「20260213_1」 Minato Ward has a facility called the "Garbage Transfer Station." It's a hub for collecting bulky waste and sending it to processing plants. I didn't actually go inside; I just passed by and took a look. Photos on Minato Ward's website make it seem like a fairly large facility. But seeing it in passing, it was much smaller than I'd imagined.

「20260213_1」 Minato Ward has a facility called the "Garbage Transfer Station." It's a hub for collecting bulky waste and sending it to processing plants. I didn't actually go inside; I just passed by and took a look. Photos on Minato Ward's website make it seem like a fairly large facility. But seeing it in passing, it was much smaller than I'd imagined.

Since tours aren't available, I've only passed by a few times. It's located near Shiba Park, close to Tokyo Tower, right along the Metropolitan Expressway Loop Line – dead in the middle of the city. My first impression was, "Why here?" The transfer station seems to appear abruptly, somewhat out of place with the surrounding landscape. Still, since bulky waste isn't incinerated on-site, the location might actually make sense.

At this transfer facility, bulky waste is sorted into combustible and non-combustible categories, compressed, and then transported to the Central Breakwater Outer Landfill Disposal Site and the New Marine Disposal Site. When I visited in the morning, there wasn't much activity visible, and it seemed relatively quiet. Minato Ward has a sophisticated image, but this visit made me realize that the infrastructure supporting the city's underbelly definitely exists here.

The Outer Central Breakwater Landfill and the New Marine Disposal Site are Tokyo's current final disposal areas, operated as an integrated system. They were developed by expanding offshore as conventional disposal sites reached capacity. While the estimated final disposal lifespan is about 50 years, it was initially projected to be around 30 years. Extending this lifespan was achieved through promoting recycling. Even so, it's a situation where one could say, "We only have 50 years left."

Concerns also exist regarding the impact of sea level rise due to global warming. Even if sea levels rise by 30 to 60 centimeters, the disposal function itself is considered maintainable, but it would require raising the seawall, reinforcing drainage pumps, and strengthening floodgates. The burden of safety measures will likely grow significantly in the future. Furthermore, the possibility of a major earthquake occurring within the next 50 years cannot be ruled out. Tokyo is one of the world's leading megacities, but if earthquakes, global warming, and the limits of disposal sites converge, the very nature of the city could change. In the 1970s, an engineer-turned-economist reportedly stated, "Humanity will not perish from energy or resource shortages, but from waste." It made me pause to consider that this statement might become a reality in the latter half of this century, precisely 100 years later.