What Happens to Garbage in Japan

[@-EchoesIntoEternity-]

i bet the crane operator must be amazing at the arcade crane games. no plushie is safe

[@Masterhitman935]

No fair, he got the big craw cheat. /s

[@cantsay]

They got his picture behind the counter. "OH, crane game broken, sorry!" Lol

[@ashakydd1]

Sadly, those skills don't cross over as well as you'd think. I work in a job where we use crane trucks regularly and none of the crane operators said that they were any good at crane games. One operator actually suggested that the skill doesn't translate simply because the way the crane games grab items is very different.

[@ShannonJacobs0]

Why should my comments be any less repetitious than the google's offensive ads? Only one question for KZbin: Do you really think more frequent and more offensive ads can lead to profit?

[@Huugen93]

I'm here to appreciate your joke and plushie concern

[@ladyflimflam]

I used to live in a university town in the US that incinerated garbage as part of it’s electricity generation fuel mix. The biggest problem is getting people to seperate glass from that waste stream. When the glass goes through the incinerator it creates a slag that reduces efficiency. There are glass dropoffs around town, but people still include glass in their trash

[@edwardbyard6540]

That's crazy. We've recycled glass for well over 30 years. You guys need a deposit scheme.

[@ChristianSkallerupBrgesen]

I Denmark we also have plant like this. But in contrast to Japan all our plant are a part of our district heating network supplying large cities with heat AND electricity. Plants are located in the large cities like Copenhagen Roskilde and Århus where it is possible to use all the generated heat. I know of a upcoming project in a suburb of Copenhagen , that will capture carbon as in Japan .

[@MalawisLilleKanal]

@@ChristianSkallerupBrgesen We have that in Norway as well, but the heat is priced so high that it's more economically sensible for the end user to use a heat-pump.

[@keithbroh5730]

In Michigan I don’t know if it’s for use in incinerators or just for general recycling but they pay you for the glass and plastic bottles at grocery stores and you use the credit towards your grocery’s, or you just take the cash. It’s near impossible to find trash on the street in most towns because of it

[@w270rab]

@@keithbroh5730 Same in South Australia, most glass & plastic bottles have a 10cents deposit so most people take them to a recycling depot for a refund, any that do get chucked on the street get picked up by the homeless & they cash 'em in.

[@chimingchiu]

I always like how the Japanese handle their garbage and recycling. There is NO PERFECT method to deal with this issue, but Japan took the way they thought was the most appropriate given their situations. Thank you, Greg.

[@tronixfix]

They should also recycle their junk... instead they just dump it in Africa.

[@mc4492]

@@tronixfixwhere’s your proof of that?..

[@tronixfix]

@@mc4492 in front of my door. I live in Kenya, we get most of their junk cars. Still with japanese insurance stickers and everything on the windscreen. They dump them here because they won't pass japanese emission test anymore.

[@mc4492]

@@tronixfix that sucks👎🏼

[@BlanketyBlank9050]

I guess it’s a lot better than the way they disposed of all that nuclear waste when they ran out of land they dumped it in the ocean! Explains why the ocean life is dying out and why the sea creatures have big cancerous tumors on them huh!

[@turnerwright]

Living in Japan just makes you think more about where your garbage goes. I remember being amused when a non-burnable pickup day came, because I could finally get rid of awkward metal pieces I had been holding onto.

[@RT-qd8yl]

Do they not have metal recycling centers like in America where you can drop off recyclable items for money? Copper, brass, aluminum, steel, etc

[@turnerwright]

@@RT-qd8yl They do in urban areas, but they're far from convenient.

[@skeetrix5577]

I honestly could never visit Japan because I'd probably never leave cause I'd get arrested too many rules for every little thing I have a rebellious soul and would break their rules without even thinking about it

[@MaddatMatt]

Cleanest waste facilities I have ever seen!

[@raven4k998]

thermal recycling looks like burning to me🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@pydepyper]

This was excellent! I appreciate that you presented pros and cons of treating trash this way!

