(gentle instrumental music)
- [Female Narrator] To many foreign visitors, Japan's streets seem
surprisingly free of litter.
People separate rubbish
into different categories for disposal.
And there's a comprehensive recycling system.
Japan is a very waste-conscious nation.
(gentle music)
Waste was once a serious problem
but much progress has been made since then.
This time on Japanology Plus
our theme is waste and recycling.
We look at Japan's unique recycling culture
and the Japanese characteristics it reveals.
(gentle upbeat music)
- Hello, and welcome to Japanology Plus.
I'm Peter Barakan.
Today, I'm in a place called Hino
which is one of the Western suburbs of Tokyo.
And this building behind me here
is a waste disposal facility.
Rubbish collected from homes is brought here to the center
where it's separated into a number of different categories.
You'll see plastic bottles behind me here.
That makes it easier to recycle
and reduce the amount that actually goes to waste.
It's an issue that's taken seriously in Japan,
and today, we're going to be looking
at the theme of waste and recycling.
- [Narrator] In Japan, dividing rubbish is the rule.
The aim is to turn refuse into resources.
Bins outside shops are used
to dump designated types of rubbish.
In this case, there are three different bins.
(upbeat music)
More and more shoppers use reusable shopping bags,
avoiding the need for disposable ones.
(upbeat music)
And clean streets are a hallmark of life in Japan.
- So no one throws anything on the ground
even though there are no trash cans around.
- So I think one of the things is you actually have
to break down each part of the bottle, for example,
and in the states you normally just put the whole bottle
in recycling.
So you don't worry about the label or the cap.
- It's difficult to find some trash cans on the streets,
but anyway, the streets are kept very clean.
I just carry it with me or put it in my bag or in pockets
and when I get home my pockets are full
of papers and stuff.
But I mean that's much better
than having trash on the ground.
(speaks foreign language)
- And today I'm going to be talking
to professor Junya Matsunami
who specializes in issues related
to waste management and recycling.
Thank you very much for being with us on the program today.
- I'm very glad to be here.
(upbeat music)
- [ Narrator] Professor Junya Matsunami
teaches environmental economics.
(upbeat music)
For many years he has been at the forefront
of official efforts to reduce waste in Japan.
He believes that tackling waste can boost the economy
and improve society.
- I remember when I first came to Japan being astonished
at how clean everything is,
just when you're walking along the road
or inside trains or wherever it is.
What do you think it is
that makes the Japanese so fastidious?
- The Japanese have always been fond
of tidiness.
And since around the year 2000, the concept
of a recycling-oriented society has taken hold.
People have become more conscious of waste
and they're especially eager to recycle, carefully sorting
and cleaning their recyclables.
In Japanese culture people are very conscious
of how they're perceived by others.
Because many people around them are recycling individuals
feel compelled to do the same.
The Japanese have always been tidy,
but I feel that these days there is
even less waste than before.
- [Narrator] By the mid 19th century, the idea
of making the most of what was available was
already woven into the culture
of this resourceful island nation.
(instrumental music)
In those days, umbrellas were made of wood and paper.
Broken ones were not thrown away
but would be taken again and again to an umbrella repairman,
one of the many local repairs specialists.
(gentle instrumental music)
For wrapping and carrying parcels
people used cloths called furoshiki.
These patterned fabrics were preferable
to paper which is easily torn.
Furoshiki too were used until they were threadbare
and then recycled as cleaning rags.
(gentle music)
There were even workers
who gathered roadside litter for reuse.
Paper was especially precious.
Scrap paper was dissolved in water
and remade into toilet paper and so on.
At a time when raw materials
were scarce, an emphasis on reuse
and repair meant that little waste was generated
in the Japan of centuries past.
(gentle music)
The mid 20th century brought a period
of high speed growth to Japan.
Along with rapid economic development came a dramatic change
in the traditionally frugal lifestyle.
The term "disposable" came into use
and everyday life became inundated
with more items than ever before.
(upbeat music)
But this material prosperity brought with it a problem.
The volume of waste soared.
With insufficient land in Central Tokyo
to dispose of it all,
the only choice was to use the trash
for land reclamation in Tokyo Bay.
Inadequate waste disposal led to water and air pollution.
Incineration produced dioxins.
These were serious problems in post-war Japan.
Later, efforts were made made to reduce waste.
Technological breakthroughs brought dioxin free incinerators
and better recycling.
People's attitudes towards waste also changed dramatically.
- We've seen how rubbish became
a fairly serious social problem.
How did Japan deal with that in the end?
