What Happens to Garbage in Japan

Ever wonder where all of the waste in Japan goes once it's collected?

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[-EchoesIntoEternity-]

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

[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.

[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

[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.

[MaddatMatt]

Cleanest waste facilities I have ever seen!

[pydepyper]

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

[Helioscore]

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.

[darekradulski]

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 .

[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.

[fiks]

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.

[volkhen]

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

[WhymsicallyMade]

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

[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.

[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.

[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!

[ayatollahlalalola]

those garbage trucks are SOO clean (and adorable looking)

[ObsessedWithDogs]

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

[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.

[clintromine]

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.

[LionOfJudah]

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.