Japan's garbage disposal minimisation projects | ABC News

In this KZbin exclusive clip, Jake Sturmer looks at Japan's ambitious plans to minimise waste disposal, including a town with 45 different recycling categories, and an incinerator that's been mistaken for a theme park.
In the meantime, you can read more about the garbage incinerator with its own TripAdvisor page here: ab.co/2Ll4gXK
And Kamikatsu, the little town working towards a zero-waste goal by 2020: ab.co/2LdR32M
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[@net81j]

Manufacturers also need to take part in making the packaging easier to recycle in the first place.

[@thomasjefferson1457]

Exactly, if you can't recycle it you don't build it or sell it.

[@arkhamkillzone]

net81j agreed. Too bad they’re too money hungry to concern them selves about that.

[@arkhamkillzone]

Thomas Jefferson people need to boycott those stupid industries till they pull their finger out.

[@BXJ-mi9mm]

Plastic is not very good for recycling but contains a LOT of energy. Burning it at a power plant is a great solution to the problem.

[@TheCrain]

@@BXJ-mi9mm Plastic is toxic when burnt.

[@spiderliliez]

Japan. Everyone needs to be like you.

[@Shakazuloeman]

@Klaa2 That's because Japanese fruit is the best in the world and can be expensive. So a pineapple could cost 10-200 dollars, you wouldn't accept a pineapple costing 20 dollars to have damaged parts. That's why they have such packaging.

[@janeway1111]

Manufacturers need to stop selling food and drink in plastic containers. The end.

[@Stikibits]

I lived in Tokyo for 7 years. You just get used to it. You don't even notice it after a short time.

[@bobbybushay5693]

same. It was a bit annoying to learn a new way to throw away garbage but it became normal.

[@hunterkill97]

Is just like travelling to another country for a holiday, work or immigrate. That people should learn the laws and regulations of each country.

[@pii2008]

The US needs to adopt this

[@gustlightfall]

@@NihonKaikan Then change your lifestyle. That's good workout right there.

[@sohilronagh286]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It is so true is all cultural habits and few peoples negative whinging and wining

[@blacksun2923]

I really like this unique planet called japan.

[@chinochanchi3596]

Not its Tsunami.

[@FrankWu]

i love the way the Japan handle recycling and sorting rubbish in to at lease 10 types .

[@SuperRjBrown]

In Australia, we recycle our Prime Ministers.

[@samareno9238]

Hahahaha

[@mezmos5866]

Good idea

[@Slavicplayer251]

i’m new to this country and ya aint wrong

[@Trgn]

Deep

[@davidwillard7334]

So ! WHAT ! Prime ! MINISTERS ! HAVE ! BEEN ! RECYCLED !! THERE !!???

[@chickennugget6233]

If only they would stop putting so much plastic packaging on their products they would be top notch

[@jomon723]

The bad thing is they like to use small plastic bags in the supermarket....It seems they have to wrap everything before they put it in you carry bag 🙈

[@mysterybuyer3738]

If they don't wrap the product in a lot of it I feel cheated and might not buy it. It all sustains jobs.

[@chickennugget6233]

@@mysterybuyer3738 What is your logic? 😂

[@mysterybuyer3738]

@@chickennugget6233 My logic is as follows, material has to be sourced, processed, trucked, warehoused etc. Creating or sustaining jobs. If there is less demand for this material then economic oppourtunity is lost. And if I find something not wrapped well it tells me the manufactuers are trying to cut corners and it's something I find inferior. Putting this aside, I do not like how waste in general is dealt with. We should be going after this stuff as it is still a resource and can be made into new things or in the worst case burned for energy. Landfills are not the answer at all. Aside from producting methane they are just useless. I am all for recycling but I am not for not consuming as this contributes to poverty and poverty is even worse than the trash. I don't expect people to agree with me but lack of economic oppourtunity is the biggest fret.

[@transon6655]

don't buy them

[@iMartins07]

Japan so smart and advanced, if only the world can follow.