- In Japan the era of rapid economic growth gave rise
to a society of mass production, mass consumption
and mass disposal.
This was a feature of all the advanced industrial countries
and Japan was no exception.
But limits to Japan's available land area meant problems
for that pattern as there was no where to dispose
of so much waste.
There just wasn't anywhere to put it.
So what could be done?
Well, the recycling seemed to be the solution,
but recycling large volumes of unsorted waste
was prohibitively costly and energy-intensive
and the technology simply didn't exist.
It was impossible.
So there was a change in thinking.
In came a philosophy called the three R's,
reduce, reuse, recycle.
First, minimize the waste generated at the production
and consumption stages.
That's reduce and reuse.
Failing that, recycle,
and where that isn't possible things must be disposed
of appropriately.
- I remember going to a lecture once
and the person giving the lecture was an environmentalist
and he said not three R's but four R's.
And the first one was refuse.
So you don't buy stuff in the first place unless
you absolutely need it.
And that seemed to make a lot of sense as well.
- Yes, some make it the four R's, including refuse
or add a fifth R for repair.
- [Narrator] The ideals of waste reduction
and recycling set off a revolution in the Japanese mindset,
but concrete policies were required
to actually achieve waste reduction.
- At first, the trend was to address it as a moral issue.
That approach featured environmental education
and awareness-building.
This appeal to the conscience aimed to reduce waste
and stop illegal dumping.
That was the first stage.
But since then, there has been a shift in philosophy
to the use of economic incentives.
The idea is to express the environmental impact
of people's actions in terms of monetary costs.
So put out rubbish if you want,
but you have to pay the price for it.
At the core it's a moral issue
but moralizing has its limits.
So the shift is to a new framework in which it costs money
to take an action that has a negative effect
on the environment
and actions with positive effects are rewarded.
(gentle music)
- [ Narrator] Here's an approach that has
drastically reduced the amount of household waste generated.
Compulsory purchase rubbish bags.
The municipality sells officially marked bags,
and only rubbish placed in these bags will be collected.
(gentle music)
Refuse collection used to be free.
Once it cost money
there was a dramatic drop in household waste
and the overall cost of rubbish disposal also fell.
Some municipalities saw waste volume fall by 50%
while recycled material soared.
(gentle upbeat music)
To see a typical example of household rubbish sorting
we'll visit the home of a woman
who lives by herself in Tokyo.
(gentle music)
This is the rubbish sorting area in her kitchen.
- There are large bags and small ones.
I use them depending on the amount of rubbish I have.
This is the smallest size.
I want to reduce waste.
So I sort my rubbish as carefully as I can.
I never end up throwing large amounts away in one go.
- [Narrator] She sorts plastic bottles, scrap paper, cans
and other recyclables for collection as resources.
That minimizes the amount of waste that goes
into the paid rubbish bags.
- It's a bit of a chore,
that can't be denied,
but I have got into the habit of doing it.
Still, I have to say that it was a little tiresome at first.
Consciousness of waste as a resource
has spread throughout Japan.
One municipality requires sorting
of rubbish into 34 different categories,
enabling recycling of around 80% of local waste.
This leaves a mere 20% to be disposed
of by conventional means.
(upbeat music)
Introduced at the turn
of the century, compulsory purchase bags
have made a big impact.
- Obviously, it used to be that you could
just throw rubbish away in any old bag
and it didn't cost anything.
So wasn't there any resistance from the residents
when they first brought in this system?
- There was some initial resistance from residents
but over the course of numerous public briefings
a consensus was developed to implement the system.
Once they understood that landfill space
was running out, people were finally willing
to accept the change.
Nowadays, paying for rubbish bags
is becoming standard practice across Japan.
Almost 70% of municipalities charge
for household rubbish collection.
Over two-thirds.
So there are still some places that do free collection,
but I'm thinking they will probably switch
over in the next few years.
(air whooshing)
- [Narrator] Now let's take a closer look
at recycling centers.
Around 85% of the plastic bottles used
in Japan are recycled.
(upbeat music)
At home people first remove the caps
and labels which have separate recycling processes.
Then they rinse the bottles and put them out for collection.
(gentle upbeat music)
The bottles are collected on set days.
After confirming that no unwanted materials are mixed
in with the recyclable plastics,
the bottles are compacted into bundles of a uniform size.
(upbeat music)
The municipality sells these bundles as a resource.
(upbeat music)
Recycling companies purchase the bundled bottles
and process them at their own plants.
- We're down by Tokyo Bay now at a company
that recycles plastic bottles as you can probably tell
from all the stuff around me here.