[@user-no2mz9hl4f]

Yes, I agree. Nice and balanced.

[@LifeWhereImFrom]

This video pairs with my previous one about whether or not Japan has a plastic problem kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIaZiKKdi5uIe8k What do you think about the incineration process used in Japan?

[@Hoolysegoo]

I've never heard of a CO2 storage facility, and didn't even know that such a thing was possible. It's time for me to go do some research on how it is collected.

[@kodekabuki]

How much energy is spent to do the incineration vs how much energy does the incineration produce?

[@edwardfletcher7790]

I love these "everyday jobs" videos you make, thank you 👍🏻😁

[@wraitholme]

@@kodekabuki Depends on the plant design, and the nature of the waste does seem to adjust the output. Wikipedia links to a source that estimates about 500kWh per ton of waste net.

[@zam023]

I visited the Kusatsu city clean center a few weeks ago. It looked more or less the same as the one in Saga you showed in this video. The garbage pit in particular looked the same. In Kusatsu we also have special bags for garbage separation, and it is provided free by the city. We use a coupon system to collect the bags from conbini. Altogether they are 3 types of bags: Plastics (Red), PET (Green) and Burnable (Blue). Our bags are twice the size than the ones you showed and are transparent, so you can see what is inside the bags. The clean center produces enough power to run itself and extra power are sold to the nearby community. The clean center also sales plastic and PET to companies who use them to make recycled products.

[@fi2ks]

I think all countries should share info and ideas like this and be more open to other ways of doing things and take advantage of works best.

[@supercap3000]

This would not work in USA. USA prides itself in ignoring any outside information

[@Nigel_DeLaVega]

They actually do that it's just that some in some countries the engineers get mad they didn't think of that way and don't use it or there's corruption that takes away the initial funding and jeopardize the entire process

[@Helioscore1]

Awesome video. Regarding the comment about putting incinerators in poor communities; to be specific, the Chuo ward incinerator is next to the Olympic village. And the both the Chuo and Minato ward incinerators are each, only 2 km away from some of the most expensive real estate in the country.

[@xxpyroxx1670]

if the country's debt is higher then its GDP then they are all broke and poor. America is so broke its debt far exceeds its GDP lmao pretty much everyone is working for free. bunch of idiots ya?

[@squeeeb]

I used to live in Chuo. That incinerator looks like the combine tower from Half-Life 2 lol. But yea, beautiful (and very expensive) area.

[@darekradulski6213]

Back in my childhood days everything was so much easier. Liquids were in glass , fruits and veggies were lose , meat was wrapped in paper/ waxed paper . And the glass packaging was returnable .

[@HotarusLens]

I lived and worked in Saga and absolutely adore it. It is an amazing place full of great people. I miss it every day.

[@ltdees2362]

...so...move back...

[@HotarusLens]

@@ltdees2362 I'm going to guess you don't have perspective on the complexities of career, family, and living abroad. Not to mention different priorities at different phases of one's life.

[@WhymsicallyMade]

I love this channel so much! Actual information about Japan! Even the parts of Japan most people don’t talk about.

[@CptFitzgerald]

"I'm not an expert", yet your videos have helped me educate my friends and co-workers on how flawed our recycling system is in the United States compared to how it is in Japan and I even have helped them get a better eye for identification and sorting based on my inspiration from the Japanese- and your videos have been a part of this. Great job, man.

[@MalawisLilleKanal]

As a European, it seems like the biggest recycling flaw in the US is the lack of bottle-refund. Even though some areas have it, it should be done in the whole of the US, and would cut down on plastic/aluminum waste.

[@CptFitzgerald]

@@MalawisLilleKanal I agree as I lived in Oregon in my early 20s- however going to the bottle return was literally watching junkies eying you while trying to do your returns.