[@CyberrKgaming]

definitely pay for every bag that can't recycle. So that way I won't buy that particular product due to package and that will eventually forces manufacture to rethink their packaging.

[@jamesh1866]

might work in some places, where people are kept under a close watch. But in a bunch of places it would just mean people stick their rubbish in other peoples bins, or public bins. The tax needs to be on the producer of the products, knowing that they will need to be disposed of after use.

[@scottm2578]

Was in Japan just recently. Stop by the side of a country road, away from regular view, and you will likely see incredible amounts of dumped waste. Not ‘just’ cups, cans and food wrappers casually thrown from a car window, but household appliances, bikes, broken furniture. The sorting restrictions, charges and limited collection amounts of regular household rubbish obv put pressure on many to dump illegally, and in the process destroy their natural environments. It seems it still needs to be easier and cheaper to “do the right thing” (the world over).

[@agatenby41]

i was a bit meh when i saw that they use incinerators because i'm like where is the smoke going, but when i saw that they use it to power the whole set up.. i was like wow.. that's something we need here.. as for recycling i recycle everything that i can, we need to be doing more to recycle or reuse what we can,

[@jakesturmer7763]

They also use the excess heat for warming pools and at some facilities they melt the remaining waste (what's left after it's been incinerated) and turn it into a sandy material called slag. They can use that to pave roads and streets too.

[@agatenby41]

wow thanks for the quick reply.. we here in the west could learn alot from the japanese..

[@IMH15]

Flue gas from incineration plants gets cleaned before being released to the environment. You can barely see anything coming from the chimney. And the government makes sure, that plants reach the required thresholds set by the environmental law. Most of the time they use for example activated carbon as a filter.

[@jackriley5974]

You and I know that. Too bad it wasn't mentioned. One big problem in Japan are the large birds that try to make a mess of the curb-side pick-up points, but of course the locals clean up after them as well. Wish I were still there.

[@bobmarshall3700]

"I'm like where is the smoke going"? Why not learn to speak English?

[@hunterxcraft8328]

I mean we should really only be using hemp plastic anyways which is burn able and biodegradable but the oil companies and drug prohibition have stifled hemp product productions

[@mysterybuyer3738]

You would not want that funny plastic in products built to last over 6 months. It will start breaking apart.

[@mysterybuyer3738]

You would not want bio plastic in anything that's supposed to last over a year.

[@dumyjobby]

can you make a solid casing of a phone from hemp, no, hemp is limited in it's use that's why is not popular. not because of some sort of dumb conspiracy

[@kylefrew8632]

@@dumyjobby i have hemp and bamboo jeans and they have lasted me just as long as levi one so i think a phone case will be no problem how ever i do agree that some thing are better in plastic them hemp

[@peppeddu]

In some municipalities in Japan, recycling can be really expensive. If you want to throw away, say, your old computer or TV, you have to go to the post office, buy a permit to recycle the item (around 5,000 Yen or $50 for a small TV) and then you can bring it to the local "green center" where they take it. Some old people simply refuse to go thru the process and they end up with their house literally filled up with all kinds of broken junk.

[@chez-silquisedo3691]

I admired this country, is full of decipline in every they move.. God bless Japan....i wish Japan is the model of clealiness in the world.

[@Locutus]

I don't think taxing the consumer directly is the correct answer in this scenario. Tax the manufacturers for using non recyclable or compostable products. Where products can be recycled, such as cans, or glass, then put a deposit on the items, which can be returned. Years ago, I was in Denmark, and they placed a deposit on cans or bottles, can't remember which. You could go to the local supermarket, and they would have these recycling bins, and you would put your stuff in it, and would print out a receipt with how much money you had earned. I was there for about a week at most, and managed to get a couple of free lunches from the supermarket for the money I got from recycling.

[@marklangager8817]

My sense is that Japan manages to recycle PET bottles more thoroughly than the US, where you can get a nickel for returns. Paying for returns should be used where it works, but achieving a high level of compliance takes more cultural work than that, I think.

