Garbage and Recycling (ゴミとリサイクル)

The rules for sorting and putting out garbage and recycling in Oshu are as follows.

(Caution) You can download explanatory posters on this page.

Rules for Putting Out Garbage & Recycling

The Basics

• Both burnable and non-burnable garbage have to go into official city garbage bags. If they're not in an official bag, they won't be picked up. If your garbage won't fit into the largest bags, please bring it directly to Tanko Regional Sanitation Center or contact a licensed collection contractor.
• Burnable garbage bags have red lettering, and unburnable garbage bags have blue lettering. They come in two sizes, large (大) and small (小) for 4 types of bags in total. Official garbage bags are readily available at supermarkets or convenience stores.
• Recyclables do not have official bags, so just take recycling to the recycling station and put it in the appropriate container or net. Please bundle paper recycling with string.

Hours

Please put out burnable and non-burnable garbage plus weekday and Sunday recycling at the time decided by your area, and not on days when waste won't be collected.

About Garbage & Recycling Stations

• Please put out burnable and non-burnable garbage plus weekday recycling at your local garbage station. If you have questions about which garbage station you're supposed to use, please check with your neighborhood association or at the sanitation department at city hall (main or a local branch office.)
• Managing the station is the community's responsibility, so please be sure to keep it tidy.
• Businesses, hospitals, and similar cannot use regular garbage stations; please bring it directly to the Tanko Regional Sanitation Center or contact a licensed collection contractor.

How to Put Out Burnables

• Kitchen waste/raw garbage
  Please drain before placing with burnables.
• Non-recyclable paper
  Thermal paper (as in receipts), carbon paper, carbonless copy paper, wax paper, oil paper, laminated paper, sticker paper, sublimation transfer paper (textile paper/iron print paper), shredded paper, pull-open mail cards, disposable diapers, dirty/scrap paper, and other paper that can't be recycled goes in burnables.
• Hard-to-clean plastic containers
  Hard-to-clean containers for mayonnaise, ketchup, wasabi, toothpaste, shampoo, detergent, and similar go in burnables.
• Branches/sticks from yardwork
  May be placed in an official garbage bag or tied up with twine and placed in a garbage station outside of a bag. Bundles under 30 cm in diameter, and have no branches thicker than 10 cm or longer than 50 cm. Smaller branches, leaves, and similar should go in a regular garbage bag. Please don't tie up branches with wire or anything made of metal.
• Other
  Things made of leather, rubber, plastic not used in containers, or aluminum foil go in burnables.

(Caution) Please see the following page for reference.

Make sure to check the rules for separating out recycling.

Please don't dispose of raw garbage, metal scraps, diapers, or similar garbage at recycling stations. In addition to causing sanitation problems at collection time, this can cause mold and unpleasant smells, and items may not be able to be used as recyclables.

How to Put Out Non-burnables

• Knives (kitchen knives and similar), broken glass, other sharp objects
  Wrap sharp things in paper, label it with the contents or with the word危険物 (pron. kee-ken-bootsu, meaning hazardous items,) and place in an official non-burnable garbage bag.
• Home electronics (that aren't taken by home electronic recycling/computer recycling) and stove ranges
  Cut the cord, place the electronic in an official non-burnable garbage bag, and put it out on the appropriate day. The cord can go in non-burnables too. For garbage that won't fit in a regulation bag, bring directly to the Tanko Regional Sanitation Center or contact a licensed collection contractor.
• Other
  Crockery, glass, and metals that can't be recycled go in non-burnables. Things made of leather, rubber, plastic not used in containers, or aluminum foil go in burnables.

Please refer to this page as well.

How to Recycle

Paper Products

Newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes, paper cartons, other paper (paper packaging)

• Sort the above 5 by type, bind with string, and dispose. Paper packaging may be placed in a paper bag for disposal.
• Mail advertisements go with newspaper.
• Thermal paper (as in receipts), carbon paper, carbonless copy paper, wax paper, oil paper, laminated paper, sticker paper, sublimation transfer paper (textile paper / iron print paper), shredded paper, pull-open mail cards, disposable diapers, dirty/scrap paper, and other similar paper cannot be recycled, so please place them with burnable garbage.

Metals

Aluminum and steel cans

• Rinse out the inside, separate aluminum and steel cans, and place directly in the relevant receptacle.
• Food/drink cans, nori cans, pet food cans, powdered milk cans, and similar are intended for recycling.
  (Caution) 18-liter cans, paint cans, and spray cans must be all used up and have a hole punctured in them before disposal as non-burnable garbage.
• Please don't crush cans.

Scrap metal (Koromogawa only)

Place directly in the relevant receptacle at the recycling station.

Bottles

Clear bottles, brown bottles, bottles of other colors

Rinse them out, sort by color, and place directly in the relevant receptacle.

Plastic

PET bottles, white trays, other plastic (plastic packaging)

All types

Separate by type and place directly in the relevant receptacle.

PET Bottles

Remove the cap and label and rinse before recycling. The cap and label can go with Other Plastic. 

White Trays

Meant for white food trays specifically. Food trays of other colors and white non-tray packaging go with Other Plastic.

Other Plastic

Covers snack wrappers, cup ramen containers, plastic wrapping, plastic packing materials, plastic shopping bags, and other plastic packaging with the "recyclable plastic" label on them. Plastic packaging that doesn't have this label, or that's gotten dirty, should go in burnables.

• (Caution) Remove recyclables from the bag you brought them in, and place in the collection net. Do not place the bag in the collection net.
• (Caution) Mayonnaise, ketchup, wasabi, toothpaste, and similar hard-to-clean containers go in burnables.
• (Caution) Plastic buckets, coat hangers, videotapes, MDs/CDs/DVDs, etc. are not containers or packaging; they are not recyclable plastic and so they go in burnables.

Downloadables

(Mizusawa's garbage and recycling calendar is mostly the same every year)

About Electronics

Electrical appliances like Tvs, computers, refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners have to be recycled, but the way you can do this and how much it costs depends on the appliance and the maker. However, Oshu has collection boxes for the following small appliances at city hall, general branch offices, and all community centers (地区センター) in the city:

Cell phones/PHS、phones/fax machines、portable radios, digital cameras, video cameras, IC recorders, portable music players, portable DVD/Bd players, e-books, calculators, electronic blood pressure meters, stationary and handheld game players, car audiovisual and information devices (car navigation, audio equipment, etc), remote controls, AC adapters, accessories like chargers, etc.

The appliance will have to fit into the collection box openings (15 centimeter high x 25 centimeter wide).

Look for the green box that looks like this:

Why should I follow the rules for where and when to put out garbage?

Good question! In Japan, people in the local neighborhood association (your neighbors) all work together to maintain the area, including garbage and recycling stations. When you leave garbage or recycling out on the wrong day, or don't sort properly, the contractor in charge of collection won't collect it, and whoever is in charge of garbage and recycling (again, one of your neighbors) will have to clean it up themselves.

Putting out garbage etc. in another station (not the one for the place you live in) also causes problems. Extra, unanticipated garbage in another station could cause overflow and attract crows, for example.

Contact

• Oshu City Hall Citizens' Environment Division, Living Environment Dept.（Main branch / Mizusawa) Tel: 0197-34-2341
• Esashi Gen. Branch Area Support Group Tel: 0197-34-1622
• Maesawa Gen. Branch Area Support Group Tel: 0197-34-0262
• Isawa Gen. Branch Area Support Group Tel: 0197-34-0312
• Koromogawa Gen. Branch Area Support Group Tel: 0197-34-2361