[@Judith-b3t]

​@@CptFitzgeraldstill like that

[@CraigFThompson]

"I'm not an expert"; it sure as hell shows! If he'd done his research, he'd have discovered information stating that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fueled power plants are actually much greater than that from incineration of MSW.... In all actuality, the worst air pollutants from incineration plants are nitrogen dioxide and dioxins/furans. Nitrogen dioxide results from improper combustion, and dioxins/furans result from chlorine compounds bound up in the fuel itself, such as certain plastics.

[@CptFitzgerald]

​@@CraigFThompson ​thnx industrial millitary complex. you've been incredibly helpful in our journey of understanding. You completely missed the filtering measures in the video. what are your creditentials other than youtube armchair coach?

[@davidm2645]

I like how clean the area looks. They take great pride in their surroundings. The trucks are even clean and look new.

[@volkhen0]

My greatest respect for Japanese people who are so disciplined. When I see how people sort their trash in Poland I want to cry.

[@gemmameidia8438]

My friend who is now work in japan, really loves living there compared to indonesia because of clean there and how kind the neighbours are. When he comeback to Indonesia once in a while he kinda annoyed with how ppl throw trash everywhere here, like you will see a pile of trash next to the road and how impatience ppl here is.

[@CraigFThompson]

​@@elainejohnson796Except when it comes to their WW2 history; then they generate all manner of excuses and rationalizations, even going so far as to blame their victims!!

[@ayatollahlalalola]

those garbage trucks are SOO clean (and adorable looking)

[@etherdog]

Greg, you answered my questions from the last video on waste you did, so thanks! We appreciate the intellectual honesty you bring to your projects.

[@zac-mini]

I really enjoyed this video. The way you describe the facts is informative, yet acknowledges that you are open to learning more information on the topic. It felt like a conversation rather than a debate.

[@LionOfJudah613]

I recently moved to Saga City so this really is showing Life Where I'm From! It was cool getting to see exactly what happens to the trash I sort and put out in the crow-proof trash shed at my apartment according to the schedule I got when I moved in.

[@donhutton2641]

I remember as a child in Canada. Apartment buildings used to burn their own garbage. That ended.

[@CraigFThompson]

What a damned shame! I remember those days. Some apartment buildings used the heat from the process to heat domestic water, while others used it to heat the common interior area. The process COULD'VE been refined to make it more environmentally friendly, but political insanity prevailed, unfortunately.

[@Hoolysegoo]

This is a wonderfully informative video. I find this stuff to be fascinating, especially when I am in an area that largely doesn't recycle, so it's fun to see what else the world does when they are more environmentally conscious and have less land to just dump whatever they want!

[@ObsessedWithDogs]

Very interesting topic and video! It's interesting to see how certain things are handled in Japan.

[@TeeBoyd88]

That was so nice of the workers to take your camera inside. Another well balanced video.

[@TomFly83]

I've been waiting for this video! It's great how the power plant is an integral part of the local agriculture and entertainment infrastructure. Great video :)

[@lilyfeng6598]

They don’t have a garbage bins along the street, bus stops. Very few garbage bins at railway stations is very inconvenient 😢

[@MageThief]

When I lived in Japan, I didn't think garbage sorting was that hard, just take your time and you will figure it out in the beginning. Here in Sweden, the recycling centers are so efficient that we import garbage from other countries.

[@MrJm323]

"....just take your time..." This is why most people don't separate their trash to begin with -- they VALUE their time.

[@MrJm323]

@@Str8Maddeness "Do you value the planet?" Apart from my time on it, no. I know it's shocking but some humans value their own life (and that of their loved ones) before "the planet". For non-self-hating humans, the proverbial "bath water" is not valued more than "the baby" -- it is ONLY valued insofar as it serves the well-being of "the baby". (And, if we dumped all of our trash onto heaps or into the oceans like we did before 1972, our planet would still "survive", as it is surviving now that we bury most of our trash -- whether in the form of ash or not -- in the ground. Pollution and waste doesn't threaten "the planet". The planet itself will still be here regardless of how we handle our waste.) "Your kind of ignorance, and that's all it truly is, it's ignorance." That's rich coming from someone who doesn't understand the meaning of "ignorance". This is an issue of VALUES rather than knowledge. Do you PRIORITZE your life (and that of your loved ones) higher than any and all other living beings, or do you think that some creator -- Gaia or God -- has created you (and your loved ones) to be a sacrificial beast for "the planet" (or every other living creature in the universe)?