[@bobmarshall3700]

Nobody is going to tax big business in Australia. The bureaucrats and politicians have been paid off to make sure that doesn't happen!

[@bobmarshall3700]

Plastic manufacturers are best buddies with politicians so their interests will always be looked after. In Australia there is too much behind the scenes corruption.

[@davidwillard7334]

Taxing Manufacturers ! Won't Work !! YOU ! will pay ! More ! For ! It !!

[@Locutus]

@@davidwillard7334 We're already paying for their waste disposal.

[@TitusIV]

Why not make the companies pay for their over the top packaging instead ! Why does it always have to be the consumer that needs to pay and not the producer !

[@cottsak]

Consumer is the end of the line - change the consumers buying habits and the whole supply chain (upstream) will change. It's a single point of control. Alternatives are tricky since there are so many players. Some good Japanese logic there I think.

[@aussiepyro]

@@cottsak This is true, but similarly the same can be said for the financial incentive for manufacturers /retailers to avoid extra costs administered by govt for using non recyclable/biodegradable packaging /product design. There's no reason you can't attack both angles at the same time. And after awhile once the concept becomes normalised, you can ease up on the consumer side of things. Whilst changing packaging is easy enough, it'll take longer to redesign products for maximum recyclability, so in the short term, taxing the consumer side to change behaviour makes sense, but only until manufacturers start bringing out more sustainable products.

[@cottsak]

@@aussiepyro I don't think you can. Governments have tried, failed and in some cases (carbon tax) rolled these regulation attempts back. Forcing the consumer to pay and then having the consumer's decisions controlling demand is a very holistic and sustainable solution. So good in fact that the solution cleans up after itself - when the consumer finally figures out how to live without these harmful waste materials they have to pay extra for (by choosing alternatives, which will necessarily appear on the market after demands change), they will then stop paying the "rubbish tax" and we all move on.

[@bobmarshall3700]

Plastic manufacturers are best buddies with politicians so their interests will always be looked after. In Australia there is too much behind the scenes corruption. Business will never be made to pay.

[@westkomer5570]

Best thing is to stop using consumer plastic. There is no need for it

[@Mr.McGlean]

It’s actually more detrimental to the environment to use paper bags. It’s more efficient to continue using plastic and recycle properly. Look it up yourself.

[@westkomer5570]

@@Mr.McGlean Plastic is. Poison and is destroying all. It has no place in the environment

[@adamwatts3042]

Christian Andrews..yup

[@Mr.McGlean]

West Komer plastic isn’t the problem, it is the unsustainable way we use plastic that is the problem...

[@marklangager8817]

It should be said that Japan's ubiquitous vending machines facilitate use of public transit.

[@TheObsessedGardener]

More countries need to look at japan for how to and how not to do things... Beautiful country.

[@hunterkill97]

Every country should copy Japan at the Public Transportation. Also at how they managed their Recycling & Garbage.

[@hunterkill97]

@SPAM THE BAND Yes. I think we should besides the fruit, even they are so good.

[@ryu6297]

No wonder Japan has strict immigration laws, they don't want undisciplined foreigners trashing the country.

[@jomon723]

They still let too many in"

[@ryu6297]

@@NihonKaikan Well I haven't indeed, but clearly as you stated not everyone gets an easy pass, and compared to the West is true. I don't know if it's geographical, lingual or cultural issue that discourages immigrants but Japan has quite the reputation of lacking residential ethnic diversity. It's seems globalization isn't in the best interest of the Japanese. As for ID check enforcement could be due to the escalated tourism scene in recent years but who knows.

[@vigilantern]

It starts with the individual. Set an example instead of trying to convince people. This video is definitely inspiring, and the point about things being manufactured without considering recycling is key. Creating waste may actually be a waste of more than just our environment and health.

[@willwill3890]

ha Australians wont even seperate garbage and recycling into 2 bins, let along peel off a bottle label.....

[@lynx318therealone]

I'm an Aussie and I do clean my recyclables. 🤔

[@sdghsadfjadfjd785]

i've always washed my recycling and peeled lables off my bottles. But when I go to the apratment recycling bins to empty my bin into, i see people have just shoved alloy treys full of snags, and mcdonalds bags full of chicken nuggets. All my time doing the right thing, wasted.

