Osaki is the town with the highest recycling rate in Japan, with 40 types of plastic, aluminum, and paper, which is classified, towards a zero waste (zero waste).
When the landfill in Osaki, Kagoshima Province, Japan is about to hold the maximum capacity, the town government does not count the construction of a garbage burning factory. Instead, they focus on recycling.
“I think waste management thinking should not start with a garbage burning factory,” said Kasumi Fujita, a member of the town council. She is also the Director of the Sustainable Development Council (SDGS) Osaki.
This town recycled 80% of the waste, the highest rate in Japan. Waste is classified by 12,000 residents into 27 different types at home and they continue to be divided into 40 categories in the classification center. The income from the sale of recycled resources is dedicated to scholarships to students in the town.
Towns without garbage in Japan. Source: And
More than 20 years ago, Osaki town waste was mainly transferred to the landfill and built in 1992. Recycling to minimize waste is the least expensive solution compared to the construction of a new waste burning factory or a new landfill.
In 2000, the Osaki people started sorting garbage after 450 community meetings for 3 months, with the recycling slogan “blamed and garbage, classified as gold”.
However, recycling only helps to extend the life cycle of the landfill, which is still full year by year, according to the Osaki Environmental Policy Department. The town is aiming to build a circulatory society where all resources are reused and recycled.
Fujita’s hometown in Tuvalu, a small island nation in the southern Pacific. In 2021, she moved to Osaki to work with the government, the business community and the local people to help the town prepare for a more sustainable future. Two years later, she was elected as the first female committee of the town council. Today, Osaki is a rare town without a garbage burning factory, towards the future without waste.