[@kewliost]

Sweden also burns a fair chunk of theirs and other countries garbage after sorting and recycling. I don't know the exact numbers, something like 50% or so

[@malcolm_in_the_middle]

@@MrJm323 So many people think that humans are outside of nature, and that what we do is 'unnatural'. I will never understand people who think humans should be wiped out, or have our population dramatically reduced to 'save the planet'.

[@escapetherace1943]

@@MrJm323 okay, but would you rather live in a planet with trash everywhere or a planet where trash isn't in the water, ocean, and street gtfo out of here lmao

[@tomg5516]

I think making the best use of a byproduct of a necessary process is an admirable thing.

[@donscheid97]

Recycling is ... not what it is advertised to be. Often, the material is simply sent from the sorting facility to the landfill. My county incinerates garbage but does not recover any benefits like electricity and I believe it was recently shut down or at least reduced because of it's age. The ash is covered at a site of about 20 acres. Big difference from Chicago that has a landfill of several square miles. Awesome video and I am not surprised it is in Japan, the masters of efficiency.

[@hewhohasnoidentity4377]

The problem in the US is that for plastic recycling to be possible requires every individual putting items in the system to follow the rules. The entire production line has to be of the same type of plastic with no food scraps, no paper, no glass or metals. No food wrapper plastic can go with soda bottles. The plastic recycling stream can only be a specific type of plastic and nothing else. The recycling process depends on all of the materials being able to be manipulated with a known process to create a known result. The reason China and most other places began refusing US recyclables is that nothing we were sending was capable of being recycled. That is why it goes to landfill. Unfortunately, even in locations where people are sorting at the transfer stations, much of that is for show. Even with the best of intentions, the majority will not be recycled because allowing any imperfections to pass through can cause millions in damages. On the other hand, the aluminum can industry is designed for easy recycling throughout the supply chain. Glass can be recycled with some contamination but not as efficient as if it was clean. I do like how the Japanese sort out the most common plastic, PET, to give it the best chance to actually be recycled. As for the US not usually capturing benefits from incinerating waste, that is the design of the regulatory and business structure. The waste is handled by for profit corporations and a set of regulators. The energy is handled by a different set of for profit corporations and their own regulators. There is too much risk and nearly no chance of reward for trying to integrate.

[@MalawisLilleKanal]

@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 This is why a bottle-refund works so great in countries that uses it. You pay, say 20c extra when you purchase the bottle, and get 20c back when returning it. That way you get a waste-stream where you know exactly what's coming into it and can recycle the materials. Even if all the materials cannot be recycled into new products, it's much easier to handle a known/uniform waste-stream for energy or landfill.

[@aimeem]

@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 Way to go blaming it on the consumers. The main problem is that *even if consumers do everything 100% right* virgin material is often cheaper and easier to use, so manufacturers go for that instead. Until that issue is solved plastics recycling will always be a problem.

[@drivestowork]

Very interesting! Who knew trash disposal could be made so interesting!? ps. Fly ash from coal fired power plants in Nebraska and Iowa is air-dropped on ice jams on the Missouri River between the two states in spring to help speed melting to prevent/reduce flooding.

[@clintromine802]

I’ve been saying for a long time that we need to burn more bury less. Even in Canada there are less & less areas for land fills. Yes compost & yes recycle & yes reuse. But they shouldn’t make a product if it can’t be fully recycled or reused over & over.

