An Introduction to the Japanese Garbage System

One of the most confusing things aside from the trains (which aren't so bad once you get used to it) is trying to figure out the impressively complex garbage system. Japan is of course in need of space and so of course there's not a whole lot of places to put garbage. Personally I say that the Mariana Trench would suffice but I guess that wouldn't fly the international community. Instead the solution they came up with was a confusing network of bins.

Garbage is primarily sorted into 4 groups:

Moeru Gomi (Burnable Garbage) - This is paper, string and fabric type stuff. Anything you could start a fire with.

Moenai Gomi (Non-Combustible Garbage) Plastic - This groups is plastic, things like grocery bags. plastic wrap and certain bottles. Note that when I say bottles it doesn't mean all bottles, PET bottles have their own bin.

PET Bottles - These are specific types of plastic bottles with a PET logo on them. Note that there will be a smaller receptacle for the caps next to the bin.

Cans - This is for aluminum cans.

This is a little annoying but perhaps bearable. However the astute reader will notice that you can potentially find items that do not fit into any of the aforementioned bins. What about something like the metallic wrapping you get with a bag of chips? Well in this case the proper procedure is to panic and stuff it into the nearest bin when nobody is looking. There is no real solution and it's a complete judgement call.

What makes the system absolutely maddening is the lack of bins and the excessive Japanese courtesy wrapping. Trash cans are extremely hard to find and there are pretty much no public ones. This means if you happened to grab say some food at a store you will be walking around with the packaging for maybe an hour or two before you can actually throw it away. But the killer is that everything in Japan is wrapped with so much damn wrapping that it puts Christmas Day to shame.

Lets say you go to McDonalds. You get a combo. The drink is in a cup with a lid and of course a wrapped straw, the fries are in their own container, and the burger is wrapped. This is fine to prevent a lot of mess but then the drink (or drinks) will be put into a separate paper bag, as will the fries and hamburgers (separated hot/cold). Then the whole thing is put into one very large paper bag and sealed with tape. All this wrapping is mandatory but they will at least ask you if you want a receipt to save a little on paper.

*Note that dine-in restaurant goers need to take heed that drinks and food are to be deposited into separate receptacles.

So you always wind up with these huge double to quadruply wrapped things and not a place to throw the packaging away.

Despite all the extra packaging the average Japanese trash bin will be maybe half the size of it's American equivalent and to fit down the narrow streets Garbage trucks are about half the size. I think that there must be some sort of wormhole in the back of every house because I can't figure out how they do it.

Garbage collection is also expensive. There are of course extra trash pickups for large items. TVs are $30 to dispose of, ironically worth more than the set in many cases. Refrigerators are $50.

With all this recycling you'd perhaps assume that it's at least saving the environment. But then think about what the bins mean. Paper is going to be burned, not recycled and I believe it is used to power some sort of generator but that's still a lot of chemicals that are perhaps enlarging an atmospheric ozone hole that will melt the ice caps and drown the inhabitants of Japan save for a couple of hikers on Fuji-san.