New to Japan, where do I get rid of garbage

Hello

A friend of mine just moved to Japan and got an apartment.

He is getting new furniture and things that come in boxes.

Not sure yet if the apartment has some where to dispose of the packing waste.

I the USA most apartments have big dumpster and you just throw it in.

I have seen beds and couches thrown directly into the dumpsters in USA.

Their appears to be a door that has a trash symbol on it , he is not yet
sure how to get into this ?

What is Normal in Japan apartments for getting rid of trash ?

Mark_USA1 said:

Hello

A friend of mine just moved to Japan and got an apartment.

He is getting new furniture and things that come in boxes.

Not sure yet if the apartment has some where to dispose of the packing waste.

I the USA most apartments have big dumpster and you just throw it in.

I have seen beds and couches thrown directly into the dumpsters in USA.

Their appears to be a door that has a trash symbol on it , he is not yet
sure how to get into this ?

What is Normal in Japan apartments for getting rid of trash ?

Click to expand...

There are strict rules for handling garbage generally split into recyclables, burnable, non-burnable and oversize. There are often rules about the exact types of garbage bags to use as well. The municipality will have a handbook. And the apartment manager should provide some guidance. Minimally a key or code to get into the garbage room. Your friend's best bet is to ask the apartment management for the rules/details. There is definitely NOT a dumpster where you throw everything indiscriminately like you often find in the USA.

This video gives a general overview. Note about 25 seconds in is a notice of the garbage collection schedule for each type of garbage. The apartment might allow drop off of all types all the time or there might be an expectation that the posted schedule is followed. If so there should a notice posted similar to this one.

What city does your friend live in? How good are his Japanese reading skills?

That video is a good overview of garbage in Japan, but the local details are important, too. For example, where I lived in Aichi Prefecture in the naughties, there were no blue nets per the video, and the non-burnable garbage rules were quite complex. We had these burlap-type reusable bags that were color-coded for the different types of garbage, and each color had its own schedule for pickup.

There certainly was no large dumpster at the apartment building!

As @mdchachi mentioned, the municipality will have a guide. That is the best resource. If the apartment building has a manager (mine didn't), they would be another good resource.

Mikawa Ossan said:

What city does your friend live in? How good are his Japanese reading skills?

That video is a good overview of garbage in Japan, but the local details are important, too. For example, where I lived in Aichi Prefecture in the naughties, there were no blue nets per the video, and the non-burnable garbage rules were quite complex. We had these burlap-type reusable bags that were color-coded for the different types of garbage, and each color had its own schedule for pickup.

There certainly was no large dumpster at the apartment building!

As @mdchachi mentioned, the municipality will have a guide. That is the best resource. If the apartment building has a manager (mine didn't), they would be another good resource.

Click to expand...

Those were very naughty times especially in Aichi.