[@juliashireen6195]

I have to concur with ye, Clint

[@sayfolman7752]

It Okay Just Import It To Other Country In Middle East And South African That Your Gov Did All This Time By The Way Asean Dont Accept Garbage From Your Country And American Allied Anymore Special Quote By Former Philippines President Take Back Your Garbage Eat It If You Can,Stop Sending Your Garbage To Us

[@MalawisLilleKanal]

Yes. Materials that are easy to recycle into new products should be recycled into new products. The surplus and materials that are hard to recycle should be burned. As time goes by, one should encourage use of materials that are easy to recycle. That way one can increase the percentage that becomes new products and reduce the need for burning.

[@adithwp]

Just the right moment for me to have you upload this kind of content (I just moved to Japan for the past two weeks).

[@johndoyle4723]

Thanks for raising all the for and against arguments. I ran a recycling plant and did my best to make it as efficient and cost effective as possible. However protesters accused me of being too efficient and cost effective, and that encouraged the waste producers to keep making waste, and that if I did not run the facility the waste producers would have to modify their process, and produce less or no waste. Sometimes you cannot win. I was also involved with incineration, still very controversial.

[@BruceThomson]

Excellently sensible and reasonable coverage of the incineration issue.

[@moritod]

I live close to a large landfill in the US. Next to it is what's called a "superfund" site. In other words, a place so toxic that the Feds had to get involved to try to clean it up. On the one side is the garbage for one part of the city, just dumped, no sorting, nothing. We have a recycling program that picks up once every 2 weeks, but most of it is dumped right back in the landfill with most people none the wiser. The other side is where DuPont, General Electric, the Feds themselves (most notably the Army) and even the Zoo dump their problems. Most notably, radioactive waste was dumped there from bomb making components. It used to be in the middle of nowhere, but as the city grew, they built houses right up to the fence of both of them. I shared this story only to tell you what an amazing thing it is to see how Japan addresses the same issue. I'm pretty sure the sorting would drive me utterly insane. Especially if I had to put my name on my bags! Even so, having seen the American alternative, if it was a community effort I'd really, really try.

[@jessicaneng5615]

Thank you for these videos about the critical infrastructure of a well-functioning society. Without the essential work of snow collection and recycling, we would have a less efficient society. We shouldn't take our infrastructure for granted. It's important for everyone.

[@henrikchristensen8458]

in denmark we sort garbage too, mostly like shown here, but we also sort food scraps, that goes to a separate container, and then it's collected and put in a chamber, and the gas from the rotting proces, is collected and used to heat homes.

[@joecanis484]

I wish America would adopt many of Japan's industrial practices and social norms. Japan has much to be admired.

[@southcoastinventors6583]

We have 72 incinerators in the US but most of them are old so they either operate at to low of temperature to burn all the the bad exhaust products away or do not scrub the exhaust well enough. To bad we will never do the way the Japanese do because of the red tape.

[@rikmichaels9233]

@@southcoastinventors6583No it’s not because of regulation, America won’t do this because our corporate oligarchy all leaders don’t change what makes them most profits

[@tomhenry897]

We already dump in the ocean

[@pikachuchujelly7628]

The culture in the US is pretty much the polar opposite of Japan, unfortunately. No chance of that happening.

[@oldtwinsna8347]

There is massive land in the US vs Japan to which it is cheaper to bury waste in massive landfills. There's also a lot of fake recycling that goes on - you will see the recycle bins but often the waste management companies just combine them all together with some token recycling going on for photo shoots.

[@slapyoknees2426]

I like how Japan is so particular about cleanliness that they make sure even their garbage trucks are immaculate.

[@kentamccarter9580]

I don't understand Japanese or any other language but my own, but I think Japan has got a good thing going for their Recycling and trash disposal

[@crcsupport3977]

What a amazing, even the truck is very clean and shine

[@Ayas759]

In the Uk they just dump it on some poor country’s shores.

[@AJ_Battle]

One of the different things we do in the UK is we have a bin for garden waste. I used to work this route and after we had finished collecting it we would take it to a farm and they would use it to make compost.

[@jtan885]

I love this video so much. It is teaching me what happens when trash are incinerated and how much less green house gas is produced compare to landfill method. Thanks

[@Lucky14970]

2:12 You gotta love Japan... They even have specific bags for super radiated sea monsters and transformers if they ever make it off the big screen!! Japanese, they really do think of everything, don't they?!

