hey, mike: Trash collection

I recently moved to Naha City in Okinawa, and live in off-base quarters. While I was very impressed with the strict regulations regarding the separation of trash for recycling, I still have problems figuring out which trash is in what category. Can you help?

— Mitchell Harris

Okinawa is quite a small island, and with Naha City having such a concentrated and highly industrialized population, the trash problem is overwhelming. It is estimated that over 10 billion yen of citizens’ taxes in the prefecture are spent on waste disposal a year. And, waste disposal sites are filling much faster than previously projected by the prefectural government.

In Naha, as well as other larger cities in Japan, trash is broken down into six categories, and trash in transparent bags, (which are sold in local supermarkets) are the only kind of trash accepted by sanitation services. These categories include: kan to bin (cans and bottles); kami to nunou (paper and cloth); moyasu gomi (burnable waste); moyasanai gomi (non-burnable waste); sodai gomi (large items); kikengomi (hazardous waste); and items that cannot be picked up by the department of sanitation. The cans and bottles category does include aerosol cans that are completely emptied. All bottles and cans should be emptied and rinsed out before disposal. Paper and cloth items include newspapers, magazines, old clothing, etc., and these should be bound with string (not put into bags). Paper trash that is soiled should be thrown out with burnable trash. Other burnable trash items include kitchen waste, wastepaper, small wooden furniture items, cooking oil, etc.

Although chemical-based items such as Styrofoam, rubber, etc, are thrown out with non-burnable waste in many other municipalities, Naha City now has the capability to burn these safely. in Naha, non-burnable waste includes small electronic products (such as radios, and pocket calculators), nylon, polyester, plastic, and bento containers. Large items such as carpets, bicycles, large furniture, and tree trunks can only be thrown out on selected days, which are announced beforehand. Hazardous waste includes small alkaline batteries, fluorescent bulbs, broken glass or used blades, mirrors, etc. Bags containing these items should be packaged and labeled properly—i.e. bound in newspaper and a plastic bag labeled “kiken” or dangerous. Trash that cannot be picked up includes large appliances (televisions 25-inch and larger), car and lithium batteries, automobiles, etc. To dispose of these items you should call your local city hail for more information and assistance (separate fees will be involved).

While this system may seem overwhelming to some, most agree that it is a small price to pay when you consider the alternative— the distinct possibility of a once beautiful island paradise turning into a huge and repugnant pile of refuse in the near future.

—Mike Daley

Got questions for Mike? E-mail editor@okinawa.usmc-mccs.org.