Of course, it’s a good thing to sort the rubbish, yes? Makes the recycling easier, which of course, is a wonderful addition to a cleaner and better environment, yes? Have a look at this NY Times article, there are places in Japan where they have 44 different classifications which you need to sort the trash into.
The environmentally friendlier process of sorting and recycling may
be more expensive than dumping, experts say, but it comparable in cost
to incineration.
"Sorting trash is not necessarily more expensive
than incineration," said Hideki Kidohshi, a garbage researcher at the
Center for the Strategy of Emergence at the Japan Research Institute.
"In Japan, sorting and recycling will make further progress."
One small thought, if it really does cost about the same amount, why must it be enforced by law? One couple even got evicted for not sorting their trash properly:
One young couple consistently failed to properly sort their trash.
"Sorry! We’ll be careful!" they would say each time Mr. Kawai knocked
on their door holding evidence of their transgressions.
At last,
even Mr. Kawai – a small 77-year-old man with wispy white hair, an easy
smile and a demeanor that can only be described as grandfatherly –
could take no more.
"They were renting the apartment, so I asked
the owner, ‘Well, would it be possible to have them move?’ " Mr. Kawai
said, recalling, with undisguised satisfaction, that the couple was
evicted two months ago.
One thing about the cost equations. Are they measuring people’s time spent in actually sorting through trash?
On a recent morning, Masaharu Tokimoto, 76, drove his pick-up truck
to the station and expertly put brown bottles in their proper bin,
clear bottles in theirs. He looked at the labels on cans to determine
whether they were aluminum or steel. Flummoxed about one item, he stood
paralyzed for a minute before mumbling to himself, "This must be
inside."
Some 15 minutes later, Mr. Tokimoto was done. The town
had gotten much cleaner with the new garbage policy, he said, though he
added: "It’s a bother, but I can’t throw away the trash in the
mountains. It would be a violation."
Um, so, each household drives to the centre? Carrying what, 10-20kg of trash? In a pick-up? This is regarded as good for the environment? It takes 20 odd minutes at the centre? Plus travel time? These numbers are included in the cost calculations? Somehow I don’t think so.
What has happened is that the clear financial costs which were paid by the authorities have not changed, but the time costs paid by the citizenry have markedly increased. Not a grand addition to the work/life balance perhaps?
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