[@uss_04]

Always been curious about Japan’s trash sorting procedures. Thanks for the interesting video!

[@genzo53]

Those garbage trucks are cleaner than my country's ambulances. Also that big trash storage pool gives me Star Wars vibes.

[@jelambertson]

Not far away from Japan there are lots of countries that throw everything right into the rivers, the lakes, and the ocean.

[@bradschultz3358]

Japanese always do things better than we do ! Really impressive

[@_DixonCider]

Please clarify.

[@Daniel_0778]

You believe this, Sh*t? 🤣🤣 They clearly will just throw their garbage to third world country.. I mean they even use plastic for a single banana, what they did with does plastic? You think they recycle it? Most plastic non-recyclable.. Live in reality please!! Stop believe in weird thing!!

[@invictus1180]

Heh, not war apparently

[@valkrider100]

This was being done in Chicago back in the 60’s and 70’s . Most of the trash was incinerated to produce steam which was sold to Companies to use in making their products( Brach Candies ran their company on steam provided by the city). Initially the incinerators were to use the steam to produce electricity but before that could happen the EPA stepped in and shut down all the plants and now everything gets buried. Way to go government beauracracy!!

[@CraigFThompson]

​@@invictus1180I'm not too sure about that one; what continues to get under my skin is the fact that none of them apologized for their WW2 atrocities, but continue to blame their victims!!

[@ryguyryguyryguy]

Always good to have informative videos about topics like this that don't brow beat or narrow minded. Great vid, love from canada

[@MikeTrieu]

I'd like to hear more about exactly what "chemically treating" the fly ash entails, especially because it is so toxic. If it ends up in their landfills, if the end product isn't chemically inert, it will just create a leach plume that will contaminate ground water (usually in the neighboring poorer communities).

[@dustyfox6511]

Look up a paper called "Immobilization of fly ash from MSW incinerators and ash-melting furnaces", it covers some of the more interesting details. They basically powder treat it and chemically age it so decrease the leach rate. It's not zero, but it's far less than some of the problems historically recorded by storing pure fly ash.

[@Fractal227]

@@dustyfox6511 thanks for the answer, i have also been thinking what Mike were, i will try and find this paper.

[@Daniel_0778]

This video just buls*it!! We all know they will send their garbage to third world country🥱🥱

[@Fractal227]

@@Daniel_0778 maybe your country are that bad, dont automatically drag us fown to your standards

[@Daniel_0778]

@@Fractal227 I not drag others down, it just fact.. If japan already know how to recycle all plastic, you think people will still use paper bag? Or people go crazy campaign about how dangerous is it?? People will still use paper straw or metal straw? Be logic brooooo!!🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@TravelingSoloLogs]

Interesting topic, you always have great quality videos! Keep it coming! 😃👍

[@sgbuses]

Thermal recycling seems like double speak for waste to energy. In other countries like Down Under they are more upfront and ask Pura (soft plastics) to just go straight to the 'landfill/not recycable' category. Soft plastic is very difficult to be made profitable to be recycled.

[@summerbaby4600]

They don’t call burning plastic thermal recycling anymore, but “thermal recovery”.

[@DHuongLeHuynh]

I absolutely live your episodes on trash and waste collection 🥰🥰 Thank you

[@mikecsj1]

This is the cleanest rubbish-handling facility I have ever seen.

[@scottkew6278]

We used to do all of that sorting for recycling week. Once a month on a Saturday we took our recycled things down to a field where there were several dumpsters. Magazines had to separated from newspapers and waxed papers separated from all other papers. Plastic bottles stripped of rings and labels. Everything had to be washed. This was in 1969 in Marin County California.