[@BeachsideHank]

They would if ten bottle labels had a coupon for one free beer printed on the back. ☺

[@nousername5673]

sdghsadfjadfjd Here in Canada we don’t have to peel off labels. Only rinse away residue.

[@user-hs7wg3rv5i]

Japan has a great culture and people community really work together towards the better

[@jeanious2009]

Damn these people are so clean that they clean their trash. Big respect to Japan, wish we all were like you guys.

[@leifcian4288]

If they paid people to separate rubbish in phases and with conveyor and belts at a sorting depot then people at home would only have to separate clean 'rubbish' from gross 'garbage'. It's not difficult to separate glass, plastics, card/paper from each other as long as its largely clean.

[@Wolf-yw7en]

PAY AS YOU RECYCLE: Would not work in Australia. It doesn't have the discipline and collective conscience that the Japanese have. The result would be a surge in fly tipping and simply discarding rubbish.

[@Razz9999]

I love your response. Australians are too lazy for this to be implemented.

[@thorry12345]

this is also a problem even in japan. most highways are littered with discarded recyclabels.

[@torysmith7771]

Wolfgang is correct and the other commentators. Australians are bloody lazy..I live in a rural area and the amount of rubbish dumping is huge - i am constantly asking the councils to come and collect but the problems is that big now, council cannot keep up. At the end of the day producers of non- recyclable products need to be made responsible for their production - do not have the product out there in the first place. I admire the Japanese as their culture respects their own lands - a lot of "Australians" do not as the today cultural is soft and a throw away society

[@stevewilliams1260]

Japan is amazing at everything. 30 years ago when I was 12 I came up with an incinerator w/ water filter . I knew we needed change then. Glad to see someone do it right

[@jakesturmer7763]

Hi all, I'm the reporter in the story. Send me your questions and I'll do my best to answer them for you!

[@abcnewsaustralia]

Thanks Jake!

[@allanmax2141]

Jake, what do you think the effectiveness of this incinerator process is. Is this cost-effective? How would we go about implementation in Australia, what barriers exist at the moment that is stopping us?

[@jakesturmer7763]

Hi Allan, the hurdles of finding a suitable location for an incineration plant would make it difficult. It's likely there would be a strong 'Not In My Backyard' sentiment, at least initially. We asked Professor Yamaya about this and he said the it call came down to the initial $$$ required. Here's what he had to say: "It will cost a significant amount. I think it’s most important to think about waste prevention. Australia should build the minimum number of incineration facilities and not burn at a large scale."

[@allanmax2141]

Thanks for diligent response

[@adistyareza6788]

do u think japanese can make world clean?

[@corvettez06usa]

It's amazing to me how 5-10 seconds to maybe a few minutes of inconvenience can persuade people from wanting to completely avoid doing something. Sorting garbage as it builds up doesn't take much time at all. Here in the US the biggest hurdle is our spread out population is outside our major cities. Pick up needs to be separate from general garbage and becomes a logistical nightmare. And if I choose to sort and take in my own recyclables, facilities tend to be such a long commute that what I saved gets used in me driving there.

[@SmouthPole]

Paying for non recyclables ♻️ makes total sense to me. What I don’t understand is why the consumer should pay and not the manufacturer who has a choice to pack product in recyclable materials. In my opinion all environmental policies should be implemented in a top-down structure with incentives and regulations starting at the manufacturing process. Why should consumers pay if they don’t have a choice to buy a pineapple which isn’t wrap in three layers of plastic!?

[@isaialeuila9327]

The elderly lady @4:25 sounded like she was speaking a polynesian language 😂. Omg.

[@Jake12220]

Sweden has been doing the newer version of garbage incineration, it actually imports rubbish from neighbouring countries and though the process is essentially the same, Sweden is simply doing the newer/improved version. Seems crazy how we currently deal with a lot of waste. We have been taught we must recycle either because we will run out of resources or because it's good for the encouragement, in both cases this is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. What we need is good leadership that makes decisions based on the facts rather than ideals.

