked up as well- no special fee or 'stickers' needed. there are also the multitudes of mexicans with beat-up pickup trucks whose beds are lined with sheets of plywood to extend the depth of the scrap metal they carry that prowl the allies in search of metal. I was cleaning the garage yesterday, and in one 90-minute span, 5 different pick-up trucks came down the alley.

but in the black cans- people put EVERYTHING. car batteries, paint, household chemicals, used motor oil, dead babies...EVERYTHING

http://cbs2chicago.com/special/local_story_056161923.html

[Xithras]

10. You have to PAY for your blue bags?!?!?

Wow. Our local cities partnered with a bunch of grocery stores to have them offer their blue bags for free. They just use plastic grocery bags, but in blue rather than the typical white. If you recycle, you just ask for your groceries to be "bluebagged".

I don't see how Chicago still uses a blue bag system anyway. It works well for us, but the system is only serving a few hundred thousand people. I can't imagine what kind of nightmare it must be to sort the trash for a few million people.

Oh, and in California, putting a car battery in your garbage can will get you sent to prison :)

[oneighty]

15. We pay seventy five cents U.S.

For each blue bag. The bag has our village name printed around the upper perimeter.

Our recyclables are put into separate containers. Plastic, cans, glass, paper, cardboard and so on.

At the dump they are all combined and buried together so the garbage people tell me.

It is a good show.

180

[Art_from_Ark]

16. Meanwhile, back in Japan

There was an article in yesterday's newspaper about neighborhood residents' associations that are complaining because independent "recyclable garbage collectors" are taking the newspapers out of the associations' donation bins and loading them onto their trucks!

[oneighty]

17. Hey Art

I am thinking back to early fifties Japan and cannot recall 'Getting rid of trash'. I do recall the benjo buckets stacked along the street with the maggots crawling freely hither and yon. That was a daily event.

I do not recall ever seeing any trash litter at Enoshima or Kamakura or elsewhere for that matter.

Beer cans were steel then and much coveted by the Japanese. (I think they made cigarette lighters out of the beer cans)

I did not intent to de-rail your thread Art. Gomen nasai

Yotsu Chi Chi

Also 180

[Art_from_Ark]

29. The days of "benjo buckets" are over, thank goodness

Beer cans are sometimes still made of steel, but no one gets excited over them.

By the way, you didn't "derail" my thread (it's not even "mine"!) My post was merely intended to highlight the contrast between your part of the world, where apparently recyclable garbage still is not really considered a "resource", and over here, where even old newspapers are sought after as recyclable material :hi::hi::hi:

[oneighty]

32. Sigh

In my old age I am so easy confused.

How about out in the country-side? Do they still use human waste for fertilizing crops? Oh boy! That was a sight and odor.

Kusai yo. I think?

180

[Art_from_Ark]

33. They don't use human waste "straight from the benjo" any more

In areas that are still unserviced by sewer lines, you can tell (or smell) when the "honey wagon" is making its rounds. It'll suck up all the crap from the septic tank and take it to a processing center where it is processed into fertilizer.

[chenGOD]

20. That's like in Korea...:)

The cardboard and paper gets taken cause the elderly unemployed get money back for it.

The recycling here in Seoul is really good too, makes me cringe to think about back home.

[XemaSab]

22. In LA

there are homeless "entrepreneurs" who fish redeemable cans and bottles out of the trash. The dude in my neighborhood was pretty thorough, to the point where when I went to go take out the trash he'd ask if I had any cans or bottles. Eventually I just kept them seperate and put them by the dumpster.

When you're getting cash money for bottles, it adds up fast.

[LiberallyInclined]

24. oh, they're here too-

but even if you separate out the aluminum cans(that's all they go for here, not bottles), they'll still rip open the blue bags to see if you missed any- or else the next guy who comes along after someone else has picked up the separated aluminum will.

[sleipnir]

8. Yes, Emperor, will do as you say.

Do not dishonor the memory of those who fought to be free in China, under the dictatorial control and observation of the Rising Sun.

[otohara]

11. Huge Leap

WTF?

[democracyindanger]

23. Must be a bad joke

because it's too stupid to be a comment with any mature thought behind it.

[Sterling]

28. Stupid post.

Your white sheet is showing.

[anitar1]

12. I am proud of the recycle program in my town.

It is much easier than it used to be . We have large yard debris cans now that are picked up every other week.They cost an extra 3 dollars but it is well worth the cost. Yard debris is recyled by local industry. Small can for garbage and another large one for everything else, except glass. If one has batteries ect, they are accepted at the big waste facility a short drive away.

[LeftyMom]

31. Sounds similar to the system here

except that the county takes glass in the mixed waste bins. For multi-family properties, a recycling program is mandatory and usually arranged through the trash company that services the dumpster.

We also can get free compost bins from the county for attending a short class on composting basics.

[BiggJawn]

18. So much easier here...Probably not as effective, but easier...

#1 PET plastic, into a bin. #2 coloured HDPE, into a bin. Milk jugs, into another bin. Newspapers, in a bin, magazines, ditto. Glass? sort it by colour, into seperate barrels. Cans? Aluminum in one bin, steel in another, and yes, I rinse them first at home.

But we don't recycle PP, or any other numbers of plastic, nor "mixed paper".

And our yard wastes are no longer picked up by the hauler who has the town contract now. If you bundle 'em up, the town will pick them up and take them to the brush pile at the sewage plant were they give the volunteer foundation savers some practice burning it. No composting program.

No "Tree City" or program to get school kids out of mom's SUV and on their bikes or shoes to go to school, but that's another matter....

[On the Road]

19. I Was in Japan in January

I blew my nose and needed to rid of a used Kleenex during dinner. Not wanting to put it on the table, I discreetly placed it in a nearby garbage can. Everyone almost jumped out of their chairs -- it was the wrong container, and the offending Kleenex had to be fished out and put in the correct place.

That's how I learned how seriously this stuff is taken in Japan.

[WhiteTara]

21. I have been trying to buy recycled plastic

and it is almost non existant! While there are all these stories of non recycling opportunities, there is also the story of all these buyers out there who would like to utilize some of the garbage. THis is really a nightmare scenario.

[Fleshdancer]

25. It took a while for my husband and I to get it right

Japan is very serious about their trash sorting. Nothing is as embarrassing as having to take back your garbage bag you left on the street corner because it wasn't sorted the right way and the garbage collecters refused to take it. Then to take it home, and re-sort it. Not fun.

Eventually you get use to it. But when we moved back, not sorting that way felt just as weird.

[Sterling]

26. In Japan people leave their bikes unlocked at the train station

And no one ever takes a bike that does not belong to them. It is amazing.

[Deja Q]

27. Yawn.

http://www.badapple.biz

We're all different but the situation is the same.

Waste. Chaotic waste of a corporate kind.