[@samsawesomeminecraft]

to reduce the amount of CO2 coming out from the combustion chamber towards the chimney, it is helpful to change the stoichiometry of the reactants in order to produce less CO2 and more soot (the soot will be mixed with the ash, creating darker ash containing more carbon). Thus, carbon is sent directly to the landfill and it will stay there approximately forever. This also reduces energy output, but it is probably worth trying?

[@Patrick-pv4ud]

Japanese always so Clean on the Streets and elsewhere like it. Very Clean Land

[@bluerisk]

In Germany it is quite similar - and strict - only to have a huge amount lumped together and burned in incineration facilities (over 40%).

[@byronmillanicia3384]

What a Difference between societies, In. My country El Salvador, people are against building proper landfills, they prefer to dispose of their trash in rivers or fluvial channels!!! Education is such an important part of any society .

[@1sttigertiger426]

Thermal recycling (aka efficient and filtered incineration) is preferred than landfilling, which is the worst because it ruins land.

[@ernestimken6969]

Trash here on Long Island is burned whole. No separation. The incinerator is efficient making steam heat for local universities, and the ash is sent to Pennsylvania. There it is stuffed into burning coal mines, snuffing them out.

[@zachmoyer1849]

lol who told you that last part its just put into landfills centralia is the only mine on fire and it cant be put out and the land is all condemned

[@dans.8334]

I always look forward to your videos Greg. Learning about Japan and the culture, people, and day to day life is also educational and fascinating. So excited to study there next year!

[@AllocatorsAsia]

They're just so pleasant hey! Bloody love 'em

[@robinr3666]

I also live in a place that incinerates (Singapore) and it makes sense here. So I'm mostly pro incineration. But let's call a spade a spade. It's incineration, not recycling of any kind. Thermal recycling is a marketing term.

[@nicoletan9875]

the way Japanese use CO2 for farming ....can be considered for vertical farming here too

[@CraigFThompson]

You're extracting usable thermal energy; that COULD be termed "recycling" in a sense....

[@puirYorick]

We need to reduce waste not just change the demand for waste or switch the composition of the waste to another material. Supermarkets stopped offering paper or plastic to sell more durable carrier bags made from recycled plastic but there's no return stream for excess ones. I now have several dozen accumulated from grocery deliveries since the lockdown. I don't mind keeping a few for future use but I will never need as many as I now own. It's hard to think of a way to repurpose them. At least the old disposable ones made decent kitchen bin bags.

[@melmo5218]

Everything has got to go somewhere. Less things, less waste.

[@michaelboortz3383]

The cleanest garbage trucks I have ever seen!

[@jfederle1872]

Great video! I appreciate all the very complex topics you cover and your efforts in putting out balanced content. Thank you!🌺

[@TheCoolV1994]

Wow, everything in Japan is so clean. Even the literal piles of trash look clean.

[@mouadchaiabi]

Great video as always, Greg. Keep the quality content coming. 🙏🏼❤️

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

I feel like the north sea is gonna have some serious alge blooms after that plan goes into action.

[@Shield.148]

I love this system ! I studied this in a class call Environmental Science in college. We should use 100% of our garbage to generate electricity in the US !!!

[@colin4601]

Already in big cities that produce a lot of trash. Due to lack of land or high cost of dumping fees. It sometimes saves money in these types of situations. But whatever is cheaper will most likely be their course of action.

[@subliminalman]

Great video! Thank you for pointing out the demand problem of the equation where plastic supply is incentivized to keep up the ability to burn. Plastic consumption in general needs to go down and to make up for energy demands find cleaner methods of generation and storage.

[@tttdrr2293]

Wow even the station looks like it was swept clean. Good work!

[@mitchellrogers9586]

This is a great explanation of how the system works!

[@contactkelvinsim]

I'm amaze how much packaging Japan has for their food but somehow the streets are spotless without any garbage bins. Everyone seems to bring home the trash.

[@crawkn]

Burning trash isn't ideal, but the only alternatives are landfills and recycling. Since recycling of many materials isn't cost effective, the majority goes in landfills, which still pollute and emit large amounts of greenhouse gasses, some of which are worse than CO2. In the future I hope they will regulate what sorts of materials may be used to increase the amount of recyclables. Obviously Japan doesn't have a lot of unused land which can be devoted to landfills, so safe burning is probably best. It does save a lot of fuel, and when you import all your fuel, that matters a lot.

