A Japanese town where citizens treat 80 percent of garbage themselves

How wonderful would a world without garbage be? While recycling and reusing are amazing buzzwords, implementing them as practices is a tad more challenging. However, it isn’t possible. The town of Kamikatsu in Japan has proved this over the last 15 years with an implementation in 2003 that enforced a rigorous recycling program. Thanks to that effort, today, the town today either composts, recycles or reuses 80 percent of its garbage. The landfill only needs to deal with the remaining amount that is more than manageable. As per the ruling, residents are required to wash and sort anything that is not compostable. Only then will the recycling center accept the trash. Around 34 categories detail out the items that need to be treated.


In a town without garbage trucks or garbage collectors, it becomes mandatory for edible waste to be composted for the greater good. This model may seem far too stringent for the rest of the world to employ it, but from the state the world is in now, we shouldn’t shy away from extremes.