[@ibnawf112]

... Wow I absolutely admire these people, I wished all of humanity was like them

[@truitons]

like what ? . an ethnostate ? .. no immigration ? .... its the only reason they can do it .. they dont import 3rd world country people.

[@Eccentric_Villain]

Australia needs this infrastructure. I would very much love to recycle like this. And Australia needs this respect for the environment. Get onto it, government.

[@xxxdmgo7413]

Japanese are well disciplined and organized

[@wallacesousuke1433]

@@NihonKaikan have you?

[@crafael.]

Plasma gasification should be the future of waste management and renewable energy solution. Cons on incinerator is the ashes is contaminated with heavy metals, unburned chemicals and new chemicals formed during the burning process. These ashes are then buried in landfill or dumped in the environment. Rather than making waste disappear, incinerators create more toxic waste that pose a significant threat to public health and the environment. The problem with renewable energy is the power storage and distribution. With plasma gasification, both issue can be solved. The only issue with this technology its not a space efficient especially for urban area and small nation like HK and Spore.

[@DavidIstre]

Agree with other comments: this works in Japan because of its culture. In the West, there would be cultural developments that need to take place to get to the point that people would be willing to do this much extra work. Personally, I think "incentives" would work better in the West than fines. Finning people could make some look for alternative means of disposing of their trash that would be worse for the environment. Incentives would encourage people to do the extra work.

[@free4lifeau]

it must begin with the factories that produce so much packaging in the first place. Go back to paper bags. Return to waxed paper for breakfast cereals and biscuits, glass for soft drinks and single wrap only for all other super market products.

[@Juvelqairth]

Sounds good idea

[@MaximusXXX77]

I agree about the paper bags. Whole Foods already does paper bags only, and I love it. All these larger chains, such as Wal-Mart, need to go that route. It should be an easy transition. Should have happened yesterday, really...the American government (and even the whole world) should mandate that all grocery chains eliminate plastic bags within the next couple years!!

[@mattiegopro9686]

What if we can buy water in store with out plastic bottels, so that ppl need to bring own bottle or buy a special bottle that can be refild over and over again , that will help I think

[@bobmarshall3700]

25 years ago everything came in refundable refillable bottles in Australia.

[@raceace]

Having lived in Japan(Tokorozawa) our family simply considered the separation of rubbish task(Onerous) but an important civic duty that you could lose face if your neighbours did it better than you. We felt a pride in trying to leave as small as possible environmental footprint, Even in such a consumerist society like Japan.

[@sgs-integration]

This is very similar in Switzerland. You pay per 10L garbage bag about 8 Australian Dollars. Recycling is for free though. So you have to separate and bring it to a recycling center. I think pay as you go is very effective as long as people can‘t just dump their trash illegally somewhere

[@ExtremeTourname]

1:47 Love the design. You sure this is not a theme park??

[@truth-12345.]

I seriously have to migrate to Japan, I wanna be one of them.

[@karonga629]

Welp they are racist as hell. So check out you have clear skin

[@davidwillard7334]

Keep Playing !! The Vapours !! Slong !! Then !!

[@bigkamo]

Great work Jake! I don’t know of other waste incinerators that attract sightseers! Keep the KZbin videos coming!

[@davidwillard7334]

Sweden ! Germany ! The ! Netherlands ! Austria ! Doesn't !! Then !!??

[@tmoxie]

Recycling starts at the manufacture and Ned’s at the consumer. Everyone needs to be on board

[@lance-rszhang]

The real issue here in Aussie is that do we actually have the ability to make all those rubbish recyclable? Do we have the infrastructure to do it rather than sending them overseas and being simply buried without further processing?

[@ladybird1645]

How do we stop using plastics? Are glass containers better to use than plastics? Disadvantage of using glass containers are they are heavy and breakable.

