The ‘Zero
Waste’ project: Town turns recycling into way of life
By Kenichi Arita The Asahi Shimbun
KAMIKATSU,
Tokushima Prefecture – ‘Waste not, want not’. It might be
the motto of this small mountain town in Tokushima Prefecture. Here, there are no
garbage trucks. What household garbage town residents don't turn into compost,
they carry themselves to a collection facility, separating out the reusable and
recyclable items. The town's goal is to eliminate waste by 2020.
This
no-waste movement dates back to 2001, when a garbage incinerator built in the
town in 1998 failed to meet dioxin control standards. Then Mayor Yoshio Yamada
decided to shut down the incinerator in the interest of preventing further
environmental pollution. Eventually this led to the “Zero Waste project,''
which was announced at a town assembly meeting this September.
In
Kamikatsu, waste is sorted into 34 categories, such as aluminum cans, PET
bottles, diapers, newspapers and leaflets, and batteries. In fiscal 2002, as
much as 79 percent of the town's garbage was recycled. In fiscal 2000, the
national average for municipalities was about 14 percent.
“Kamikatsu
definitely is one of the top (recycling) municipalities,'' said an official of
the Environment Ministry's Waste Management Division.
Also
impressed by Kamikatsu's recycling efforts was Paul Connett, a chemistry
professor from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, who visited the
town in July to inspect the garbage facility. Connett noted that other
municipal governments in the nation would do well to follow Kamikatsu's
example. Connett, who specializes in environmental chemistry, lectures
worldwide on the subject of incinerator-free communities. He advised town
officials to set 2020 as the target year to achieve their goal, emulating
cities such as San Francisco.
Since
it announced its intention to eliminate waste in March 2001, the town has
worked tirelessly to improve the environment. In that spirit, following the
advice of Connett, Mayor Kazuichi Kasamatsu submitted a proposal to the town
assembly in September, suggesting the council set a target year to achieve its
goal. Unanimously approved, the proposal states, “The town promotes reusable
and recyclable waste and will do all it can to eliminate incineration and
landfill by 2020.''
Surrounded
by mountains as high as 1,500 meters, Kamikatsu, with a population of only
about 2,000, is an hour's drive from Tokushima. The Hibigatani Gomi Station,
where residents can drop off their garbage almost every day between 7:30 a.m.
and 1 p.m., is the town's only trash collection facility. Because there are no
garbage trucks, residents are obliged to take their garbage to the facility.
The town hires residents to work at the 120-square-meter prefab facility to
instruct others how to separate their trash.
More
than 10 containers placed outside the facility and bins inside the center bear
labels with the words “aluminum cans'' and “transparent bottles'' and the like.
The labels also indicate what the waste materials are recycled into, such as
“construction materials'' and “raw materials for glass.''
“I
separate my trash at home. If it's reused properly, I'm motivated to follow the
town's rule,'' said Kimiyo Imoto, a 57-year-old homemaker.
With
the exception of large items and tires, the facility accepts 29 types of
garbage every day. The town also offers subsidies to most households to
purchase a device to turn kitchen scraps into compost.
“In
Saitama Prefecture, where I'm from, garbage is sorted out roughly between combustible
and noncombustible waste,'' said Chiaki Hasegawa, a 20-year-old part-time
worker at the town's welfare council. “At first, I felt the procedure was
cumbersome, but it eventually became routine. I now tend to buy items that have
less packaging.''
Kamikatsu's
combustible waste is taken to another prefecture and disposed of there. The
town cut the overall amount of combustible waste it produced to about 61 tons
in fiscal 2002, from about 136 tons in fiscal 1998. Meanwhile, over the same
period, disposal costs have surged to 292 yen per kilogram from 56 yen.
However,
town officials are still discussing what to do with waste that is hard to
recycle, like old leather shoes. But they have an idea.
“The
key is not only to separate materials when disposing of them but also to select
reusable items when purchasing,'' Mayor Kasamatsu said.
According
to one town official, “The answer may lie in the hands of the manufacturers
that produce the goods.''
Town
officials offered the example of cylinder-shaped packages made of metal and
paper, like those used for potato chips. The paper is difficult to reuse
because it is glued together and reinforced. And it's hard to separate the
metal bottom from the rest of the container. Although the container is
basically made of reusable materials, it gets tossed out as combustible waste.
Officials
will likely ask the central and prefectural governments to enforce laws or
ordinances prohibiting companies from making goods that cannot be reused or
recycled.
“Recycling
won't happen without manufacturer cooperation,'' Kasamatsu said.
(IHT/Asahi:
December 16,2003) (12/16)