Rubbish Rules
When I visited various areas in North America, I was pleased to abandon my garbage separation ways, adopt the single black garbage bag (because garbage IS private) and recycle happlily and easily with the sanitation folks routinely coming to my yard.Unfortunately, Japan's garbage rules are strict and can be rather tedious. Whether you live in a house or an apartment there is a caretaker (often an older woman type) and sometimes even a security guard. Both of these keen employees will go to great lengths to ensure you are follwing every single one of the garbage rules. If this means they have to open your bag, they will. It's possible there might even be a camera installed to find the late night fling-and-run types.
Though collection is generally free, anything oversized (electronics, desks, tables or other things you can't fit into a garbage bag) will land you with a fee. Some areas of Japan are stricter than others demanding you use a certain color of bag for each day, but in most areas of Tokyo the conventional see-through white bag is widely used for every day of the week.
Each building or house area has a designated place to drop their garbage. From here, the caretaker will ensure they get to the proper place for pick-up. On a daily dasis, you must separate your garbage into combustible (burnable) and noncombustible (nonburnable) bags. Combustible garbage is usually picked up twice a week and includes items that are bio-degradable like kitchen scraps, paper scraps, wood chips, disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, chemical rags, cigarette butts, etc. Noncombustible garbage is generally picked up once a week and includes metals, plastic items, rubber items, leather items, plastic bags, plastic wrap, gas cassettes for tabletop cooking equipment, etc.
Oversized garbage is also picked up once a week. Often you will have to pay the fee to retain a sticker to place on your items before placing them in your designated spot for disposal. If you forego the sticker, your caretaker will go to great lengths to hunt you down.
Of course there is dangerous and flammable garbage that is handled the same way as most countries where you must phone someone to safely dispose of the materials.
Recycling, unfortunately, doesn't happen as much as it should in Japan. It takes a considerable amount of time and inconvenience. Most people do recycle their cans and glass bottles. But it takes the astute recycler to run their cartons and batteries to a city collection point, and to deposit their bottles at a local convenience store or supermarket.
If your area does not provide garbage schedule/information in a language you understand, please contact your local city/ward office. They often have this on hand and can answer any questions you might have.
posted by Fudocom - Rei @ 8:04 PM
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