Recyclable garbage day in a Japanese town

Photo and text originally by Pine57 at Flickr


"Garbage regulations are very persnickety in Japan. Town by town regulations are different, some communities are more relaxed than others. But this is how things are done in my town. We have a burnable garbage day, 2 times a week, for things like paper and kitchen refuse. Our full name and complete address must be written on the outside of special garbage bags or the garbage man won't carry it away and will also refuse it if there is something in the bag which isn't considered burnable. Those bags are see-thru. Then, we have this recycle garbage day, every 2 weeks, on a Friday morning.

Next, we have a garbage day the other 2 Friday mornings a month for things that can be neither recycled nor burned, such as light bulbs and broken umbrellas. Newspapers, cardboard boxes, and tattered clothing are collected about 4 times a year by the elementary school PTA and another 4 times a year by the jr. high school PTA. Batteries are collected on a special date -- previously only once a year. Things that don't fit into these categories must be driven to the main garbage plant to be disposed of.

Every other Friday we have neighborhood recyclable garbage day. We are only permitted to put out this sort of garbage between 7 and 8 a.m. on that day -- and tough luck if you can't do it then because the garbage man won't carry it away if you don't follow the rules exactly! The Garbage truck arrives shortly past 8 so one can't dilly-dally either.

Every sort of recyclable garbage is sorted according to category. Plastics in one bag, styrofoam packages in another, PET bottles in another. Then there are color coded boxes to collect aluminum, steel, clear bottles, green bottles, brown bottles, and so on.

All recyclables must be pre-washed and dried too."