[@csjames69]

The separation of rubbish by type at the household level is almost obsessive. PET bottles must have their lids removed and the lids are placed in to separate receptacles to be recycled. All this can happen is because the Japanese people are considerate of each other and for the nature that we all live in. Unfortunately in Australia, we seem to have a 'Not my problem' mentality and everything gets thrown away. We are getting better but seeing mountains of rubbish mounting up in warehouses is disturbing.

[@juantokalu]

I love this, leading by example I wish the different categories would have been listed

[@MrAlexhasker]

Yes I think we should definitely pay for non recyclable bags. In the long term how else would we be discouraged from using them .

[@dineshmalla6332]

In developing countries like Nepal first and foremost requirement is to change the mindset of waste disposal and management. It is responsibility of the household to manage its waste in the first place and not just dump it in the streets. It is also the responsibility of the Government to clean the streets and collect the recyclables and give incentives for recycling the sorted waste. Game changers are needed in countries like Nepal.

[@mueffe1357]

Only 45 separate rubbish categories in Japan? I expected more.

[@Moira_Gloucestershire]

6:00 I agree that if your mixed up everything together it is harder to recycle. In the UK residential rubbish is collected, mixed up by the time it arrives to depot it is all contaminated. Must be nightmare to process and lots good material is not recovered. I respect separating in 45 or even more baskets.

[@bennetfox]

Why can't we just stop it at the source? Get manufacturers to stop packaging everything in plastic!

[@bobmarshall3700]

Plastic manufacturers are best buddies with politicians so their interests will always be looked after. In Australia there is too much behind the scenes corruption. There's big money in making all the plastic packaging so it isn't going to stop happening any time soon.

[@armanboncales2928]

If philippines have this power plant then no electricity shortige

[@donconsolacion1536]

I hope the people of the Philippines could do this too

[@Manuel-me1yi]

Well I would separate it just because I do it the same way in switzerland here. I sort out everything which is recycable and put it into several bags and so on :)

[@ronbaltazar8773]

Countries are classified into three categories- the developing countries, the first world countries, and then there's Japan which is Tier 1.=)

[@captainrogers1793]

Interesting report , what people forget is 45 years ago we didn't have these issues with waste , when my mother went shopping everything was put in brown paper bags , fruit , veg , meat ect ect , we use to have pints of milk in glass bottles , fizzy drinks was sold in glass bottles, i remember the shops would pay you money to return the bottles , the milkman use to pick up the empty bottles , the result of this was in our household we use to quarter fill our small metal in a week , the bin just had newspaper and tins , then something happened , the news said that rain forests were being decimated of trees at an alarming rate ,we were shown images of animals suffering , all for wood and paper , something had to be done , solution -- plastic packaging

[@Conceptualcreatures]

Brilliant idea. Bring it to Australia. People will adapt

[@AzlianaLyana]

Agreed! Hope everybody can work together to make it happen :)

[@romyan5382]

What about bogans?

[@Physiovale46]

Australian people aren't that disciplined my friend. It's culture of Japan making the difference

[@zacharyhenderson2902]

I don't agree with everything in the country, but the Japanese really do have a lot figured out. Overall, they make great cars, the country's very clean, the people are incredibly respectful. It's beautiful

[@roseknightmare]

we already pay for bags in SA, and incentivise recycling but the incineration idea is interesting. if it had truly impressive toxin controls and could actually distillate. unfortunately just because you cant see waste doesn't mean it doesn't pollute.

[@anamarievivero7774]

richard mccann I think you just hate japan!! Did someone busted you here or your just a jealous because this tiny country trying their best and yours are doing nothing!!!! If you are American then tell all the people in all Americans bases here to go back home!!! If you are a Korean tell your government not to borrow money without paying to the Japanese government!!! And also tell your fellow countryman living in japan not to change their name to a Japanese names!!! Ok!!!

[@jamesharrison2374]

Darmstadt Germany has one too, was built and put in operation during the time i lived there. Powers the plant and generates steam for near by factories. They import garbage from around the area to keep it running. Would be great to have to those in the USA.

