Recycling in Japan

The Japanese take recycling very seriously. Remember, Japan has a land mass the size of California but has a population that is the size of one-half of the U.S. That's a lot of garbage for a relatively small land mass.


The average life-span of a Japanese landfill is only 8 years. In addition, Japan's long-term goal is to become a "closed loop" society -- where recycled items become new products.


Japan began its recycling efforts in earnest in 1995 when the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law was initiated. The CPRL was passed in 1997, and by 2000 was fully in effect. By the time we arrived in Japan, they've got the system down.


For our city, Yokosuka, garbage must be separated into at least 5 different categories. Specifically, we separate our refuse into the following categories:


1. Burnable Refuse (food waste, tissues, paper that has touched food, etc.)

2. Cans, Bottles, PET Bottles (self-explanatory)

3. Plastic Containers & Packaging (self-explanatory but no PET plastics)

4. Nonburnable Refuse (ceramic, rubber, aluminum foil, etc.)

5. Group Resource Collection (cardboard, paper, magazines, milk cartons, etc.)


All items (other than kitchen garbage) must be cleaned/rinsed. Milk cartons must be cleaned, dried, and then cut so that they can be stacked and tied together (not placed in a bag). The waste companies provide us with a calendar advising us of the relative nature of the items within each category and the day of the week upon which each category will be collected (see photo below -- we keep the poster on the side of our refrigerator so that it is always available). An 11-page booklet provides greater specificity as to the items that fall within each category and the manner to pack/bundle up the garbage in each category (for example, paper cartons with foil or brown linings are "burnable refuse" whereas milk cartons, which have to be cleaned, cut up, and stacked in a particular way, fall within the "group resource collection"; or, the plastic lid from a PET bottle goes into the "plastic containers and packaging" category while the bottle itself falls within the "PET" category).



Each day, Mon - Fri, some sort of garbage is collected from specific sites in the neighborhood (garbage is placed into community "cages" or under nets in order to keep the scavengers out). The trucks come to pick up the garbage by 8:30 a.m. (you must put your garbage out between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. -- not at any other time). The trucks play child-like tunes -- reminds me of an ice cream truck coming down a U.S. street. Oftentimes, a very nice feminine voice will be broadcasting something (I cannot yet understand what she is saying). If you have any item within your garbage bag (which must be clear plastic) that does not fall within the day's category, your garbage is not picked up. You are expected to find the offending item(s) and remove it. You can also be fined.


So, needless to say, we take the recycling issue very seriously. We have four different garbage bins (see below), each labeled with its specific category (we maintain the 5th category - "group resource" separately).

Some people use a color-coded system (with each bin being a different color). Since I did not do the shopping for the bins, we have matching cream/taupe bins rather than fuschia, persimmon, lime green, and lemon yellow!


Also, in general, when out and about in Japan you are expected to carry and dispose of your own garbage. There are no public garbage cans (the most you might see is a recycle bin for a specific type of container -- usually located by a vending machine and designed to hold the container produced by the vending machine). Convenience stores might have 4 different bins outside (1 for each of the categories I referenced above excepting the "group resource" category).


Lots of work but we are getting used to it. Daniel often asks me in which "number" bin a particular item should be placed (for example, if he has a prepackaged beverage, the straw will go into the "nonburnable refuse" bin but the container may go into a different bin). So, it's a family affair!