What people seem to be mistaken about is that, yes it is recycling, but it is a required practice here. Japan does not have enough landfill space.
Therefore, anyone living in Japan is forced to separate their garbage into a dizzying number of categories (plastics, burnables, plastic bottles, clear glass, dark glass, batteries, cans, old newspapers, cardboard, cooking oil, etc.,). If you don't separate your garbage properly, it won't be collected. Many places require you to write your name on your garbage bag. There are central collection places - each apartment complex has one, and otherwise there are centers in each town (always within walking distance). Each city is different - some have enclosed areas, some have the garbage areas out in the open.
Below is a sample calendar for my city.
As you can see, the garbage collection days are spread out over the month, and that we must sort our garbage correctly.
- Burnable garbage is collected every Tuesday and Friday.
- Plastic garbage (food wrappers and containers, some plastic bottles, others marked with the “Pura” symbol) is collected every Monday.
- Waste paper (old newspapers, magazines, cardboard) and cooking oil: 4th Wednesday of the month.
- Non-burnables (small but un burnable items), spray cans: 3rd Wednesday of the month
- Cans, plastic bottles, glass, etc.,: put into separate bins, collected on the 1st Wednesday of the month
Bigger items you can either take to the landfill yourself, or call and have a service collect them.
When you put out your plastic bottles, they ask that you rinse them out, remove the labels and the caps (those go in plastic garbage) and then put them where they go. Some places take the bottles in plastic bags, others have a separate bin for them.
Below are two of the places to put out garbage in my town.
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Hime city in Toyama has an excellent site that breaks down what fits into each catagory.
This video should help explain some of it as well.