[@izzyb7111]

I chose to carry my own water bottle and fabric bag for when I shop. However, the extra charge for plastic would create awareness and if we can reward the people for recycling with reduced prices for products that are not so heavy in plastic wrapping....the message of decreased sales would translate to the manufacture, who would in turn need to reconsider the way they package products. Pineapples do not need 3 layers of plastics to look pretty...they are more beautiful with out it!! :-)

[@allseeingeye93]

Paying for waste disposal wouldn't work in the West. People would just dump it in their neighbour's trash can or drive to a shopping center or condominium complex where they can access a dumpster. They've tried similar proposals in a number of cities in America and they've all ended in disaster. What would make infinitely more sense is to charge a disposal tax at the point of sale and use the funds to pay for centralized garbage sorting facilities. This would also encourage both consumers and manufacturers to use less packaging as the penalty would be applied directly to the price tag.

[@josho225]

45 is a bit alarmist. My municipalities' waste is separated into 3 major categories (or "bag colors"). Anything you cannot obviously figure out how to throw away probably has a procedure written in their recycling documentation. It adds a bit of time to my weekly house duties, but it's a lesson in responsibility and makes me considerate of what I purchase.

[@lonemonaro1455]

It's up to the manufacturer's to make recyclable plastic.

[@meyoliva6878]

The key is discipline and concern.

[@Snarkyat2am]

Good work Jake and the production team, quality reporting.

[@GEOGERHANA]

Japan is so awesome

[@torisharpe1241]

I've started doing this at home but I dont know where to take my homogenized recycling so I've been compacting and storing it for now to drop off in bulk, I found one recycle center nearby (2 hours) that seems to actually utilize it

[@beeniemen]

Tokyo is pristinely clean . Even the roads it is just insane how they manage it from a westerner point of view do compare Tokyo vs any big west cities ...

[@JL-sn7km]

All good, but Japan needs to look after its mess in Fukushima first. The seas are constantly more and more contaminated with the radioactive materials that are massively being discharged to the open sea over the last many years and even now. Viewers would be shocked to see the map of the current contamination around the the oceans. Australia is almost directly below Japan geographically.

[@rexxsade6425]

I think all plastic bottles should not have plastic wrap around them. Print direct to the bottle.

[@atom2319]

I think the burden of pay should be both sides, manufacturers should also charged for producing non recyclable bottles

[@cryss5824]

Really love the idea of pay as you throw. Citizens will tend to be more careful and responsible.

[@MindSh1fters]

what are three ways Japan uses creating, imagining, and innovating to help their trash problem. Be specific. Can anyone reply me please I really need the answer I can't find it in the video

[@_Wai_Wai_]

the entire Western world do not recycle anything. Western countries have been shipping their wastes to countries in Asia, mainly China.

[@tuttebelleke]

Very sorry, but in most of Western Europe we recycle for about 60 to 80%. By my knowledge there is only some (I don't know by quantity) export of electronics waste and old ships to Asia.

[@ryanholmes1970]

I wish we did it here. People would think about what they buy and it would ultimately lead to companies changing their packaging practices.

[@ph11p3540]

Food packaging should be made from paper, cardboard, beeswax coated of course. Wood celilose can be used to make bio plastics that break down in a few months under landfill conditions.

[@jaysonnnikolica9443]

Big companies should be paying for biodegradable containers theyre selling.... Why do we even question them losing a dollar!?

[@bikinggal1]

Why though do they waste/use so much water cleaning recyclables if they are just going to burn it??

[@poruatokin]

There were two completely separate topics in the video - you are mixing them up, but to be fair that wasn't made very clear.

[@jameseddy6835]

Excellent idea. I would like to see it in the US.

[@calebwiberg5123]

I wish we were doing this in the US.

[@Sandlin22]

You'd likely end up with an absurd amount of illegal dumping

[@marklangager8817]

Need to change incrementally and use education and media to generate culture change.

[@Nate-xm1ms]

Cameras and lots of them!!

