Can We Go Zero-Waste? Kamikatsu Spent the Last Twenty Years Trying

Many countries have vowed to transform themselves into zero-waste hubs within the next couple of decades as they hope to banish single-use plastic for good. Whilst these plans are inspiring, when you look around at your everyday life, it may seem unlikely that within 20 years you will no longer be carrying full bin bags out to the curb. Despite the recent boom in sustainable alternatives, single-use plastic is still everywhere we turn, from crisp packets to coffee cups, shampoo bottles to ketchup sachets. Imagining a world without waste is tricky, with many of us questioning whether this vision is truly achievable, yet one Japanese town took the challenge to turn zero-waste and is now sharing their results with the world.

Kamikatsu is a remote town on the Japanese island of Shikoku. The small community is surrounded by an iconic landscape as it nestles below green, thickly forested hills and terraced rice fields whilst down below, a river twists its way through the houses. At the turn of the century, Kamikatsu was like every other town around the world, either burying its waste in the ground or burning it, making the problem of waste invisible to the people who created it. However, in 2000, a strict new Japanese law forced both of the town’s new incinerators to close due to high levels of toxic dioxin emissions. Kamikatsu is a small village of only 1,500 individuals, many of whom are elderly and so the local economy simply couldn’t afford to build another incinerator, whilst transporting the waste to other towns was also a high cost solution. It seemed the only option left for the town was to recycle and dramatically cut back on their waste or face the alternative and live with an increasingly large pile of trash on their doorstep. When the local authorities thought about it, it seemed much simpler to refuse a plastic bag than to fund and construct an entire new waste plant.

By 2003, the town had passed a zero-waste declaration which stated Kamikatsu aimed to be zero-waste by 2020. This was an ambitious target as Japan is the world’s second largest producer of plastic waste per person, coming in just after America with its inhabitants getting through 30 billion shopping bags per year. Initially, the local community needed a lot of persuasion to get on board with the new project as all of a sudden, they were ordered to sort their waste and take it to the recycling centre themselves. Many individuals understandably thought that their local council simply wasn’t doing its job anymore but after consultation evenings, around 80% of the community agreed to get on board, with the remaining sceptics soon coming around to the idea due to the persuasion of the town’s new army of eco-warriors. Since then, Kamikatsu has spent almost two decades reusing, recycling and reducing waste in its mission to protect the planet, reduce its dependence on incinerators and help tackle the climate emergency. Reducing our plastic footprint can have a massive impact on climate change as 8% of all the oil produced in the world goes into making plastic goods whilst in the UK alone, incinerators release 11 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide each year.

So how exactly is Kamikatsu going about reducing their waste? Firstly, their recycling scheme has been ramped up a notch, with households now having to sort their waste into 45 different categories. You might wonder how on earth there can be so many categories; well metal is split into aluminium and steel whilst paper has many more groups: newspaper, card, paper carton, paper carton lined with aluminium, paper cups, shredded paper and hard paper tubes. Many households sort their waste at the large recycling centre in town where everyone now has to bring their waste themselves but first, they must remember to wash every recyclable carefully, even plastic bags. Polite reminders are sent out to those who forget to remove a label from a plastic bottle or nails from a piece of wood whilst newspapers should be dropped off wrapped in a bundle with twine made from recycled milk bottles. This may sound like a lot of work but by sorting materials to this level, the town knows the recycling company will treat it as a high quality resource which can be transformed into a new product. Some perceive this as a great example of community effort and proof that reducing our waste can be done, yet others see this as an example which highlights just how inefficient our recycling schemes are, with this level of sorting unlikely to take place either on a global scale or by paid waste workers alone due to the cost inefficiencies.

The town has made several other changes in its journey to zero-waste, one of those being the recycling store where unwanted items in good condition can be taken in and left for free. In return, shoppers can then pick up a sofa, cutlery set, pair of jeans or bicycle for no cost at all. The scheme has so far worked extremely well, with around 15 tonnes of goods being brought into the store each year and 15 tonnes being taken away too, meaning the shop retains a good turnover of second- hand stock. The store even allows citizens to borrow tableware so those throwing parties and celebrations never have to buy disposable plates, cups and cutlery. Hidden in the store is an upcycling centre, where unwanted materials are transformed into new products which are sold throughout the village. Most commonly, old kimonos are brought in and transformed into beautiful new crafts by the retired population.

Kamikatsu has even developed a form of new currency where locals are rewarded with points each time they refuse a disposable plastic item. These points can be used to buy reusable goods and the scheme is known locally as ‘chiritsumo’ which simply means ‘small things add up to make a big difference’. Local shops in the town have also strived to reduce their waste, with those who make efforts to source sustainable packaging being accredited a zero-waste window sticker, helping shoppers find the best places to reduce their environmental impact. Even the local pub has embraced the notion of zero-waste, with the new building being constructed from old, unwanted parts of the town. The inside walls are lined with outdated newspapers, the eclectic mix of tiles come from a range of other buildings, the chandelier is made from salvaged glass bottles whilst an entire outside wall is one large jumbled art piece of used double pane windows. Just like the rest of the town, the pub is filled with creativity, imagination and improvisation.

The big question is, has Kamikatsu reached their goal of becoming zero-waste by 2020? Sadly, despite extraordinary efforts, the town now recycles 81% of their waste, just missing their target, yet this is an incredible achievement with the average recycling rate in Japan being a meagre 20%. It seems a few of the products used within the town are simply unrecyclable, including leather shoes and sanitary products which are sent to their closest incinerator. Other waste products simply don’t fit into waste separation categories whilst others are technically recyclable but are not recycled by companies due to the high cost of doing so. Largely however, it seems the problem has been larger outside businesses which continue to sell unrecyclable goods which inevitably make their way into Kamikatsu. However, the community here is now highly aware of exactly what happens to their unwanted goods, leaving them more educated about the plight of our planet and ultimately, wanting to do more to help save it. In many places, our waste takes on an ‘out of sight out of mind’ quality as soon as the bin bag hits the curb, yet in Kamikatsu it is now a central part of the community. In fact, many believe this is why it was so successful. Kamikatsu is a small town filled with an ageing population and the recycling centre and upcycling store both formed new places where lonely individuals could meet and feel part of the community once more. The small size of the town also meant that this project was easier to enforce whilst doing the same within a city would be much harder. Yet this hasn’t stopped this remote village inspiring cities around the world, with New York, Copenhagen, Auckland, San Francisco and many more pledging to dramatically reduce their waste in the coming years. For example, the EU plans to introduce a new law within the next 12 months which will require manufacturers to ensure their products last longer, are easier to repair and able to be reused as we move towards a circular economy.

Despite not reaching their initial goal, Kamikatsu have decided it is time to start pressuring others to contribute to the race to zero-waste. They struggled to recycle all their goods due to the unsustainable nature of packaging deriving from large companies and therefore, their next challenge looks to directly target businesses and producers, urging them to swap plastic for planet-friendly materials. Whether large cities can adopt the Kamikatsu model is yet to be seen but their scheme could see large success in developing countries as recycling centres provide local jobs whilst people can gain the resources they desire at a cheaper price. If you have been inspired by the ingenuity and commitment shown in this hidden Japanese village, why not try and find ways to reduce waste within your local community or even your street; after all, small things add up to make a big difference.

By Neve McCracken-Heywood