A town in south-eastern Japan has taken radical measures to eliminate all of its rubbish and declared itself a town of zero waste. Residents of Kamikatsu now have to compost all their kitchen scraps while all other rubbish has to be sorted into 34 separate recycling categories. The Katayamas are an ordinary couple in an extraordinary town that's declared war on waste. In Kamikatsu town, all kitchen scraps have to be composted at home. There are no bin collections. It's made families here more conscious to reduce the amount of food they waste. "It's a job," says this woman, "but it becomes part of the routine." Here is the rest of the routine - bringing all non-compostable waste to the Kamitkatsu Zero Waste Centre. The Katayamas and their neighbours have to sort their rubbish into 34 different categories. Yes, 34. Lighters and razors get their own bins. Then obviously, aluminium cans, batteries, styrofoam meat trays - washed, of course. Loo-roll holders, shampoo bottles - washed, bottle tops, can lids - washed - isn't this all a bit much? One of the organisers of the schemes says not.
NATSUKO MATSUOKA, ZERO WASTE CENTRE: When we separate to promote recycling, we separate many types of material - we can get very good stuff. Then we can get much economic value - that's why we separate 34 types.
Everyone here obeys the recycling policy but a recent survey showed that 40% of people don't really like it. That doesn't worry the town authorities. They think politicians everywhere should follow their lead. Anyone with anything resembling a vehicle has to take responsibility for their own waste. There are skips outside for large metal objects - paper mountains inside. The council say it saves them money and it is good for the environment. Is this a weird exception or is it the future for us all? The Mayor of Kamikatsu is urging the international community to follow his town's lead and make their towns zero waste.