[@zedvee2668]

When you drive through a Japanese forest... you see "no illegal rubbish dumping" signs everywhere.

[@MrAngelguardian123]

The biggest reason why they is so little rubbish being thrown on to the street is because of the removal of trash cans, and if you were to become dirty or grubby people would talk behind your back or shame you, that’s why there’s stigma of not causing trouble. The removal of the public bin is caused by the 1990 sarin gas attack

[@matthewmemz2380]

Why not saying to bring your own cutlery and bowls to food festivals. And have a washing Station. 0 waste

[@lynx318therealone]

I'd be OK with going to and sorting out the stuff at a recycle station but as my only transport is a mobility scooter, this is impossible.

[@PhoenlxA]

1:33 that one in osaka is a copy of "hundertwasser müllverbrennungsanlage" of vienna in austria. xD

[@ramonareut2410]

… not a really copy - Hundertwasser himself designed two plants in Osaka, like he did before in Vienna

[@PhoenlxA]

@@ramonareut2410 learnt something again^^

[@lil----lil]

Japan. The country where NO LOOTING occurs even after a major disaster.

[@rowbearly6128]

Make all everyday plastics from hemp. Henry Ford built cars out of hemp...sustainable,relatively cheap infrastructure to produce, ...obvious.

[@k.ganesanganesan6825]

Japan can maintain carbage. You manufacture wooden packing materials. Export. Import materials by your products.

[@zedvee2668]

Hmm, rubbish hoarding by the elderly is also an issue in Japan. There are a fair amount of abandoned houses that look like rubbish tips here.

[@Groaker]

I've lived in Japan for six years (returning to Australia in August actually!) and the habit of separating your garbage is pretty easy to get into. It also helps that garbage pick-up is almost daily with each day set aside for a particular type of garbage. 45 is way to specific for the general public, Japan or otherwise, but Australians having to separate garbage into burnables/plastics/cans and glass bottles/pet bottles/dangerous goods like I do could easily be done. We already kinda do that anyway to a smaller degree with our wheelie bins. Governments in Australia would really have to commit hard to incineration though because the initial capital needed would be huge.

[@jakesturmer7763]

The cost is definitely going to be a big hurdle - another one is whether people would be prepared to have one of these incinerators in their community.

[@Groaker]

Thanks for the reply and for the story itself, Jake! Location will be more of a case alleviating public fears rather than any actual health concerns. Of course, it smells just as much as any other waste processing plant, but as long as it's not right next to a school or an old folks home, it should be right. Put it this way, my town's incinerator is next to a health spa. It heats their pool!

[@karac833]

The NIMBY always destroys ideas in Australia. Great story. Other than "Dioxins", I have always felt they should have updated the Waterloo Incinerator, rather than demolishing it.

[@aussiepyro]

@@NihonKaikan Well someone clearly has an axe to grind! Have seen you post almost this exact comment multiple times. If you don't like the situation you're in, then do something to change it, rather than cry about it to strangers on KZbin.

[@siliguriguide1992]

We can't get rid off trashes in near future. We have to segregate them carefully so that the different trashes are put in different containers. I have separate buckets for plastic for glass etc. I put organic garbages in soil to be composted by the microbes.

[@IGOR-wz8id]

The best if people pay for any waste all in all and it’s counted by amount. For example plastic can be more expansive category sines you can’t recycle it forever. This will make people go more zero waste

[@MrShinta786]

We have been doing that here in Europe for ages

[@deadpoolmadafakas4893]

This is why JAPAN is way better than other countries

[@bkrider19]

Laws should also address the behavior of the manufacturers and corporations producing consumer products. Companies should be held responsible to remove current non-recyclables from the consumer stream, and to redesign their products so that they include zero non-recyclable materials.

[@ms.m3n]

Just agree to avoid using non-biodegradable packaging as humanly possible, and if needed resort to recyclable packaging - this shouldn't be a debate, it's a matter of environmental ethics and protecting life as we know it self preservation.

[@marklangager8817]

I agree we should try biodegradable and other materials, but I would like to see someplace where that works in reality.