- [Narrator] In the course of a year
more than a billion plastic bottles come to this plant
to be recycled from all around Japan.
(upbeat music)
- Now these stacks of bottles here
to somebody like me these are rubbish,
but you actually buy these, right?
- Yes, I do. These plastic bottles
were made from petroleum.
So petroleum-derived plastic bottles can be used
as a substitute for virgin petroleum
in making new plastic materials of various kinds.
- The uniform that I'm wearing now is actually made
from recycled plastic bottles.
- (speaks foreign language) Really? Can I just, wow.
It doesn't feel like it does it?
(speaks foreign language)
- You can make all sorts of things
and they're just as good as petroleum-based items.
- [Narrator] First, the used plastic bottles are removed
from their bundles.
- [Peter] How much does one of these packages weigh?
- Between 15 and 18 kilograms in general.
There's a reason for these kinds of regulations - any heavier
and a worker lifting one might end up with an injured back.
It's all done in accordance with Japanese Labor Laws.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] The bottles undergo a series of processes
to transform them into raw materials.
(upbeat music)
Colored plastic bottles are removed.
If they were mixed in,
the batch would become tinted, lowering its quality.
(upbeat music)
The batch is thoroughly checked
to ensure that no foreign matter is included.
(upbeat music)
Then the bottles are shredded into tiny pieces and cleaned.
After some more processes they come out
as high quality plastic flakes
that can be used as raw material
for a whole range of products.
(upbeat music)
- Here are some products made
from plastic bottles.
- And this school uniform too,
is that made out of plastic bottles as well?
- Yes, it is.
- [Narrator] A boys' school uniform.
Polyester made from plastic bottles is just as comfortable
and durable as the material derived from petroleum.
- These days more and more uniforms for middle
and high school students all over Japan are being made
from recycled plastic bottles.
It's definitely a growing trend.
- Wow, things change. (laughter)
- [Narrator] Other products include mesh fabric
for trainers, material for school bags, packaging
for detergent and many other products.
As well as producing raw materials for these goods.
This company has an even more efficient recycling method.
- To make maximum use of petroleum resources,
we developed a way to remake new plastic bottles
from recycled ones.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] The technology developed
by the company turns recycled plastic bottles
into new ones without using a single drop of petroleum.
That represents an optimally efficient reuse
of plastic bottles.
At present they can make eight new plastic bottles
from every 10 bottles collected.
- In Japan
there has been a nationwide push involving public policy
and education of consumers to remove labels
and caps and wash plastic bottles to make recycling easier.
The whole nation is right behind the idea of recycling.
That momentum clearly exists.
And that combined effort is part
of the contribution being made
to the advances we're seeing in Japan's knowhow.
- Teamwork.
(crowd cheering)
- Hi, I'm Matt Alt,
and today, I'm in Machida, a suburb
of Tokyo, visiting a very special recycling center.
It's special because they take large, bulky garbage
that usually can't be recycled
and transform it into products that can be sold again.
Let's go inside and check out how it's done.
(upbeat music)
(beeping sound)
- [Narrator] Large items such as furniture are brought here
along with various other things
no longer needed by households.
(upbeat music)
- Wow, look at all this teamwork
and look at all this stuff.
Everyday, how much of this comes in?
- Today we have a little more than usual
for this time of year.
Seven two-ton truckloads.
This is a two-ton truck.
And on a more typical day we might get five
or six truckloads like this.
- How about reupholstering this?
- Yeah, it would look great.
- As you can see we have specialists
in collection and experts in repair and restoration.
They evaluate the items brought here
and sort them into items that can be repaired
and items that can't.
They separate them.
- [Matt] I see, I see.
Wow, wow, look at this place.
It's like Santa's workshop.
So tell me, what kind of work do you do here?
- Well, it's a bit rickety here.
There are scratches inside the drawers, scratches
on the legs as well.
We'll fix all those.
It's coming unstuck at the sides here, too.
So we clamp it here and then we'll fix it.
- I see.
- Here's where we fix musical instruments.
- First, I look at whether the neck is bent.
If it is, I adjust the truss rod to fix it.
- And at the very end are you gonna rock
out on the guitar?
- (laughs) No, no, no.
- This is the fabric area.
- Ah, what is this beautiful cloth right here?
- This used to be an Obi.
- An Obi? An Obi? For Kimono?
- Yes.
- [Matt] So you've transformed junk
into a totally new product.
- Old obi are often stained or ripped,
but if parts are free from such damage
we can give the fabric new life in a product like this.
That's what we do.
- Wow, even I wanna use this.
