Zero waste town in Eastern Japan
The rubbish collectors never come to Kamikatsu, a town on Shikoku Island in eastern Japan.
The local council decided to go “Zero Waste ” as it was cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying an incinerator.
Everything must be composted or sorted into one of 34 recycling categories. Environment analyst Roger Harrabin paid a visit.
reference from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7499954.stm
This looks like a good idea to me, or is it Japanese authoritarianism gone too far? Maybe we just have got it too comfortable here in the western world, too much liberty to abuse each other and the planet and ignore the consequences … what do you think?
You may also like to read these related posts
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Hi Kel, I thought this was a great video detailing what could certainly be the future. As one of the recycling plant workers said it’s good for the economy and it’s good for the enviroment. I guess Shikoku Island is fairly small, so there is not not too much travelling to then centre. To implement such a thing here on that scale would be a huge investment and organisation. It still gets my vote.
how sane!a large lesson from a small island, the video on Kamikatsu recycling is an inspiring tool.
it seems that if each person must account for each item thrown away, a philosophy of accountability will emerge from the careless consumption which has led us to mountainous rubbish culture.
Nadine - I love your words; you speak so eloquently and impart words that represent my truth too.
Thank you 
I used to live in Japan. Shikoku is not a small island, it’s about 18,800 square kilometers, bigger than Northern Ireland. But this video is about just one city in Shikoku. It’s true the Japanese do recycle a lot. I lived in Hiroshima which recycles more than 80% of waste, similar to what you see in the video, but with curbside pick-up in urban areas.
One thing that I don’t like though: the stuff that isn’t recycled is mixed with bulldozed earth and put on the coast to expand the area of Japan. This is called “Land Reclamation”. Lots of large areas in Hiroshima and Osaka are buildings built on top of this “reclaimed” land that would have been in the Pacific Ocean forty years ago. It’s not very attractive.
Good video though, I’ve often thought other countries could learn a lot from the Japanese system.
Hey Shannon, welcome to the site and thanks for your great comment - we live and learn and it’s wonderful to hear from someone who has actually been there and knows the places. Thank you for the corrections.
The idea of ‘land reclamation’ sounds awful 
Your blog is great btw; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this morning.
Leave a comment
To register. Before you submit your commentSimply check this box above to Join Gravatar
You'll get an email to confirm your registration.
MyZeroWaste.com is our family blog about reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill each week. Follow our progress, leave a comment or two, cheer us on and see if we attain our goal of ZERO WASTE! Check out our monthly competitions, special offers and monthly challenge too! Join in the fun, but remember, this is a serious issue that is crucial for the welfare of our planet.
Loading ...
looks like the height of responsibility to me, i wish my council ( and my electorate) was up to this!