The Mayor of Kamikatsu, a small community in the hills of eastern Japan, has urged politicians around the world to follow his lead and make their towns “Zero Waste”. He told BBC News that all communities could learn from Kamikatsu, where residents have to compost all their food waste and sort other rubbish into 34 different categories.
The scheme was adopted when councillors realised it was much cheaper than incineration – even if the incinerator was used to generate power.
Residents say the scheme has prompted them to cut down on waste generally and food waste in particular. If the policy spread, it would reduce the amount of food waste, and so take some of the pressure off high food prices.
Kamikatsu may be a backwater in the wooded hills and rice terraces of south-eastern Japan but it’s become a world leader on waste policy. There are no waste collections from households at all. People have to take full responsibility for everything they throw away.
Residents have to sort plastic bottles (used for fruit juice, for example) from PET (polyethylene teraphthalate) bottles (used for mineral water) because PET is more valuable when it is separated out. There are specific boxes for pens, razors and the sort of Styrofoam trays on which meat is often purchased. These have to be washed and dried.
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