Rubbage Rules

The garbage collection system in Japan is unlike any other. Japan is highly urban and the cities are densely populated, so they have been innovative with getting rid of garbage. 

Trash is divided into groups: Burnable, Nonburnable, Plastic, Paper, PET Bottles (like plastic soda bottle) Cans, Glass Bottles, and Large Trash.  Each category has guidelines and a schedule for when it will be collected. Neighborhoods share collection sites, so we take our trash to various locations, depending on the type. Specific trash bags must be purchased and used when throwing trash away. 

Most everything is recylced instead of put in a landfill. The Nonburnable trash is the only trash that goes directly into the landfill. The Burnable trash's ashes are put in a landfill. We only have a small bag of nonburnable trash about once per month!

Here is a picture of the trash system in our home:

The large bin on the right is our Burnable Canister - this is raw food, waste paper, or things that cannot be cleaned, etc. Many Japanese don't use garbage disposals in their home (ourselves included) so the trash can is full of all kinds of food we would've put down the drain in America. The tall colomn is our various cans for plastic, paper, glass, etc.

When we moved into our apartment we received a guidebook on sorting the trash which explained things for us:

 For example: you by a bottle of Coke from the vending machine: Tear plastic label off - Plastic. Lid - Plastic. Rinse bottle and crush. Put bottle in PET.

Other examples:

It's very important to do your best at sorting correctly. If you fail to sort, the garbage company may leave you a note, and it reflects poorly on the entire neighborhood. In some neighborhoods a retired man or woman is in charge of keeping an eye on the sorting and letting individuals know if they are making mistakes.  (sometimes they may stop collecting the trash as often as a consequence of poor sorting).

A portion of the trash schedule we keep on our fridge.

From left to right: PET bottles, Paper, and Plastic.

This sorting system is not just required in homes but for businesses as well. 

Here is an example of what that means at Starbucks:

Certain items are very difficult to dispose of because they are not collected; you have to find a place where you can drop them off. Examples are batteries and cardboard. Large items must be disposed of at specific trash centers and you are charged by their size to dispose of them. A TV for example is about $31 to throw away!