Fun With Garbage

The garbage schedule is something of a wonder here in Oita. I remember from my time in Tokyo in 2004 that the garbage schedule was a bit difficult to deal with, but out here it's just bizarre. How bad can it be, this garbage schedule? Brutal.

In America (and by America I mean the Bay Area), we put out the garbage once a week. That same day gets both recycling and refuse. The most I've ever had to sort was in San Francisco, which was cans and bottles in one box, newspaper in another, and lastly plant/vegetable bits. But get a load of this:

1. Burnable Garbage: Yes, they burn garbage here in Japan. You can smell it all over, a smoky tang that irritates the eyes. Included in this category is kitchen waste, leather goods, and plastic. Yikes!
2. Non-Burnable Garbage: Metals, glassware, small electronic appliances.
3. Plastic Containers: Recyclable plastic like packaging and bags.
4. Cans and Glass Bottles: Like what it says.
5. Plastic PET Bottles: These are plastic drink bottles. You're supposed to take the caps off and put them in with recyclable plastic containers.
6. Newspapers and Clothing: No surprises here.
7. Household Goods That May Contain Asbestos: Rice cookers are listed here. Seriously? Asbestos? No more rice for me, thanks.
8. Fluorescent Lights and Others: My schedule helpfully lists the following as belonging to this category: "Fluorescent lights and others." Gee, thanks.

This is a lot of sorting, is it not? But now the really maddening part comes: the pick-up schedule. It's divided by wards. I'm Nishiki-Machi 2. So I find my ward in the box on the left, and follow across to see, um, oh hell:

* Burnable Garbage: Mondays and Thursdays.
* Non-burnable: Roughly once a month.
* Plastic Containers: Every Friday. Tells you something about the level of plastic consumption in this country.
* Cans and Bottles: Twice a month. That's it.
* Plastic Bottles: Also twice a month.
* Newspapers: Yes, twice a month. Keep in mind that these non-weekly pick-ups are not all on the same day. Cans one day, bottles the next day, newspapers the next week.

To make matters even more complicated, you can't take your bags out to the little garbage shed by the street until the morning of a pick-up. Well, you're not supposed to, but we all do because, well, we're uncouth barbarians and also in protest of this needlessly complicated system. But the other day we all got emails saying the garbage people were upset and were refusing to pick up the trash, and thus the neighbors were upset (even though the trash is inside a shed where no one can see it, and it doesn't smell). So now I'm playing the game, like a good person.

Which means my apartment is FULL of plastic bags of sorted trash. Can't wait until roach season arrives.

Oh, and rumor is they just burn it all anyway. 

Comments

[rupan777]

Rice cookers used to have asbestos in the heating units, not the pots IIRC so you're probably safe. Also, I'm not sure if Kyushu has the same problem but, in Kanto, we generally don't put the trash out until the day of pick-up because of the crows and roaches that get attracted by the festering waste, especially in the summer.

[アリッサ]

Wow, that sounds awful. Its giving me a headache just reading about. Good luck remembering all of that. =(