Kodaira City - Lifestyle-oriented Environmental Policies: Perspectives for 2003

Kodaira City - Lifestyle-oriented Environmental Policies: Perspectives for 2003

The third phase of the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law's sorted collection plan, which started in fiscal 2003, clearly specified that the targets were organized into 11 items, including cans, bottles, paper, and plastics, and that municipalities would start sorted collection of all items in the first year. Kodaira City was positioned as a member of the leading group along with Toshima Ward, Ome City, Machida City, Kokubunji City, Fussa City, Hamura City, Mizuho Town, and Aogashima Village, making it an urgent task to create a collection flow line closely linked to their living areas and to establish sorting rules that are communicated to citizens. For the city, where suburban residential areas are spread out, this batch response for all items was the on-site implementation of "making sorting take root in every corner of our daily lives. fileciteturn5file0L17-L23

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's forecast at the time, container and packaging waste was expected to increase from approximately 995,070 tons in fiscal 2003 to approximately 1,012,408 tons in fiscal 2007, requiring an increase of approximately 50,000 tons from the 340,511 tons in fiscal 2003 in the estimated amount of sorted collection. Kodaira City's prior response to this increase was to raise the amount of resources to be recycled and stabilize the circulation flow of the entire Tokyo Metropolitan Government. In other words, it was recognized that the key to breaking the bottleneck in the metropolitan area was to quickly establish the recycling of household waste as a resource, and to achieve both quantity and quality at each stage of collection, sorting, and shipping. fileciteturn5file0L19-L21

On the practical side, collection efficiency is boosted by simultaneous collection using multi-chamber packer trucks, route optimization using on-board measurement and driving data, and detailed relocation of collection points. In sorting, metals are collected with high purity by magnetic separation and eddy currents, plastics are sorted by material by near infrared (NIR) rays, and quality and distribution efficiency are ensured by specific gravity and wind sorting and compressed packaging. We design a multi-stage recycling system to meet the needs of our customers, with paper and plastics sorted by material and difficult-to-process portions sorted by chemical. In addition, the city of Kodaira's "lifestyle-based" strategy is to implement recycling in the daily lives of its residents through a series of educational activities starting with neighborhood associations and schools, careful feedback when violations occur, thorough implementation of manifests for business waste, and
visualization of the best waste disposers. This was the core of Kodaira City's "lifestyle-based" strategy.