[@AndiFalihM]

Very well explained video about recycling Garbage

[@rabsrealm]

This is quite common in most of the UK too. In Scotland, I have different bins for paper and cardboard, glass bottles, cans, plastics, compostable food waste, garden waste and general refuse. Most of our refuse is recycled or composted and the little that is left goes to landfill. None of it is burned.

[@techguy348]

wish the USA had a similar system like this. I do see the benefits of recycling, but the way we are handling it is worse than other countries. Sometimes our plastic ends up in the ocean.

[@giovannifiorentino8947]

Complete content. At the end you answered the questions a was accumulating along the footage.

[@Fractal227]

the incineration plant in denmark is pretty cool and made as a ski slope and hiking area, i think this is much better than closed off areas as i expect these are. it is called copenhill if interested.

[@CommissionerLofi]

Love the thermal recycling.

[@dallassegno]

I love so much that people are solving all the problems for me

[@anjo93]

I love to see where sweden and Japan is a bit like each other. But yes it is always something that can be better in both Sweden and Japan. Like making less garbage and find new ways to renew and recycle plastic, wood, paper, clothes, cars and more. And I wish that other countries start too take more care of the garbage, the nature, there people and so on.

[@bettypelton7711]

This was very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I feel like here in the USA, we could do better with dealing with garbage.

[@NamitaKoshy]

Really nicely captured. Thank you for this education.

[@andrewturnbull5897]

Japan MUST explore thermal depolymerization! This would eliminate need for most separation of ANY organics and would create new oil! This can then be used as fuel with NO net CO2 production and will continue to generate the local community uses of recycling energy.

[@nicoletan9875]

i am impressed by their discipline

[@robsilveria2729]

As a Sustainable Energy Research LLC Japan is one of the best places to Research Sustainability applications! Thank you for sharing. Msoltec Energy Research LLC

[@erichorsan6993]

I understand that Japan has gasification plants for the burnables also. They also have a chemical recycling, different than mass burn, for plastic. Pyrolysis

[@johnhorner5711]

Great video! One technical note: Composting releases greenhouse gases. Perhaps less than burning, but the decomposition process releases methane and CO2.

[@Emmanuel-i1p]

Composting reduces GHG by 50%

[@aoume05]

I love this! As always, Greg is excellent! I'm an environmental engineer and I really enjoyed your "presentation" :D

[@herodotosofhalicarnassus1002]

HDPE could be recycled like PET. Burning it is a good use as waste plastic still has a high value of chemical energy. Can also be used in manufacture of cement and steel.

[@highbrand]

The pool and other facilities connected to Japanese recycling centres are great for local residents. So much better than the area around the local tips here in Australia.

[@5217tuber]

Nicely done. But: A reminder that the priorities to reduce (the need to create waste) and reuse (before your discard) BEFORE recycling would be in order. Convenience in Japan seems to create the situation where waste is inevitable, as so much is packaged in plastic.

[@pattherealdeal608]

Thanks for making these videos

[@MadelineRose-ep7fj]

I loved in Japan during the 1980's and was amazed by community recycling at that time. Solar panels were already in use. Witnessed the "throw-away" growth at the late 80's. Just recently watched a documentary on German and Norwegian technology with which Saga is probably based upon. Recycling of metals and the different plastics was quite advanced. Would like to see how large Japanese companies support recycling. 😊❤

[@KSRubberIndustries]

We make synthetic rubber sheets for footwear industry from wastage polyethylene thrown away single use plastic bags. More than two metric ton of plastic bags are recycled in a day in our facilities. Reducing overall CO2e emissions. And avoiding plastics flowing into river, ocean.

[@docmix]

A well researched, well presented, well explained, and impartial presentation. Thank you. 👍🙏