Japan is a relatively mature country with strict garbage classification in the world. Whether in public places or in corporate households, strict garbage classification is required. Japanese residents are very earnest when they throw rubbish. They will bundle up the waste newspapers and books very well. They will control the moisture content of the waste water, wrap the sharp articles in paper, and put a hole in the spray cans to prevent explosions. Even a plastic bottle should be placed separately with the cap, the bottle body and the label of the outer packing. The bottle body should be rinsed and flattened with water before it is put into the special garbage bin. Such good garbage sorting habits are inseparable from the strong impetus of the government.

Strict law, there are laws to follow

Draw up strict legal system to ensure that there are laws for garbage classification. Japan has enacted and implemented relevant laws to regulate the classification and disposal of garbage. For example, the Law on Waste Disposal, the Law on Recycling Household Appliances, the Law on Classified Recycling of Packaging Containers and Promoting Recommercialization, and the Law on Food Recycling are all laws related to waste reduction.

In Japan, if garbage is not discarded according to regulations, it will not only face persuasion from government officials and pressure from the surrounding public opinion, but also be severely punished. For example, Article 25, paragraph 14, of the Waste Disposal Act stipulates that those who discard wastes indiscriminately will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years and a fine of 10 million yen, and that those who discard wastes indiscriminately will be heavily fined 300 million yen if they are legal persons of enterprises or associations. The law also requires citizens to report any discarded waste immediately.

In addition, the Japanese government also regulates the date of garbage collection, the specific time of putting it in and the type of putting it in through laws and regulations. If residents miss the stipulated time, they can only save it until the next collection day before putting it into operation. Therefore, there are almost no trash cans in the streets of Japan. Generally, there are only public trash cans in front of convenience stores and vending machines, or temporary trash cans when holding large-scale events.

Detailed criteria, based on evidence

In the early stage of garbage classification, the Japanese only divided garbage into combustible and non-combustible categories, and the classification effect was not obvious. Nowadays, the degree of refinement and complexity of garbage classification in Japan has far exceeded the original idea. They classify garbage into combustible, nonflammable, resource, coarse and harmful categories, which are subdivided into several sub projects, and each sub project can be divided into sub projects.

For example, the municipal solid waste in Xinjubang City of Aiyuan County can be divided into eight categories: combustible garbage, non-combustible garbage, plastic containers and packaging, bottles and cans, plastic bottles marked with PET (polyethylene terephthalate), waste paper, harmful garbage and large garbage.

Yokohama divided the criteria for garbage classification into more detailed categories and distributed a 27-page Handbook with 518 items to each citizen.

At the same time, local governments have formulated detailed regulations for different types of garbage. For example, Xinjubang Municipal Government stipulates that burnable garbage, non-combustible garbage, plastic containers and packaging should be packed in transparent or translucent garbage bags below 45L. Bottles and cans, as well as plastic bottles marked with PET, should be placed in designated pockets, while large garbage must be collected at home. Yokohama Municipal Government's regulations are clearer, stipulating that lipstick belongs to combustible substances, but when used up, lipstick tubes belong to small metal substances, and kettles under 12 inches belong to small metal substances, and over 12 inches belong to huge waste. Only one sock belongs to combustible material. If two socks are not worn out and matched with left and right feet, they are classified as old clothing.

Garbage Charge, Popularization Awareness

Japan implements the system of collecting garbage by volume. Residents have to pay more if they throw away more garbage. In order to encourage recycling, Japan collects and transports harmful waste and resource waste free of charge, and collects and transports combustible waste and non-combustible waste according to the volume of waste. Residents are required to purchase special garbage bags at designated locations. These bags are divided into different colors and are marked with serial numbers and volume sizes. Different volumes of garbage bags have different prices. The price of garbage bags includes the cost of garbage collection, transportation and disposal.

In addition, in order to do a good job of supervision, many places require the implementation of "real-name system" on garbage bags. For large-scale garbage that can not be put into garbage bags, contact the garbage processing center. For example, TV, washing machine, refrigerator and so on, they must contact the home appliances recycling processing center. They also have to go to the post office to pay the cost of resource reuse first, and then take the receipt to transport the waste appliances to the designated disposal site.

In order to promote garbage sorting and recycling, Japan's education on garbage sorting and recycling starts with "dolls". Children are taught to handle garbage correctly from an early age. The school will organize students to visit garbage disposal plants in residential areas to guide students to truly feel the consequences of not doing a good job of garbage classification. The government's environmental management departments regularly organize lectures to teach residents about circular economy and popularize environmental awareness.

At the same time, the Japanese government will issue a special "calendar" to every household at the end of each year, which is equipped with cartoons of various kinds of garbage to help people classify correctly. More importantly, on the calendar, the dates of each month are marked with different colors, such as yellow, green and blue, which represent the information of the garbage collection day. Each color indicates what kind of garbage can be thrown on which day. Even if there is no "calendar", residents can get to know about garbage through the municipal newspapers, official government websites and so on.