The city of Nagoya started collecting small household appliances for recycling in February and announced April 11 that it had received more than 31,000 kg of machinery in just two months — five times more than anticipated.

The number for February alone was 15 times higher than what had been collected in a similar effort in Osaka, even though the types of appliances are mostly the same.

"This has been a success because we placed collection boxes in places that are easy to access, like the supermarket," said an official from the resource promotion department of the Nagoya Municipal Government.