BERSIH : Fukuoka's style

When I shared about how "BERSIH" ooppss I mean how clean Japanese public toilet in the entry The sophisticated-ness of Japanese loo made you always want to poo :p, Izza from mygolden pen's blog requested that I share about the recycle program and the cleanliness of public places here in Japan.

In general, the recycle program is highly related to the garbage regulations, so I'll blog about it today with high hopes that people who read this entry could learn something from it, and Malaysians can also try to implement these kind of regulations in Malaysia in the near future so that Malaysia can be as BERSIH oopppss I mean as clean as Japan *hopefully, Insya Allah*.

Garbage Regulations

1) Garbage should be put out after sunset, before midnight. This will help prevent crows from tearing open the garbage bags.

2) The Garbage Regulations addresses the separation of burnable and non-burnable garbage, disposal of oversize garbage and waste generated when moving, as well as ideas for reducing the amount of waste produced at home.

3) In Fukuoka, garbage is divided into 4 types for collection and garbage is put out in designated plastic bags for collections :
• burnable garbage (kitchen wastes, paper, rubber & plastic, leather, wood) --> RED garbage bags
• non-burnable garbage (glass, metals, ceramic materials, empty cans, spray cans, dry cell batteries) --> BLUE garbage bags
• glass containers & PET bottles ( PET bottle) --> ORANGE garbage bags
• oversize garbage

3) If you sort your garbage, it makes recycling a lot easier.

4) Non-burnable garbage and empty containers & PET bottles are collected only one time a month. Burnable garbage is collected twice a week.

5) Most apartment houses, dormitories and condominiums have designated places on the ground floor where the garbage bags are put out for collection.

+- designated area to put out the household garbage. pic source: here -+

6) Garbage should be put out in the evening before midnight. This will help prevent crows from tearing open the garbage bags.

+- video source: FIA releases a video introducing manners to foreigners -+

Those are basically the regulations that applies here in Fukuoka. It might be different in other city in Japan *in terms of whether you should be using designated garbage bags or you can simply used any white transparent garbage bags for disposing*. But in general I would say it is COMPULSORY to sort your garbage according to the categories as listed above.


I must admit that at first it took some time for me to understand which garbage falls into what category. Everything bought had to be separated into burnable/non-burnable, can/bottle and so forth. It could be so frustrating because we Malaysians aren’t so used to this system and you might not know what is considered burnable/nonburnable. So I printed out those pictures and put it in my kitchen for reference.


Even though it is a hassle, I can see the benefits and think more countries should adopt this system. I'm not sure whether it’ll work well in Malaysian or not, but we got nothing to lose if we try to implement this, right?.


Oh, and one more thing to note about Japan that it is very difficult to find public trash cans. There would usually be a bin (divided for regular litter and types of recycling) outside major convenience stores or in the train station, but if you are just walking in the street I suggest you bring along a plastic bag so that if you buy a snack on the go, you have somewhere to put the wrapper and then once you reached home, you can throw it into your household garbage bins.


-+ One of the few places you can find public trash bins: outside 7-11 stores. ~ source: here -+

Even with little or barely any garbage cans around Fukuoka, (which is such a hassle and you have to carry your litter around), it is a wonder why there isn’t a lot of littering, only the occasional cigarette butts litter streets. I guess the Japanese are used to the idea of being responsible on their own trash and not lashing the responsibility of handling the trash solely to the authority.


One day, I would like to see Malaysians have these kind of mentality like the Japanese (in terms of taking care of own trash and recycling). Let's hope for a better future to the young people in Malaysia!.

Pssssstt: do you personally thinks Malaysia will be as "BERSIH" ooopss I mean as clean as Japan?.

~ Thanks for reading this (^-*) ~