Town Ties Linked by Paper Circulation - Background of Nakano Ward's Full Transition to "Collective Collection" (2007)
In the mid-200s, the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society and the Containers and Packaging Recycling Law came into effect in Japan, requiring local governments to strengthen their resource recycling systems. Facing financial difficulties, in October 2006, Nakano Ward announced a policy to abolish the administrative collection of used paper and consolidate it into a collective collection by town councils and neighborhood associations, starting the following April 2007. This was the first attempt of its kind in the 23 wards, and was expected to reduce annual expenses by approximately 100 million yen.
In the collective collection system, residents collect newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes, etc. on a regional basis and hand them over to a resource recovery company. A portion of the proceeds from the sale is returned to the town council, children's association, and other groups to cover their activities, thus linking resource recycling and community activities. After the introduction of this system, the number of victims of theft was reduced and the activities of the groups were revitalized.
At the time, the price of recovered paper was rising due to increased demand from China and other overseas countries, which also provided a tailwind, and the economic benefits of collection were significant. The shift from government-led to resident-led collection was groundbreaking, and the Nakano Ward model spread to other municipalities. On-site comments such as "children's associations collected together" and "the resources are a source of strength for the town" were heard, and the policy also led to the revitalization of the local community. Thus, Nakano Ward's total shift to group collection became a symbolic example of cost reduction and resident autonomy at the same time.
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