Pop Japan

Foreigners are shocked to see many garbage bins perfectly lined up on the streets of Japan. Even with their gomi or garbage, the Japanese are very organized and neat.

There are four major classifications of garbage in Japan and you have throw them in different garbage bins. Make sure you put your trash in the correct bin as you may pay a fine if you don’t!

Combustible Trash

Burnable trash such as paper wastes, plastic, containers, kitchen garbage, clothing items, rubber, leather, and wood. These are put in yellow bags and collected twice a week.

Incombustible Trash

This kind of trash must be put in clear plastic bags and is collected twice a month. Incombustible trash include can items, glass items, metallic items, ceramics, appliances, pvc products, and batteries.

Oversized Garbage

Collected once a year, oversized garbage may include appliances which are still working, things with reusable parts, things that can be scrap metal, items with mercury, and other furnitures at home.

Bottles and Cans

Bottles and cans are further separated into different categories. PET bottle caps or those used for sodas, must be removed and put to a separate bag from the bottle itself. Colored bottles and clear bottles must also be put in different bags as well as steel cans and aluminum cans. Reusable bottles should also be placed in another bag. Y

ou might wonder where does this separated trash go and why are they strictly sorted out. Japan already had a hard time finding landfills to dump their trash so most of the things that can be recycled, are recycled. They actually mix their garbage with cement, heavy rock and dirt to create new land or land reclamation.

Milk cartons must also be laid flat, opened, and dried before throwing into the trash bin.

Once PET bottles are collected, they are processed to create new PET bottles. This way, producing and reproducing the bottles will not be a waste.

It can also be helpful to bring reusable ecobags with you when you want to go shopping or go to the grocery to lessen the amount of plastic that you will be taking home.

Surely taking out the trash in Japan is much more complicated than other countries. A lot of procedures must be done first before you can actually throw out your trash but Japan is doing everything to make their garbage system as efficient as possible.