I wanna use this.
Look at this.
Well, this is the shop.
Ah, and here we are.
Wow!
Whoa, look at all this.
But look at this, I mean the finish is just perfect
on these.
It's all...
Wow, this is really nice.
Come here, check this out.
I wanna get one of these for my collection of robot toys.
Wait for it.
Not bad for just,
wow 7,000 yen! 7,000 yen.
That's like 60 bucks U.S. dollars.
What on earth Is this?
Is this a meteor?
What is this?
I can't tell if this is a meteor
or a monster or giant soccer ball or...
It's huge.
- [Narrator] Apparently, it's a ceramic artwork
that had been thrown away.
- This is great, come here, come here.
This is great.
Now this is something you won't see
in an American secondhand shop.
Traditional Japanese dolls
and helmets and geisha.
(playful music)
Well, I have to say I was surprised at the prices.
- The primary objective here is not
to make money on sales; it's to reduce waste through reuse
and recycling.
That's the key point.
We want the public to be more conscious of this situation.
We want them to be aware that they're throwing away so many
things that could still be used.
Hopefully, people will take away the message
to cherish things they already own.
That's ultimately what we're trying
to get across through our activities here.
- Now in Japan there's an old folklore tradition
that the things we use
and throw out can sometimes come back
as monsters to haunt us.
But here's a place where they've taken
the things we've thrown out
and turned them into little treasures instead.
Pretty cool, huh?
Next time you're in the area
why don't you drop by and check it out.
Just don't forget your wallet.
See you next time.
(air whooshing)
- [Narrator] Rubbish from Central Tokyo
has long been disposed of in reclamation sites in Tokyo Bay.
Land reclamation using waste as landfill began
in the Bay around 100 years ago.
But the need to keep shipping channels
and so on, limits the area that can be filled.
The current site is the last one.
And even that is rapidly filling up.
This site has been carefully designed
to prevent contamination from leaks into the sea.
The volume of waste sent here has decreased
to 1/7th compared to the era of rapid growth.
Even so, that amounts to some 500,000 tons
of incinerator ash and non-burnable rubbish
to bury each year.
- And, are we actually standing on top
of a mountain of rubbish?
- That's correct, we are standing on a mountain
of waste in a landfill site.
- And presumably... I can see cranes over there now.
Are they emptying more garbage into that area now?
- That area is mainly being filled with ash
from incinerated household waste from Central Tokyo.
Yes, that's happening right now.
- How much longer do you envisage
this site being able to be used?
- Although the volume
of rubbish has diminished a great deal,
if it remains constant in the future,
we only have enough capacity for 50 to 60 more years.
No more of Tokyo's coastal area
can be allocated for reclamation.
So every effort is being made to reduce waste
in order to prolong the use of this site.
- [Narrator] Is there any hope of a long-term solution?
When this site is full, there will be nowhere left
to go for the masses of waste generated by the metropolis.
- And Japan, as we've heard today,
is actually in a much better state regarding waste
and recycling than a lot of other countries.
This is a global problem for the human race.
- The pattern of growth in advanced industrial countries
has always entailed the creation of waste,
but now we've hit a wall
because of all the environmental problems
that pattern causes.
The planet cannot sustain progress along similar lines
in developing countries.
It just has to be avoided.
So we must eliminate as much waste as possible.
And I think ultimately the need is
for economic growth with zero waste.
That has to be the target.
- Is that possible?
- I believe it is possible
because even though I'm using the word waste,
I do not believe that such a thing as waste exists.
Rubbish properly sorted is a resource; unsorted, it is waste.
Everything can be recycled if it's sorted.
We're starting to see that understanding reflected
in waste policies in Japan.
I believe it's only a matter of time
before we achieve zero waste.
- One thing that impressed me today
was back at the plastic bottle recycling factory.
They were talking about how,
what makes the process go so smoothly is the fact
that consumers take the labels off the bottles,
they rinse them out and then put them out for recycling.
And the whole thing is a big kind of group effort.
Despite the fact I've been living so long in Japan,
there's some aspects of the group mentality of this country
that still don't sit with me completely right.
But listening to that explanation earlier today
redrives home that there's a plus factor there as well.
And I think with this problem of waste and recycling,
there's probably a lot that people
in other countries could learn
from the Japanese mentality as well.
And with that I shall bid you goodbye from the wasteland.
See you next time.
(gentle instrumental music)
- [Narrator] Next time our theme is "Period Dramas".
What did these dramas featuring samurai warriors mean
to the people of Japan?
We seek out their unique appeal.