Tag - waste

 
 

WASTE

Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
May 14, 2019
Trash found littering Mariana Trench floor in deepest-ever sub dive
On the deepest dive ever made by a human inside a submarine, a Texas investor found something he could have found in the gutter of nearly any street in the world: trash.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2019
Talking trash: The sport of collecting as much waste as possible
Thanks to Netflix, many are familiar with Japanese clutter-buster Marie Kondo and her soothing remedies for the melancholy brought on by conspicuous consumption. Kondo is already a superstar in Japan, where closet sizes barely keep up with snowballing affluence, but she wasn't the first in her field, nor necessarily the most influential. She reportedly now lives in Southern California but occasionally comes back to Japan to oversee her publishing and mentoring empire. A few weeks ago, NHK took advantage of KonMari mania with a show about the ecstasy of organizing, but mainly had to settle for her local acolytes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2019
Tepco begins removing fuel rods from Unit 3 reactor pool at crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant starts removing nuclear fuel from the Unit 3 storage pool.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2019
No silver bullet for China's plastics problem
The country could make biodegradable products mainstream, but that won't stop its trash from choking the oceans.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2019
Awash with plastic bottles and lacking a law, Kenya struggles to recycle with help from Coca-Cola and Unilever
As global concern over plastic pollution rises, corporate giants such as Coca-Cola and Unilever are pumping cash into a recycling initiative in Kenya they hope will provide a model for other developing countries.
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2019
Cuts to usage of single-use plastics gain urgency
On a per-capita basis Japan is second only to the U.S. in the annual output of plastic waste.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Beyond Tokyo
Feb 24, 2019
As the world drowns in plastic, Kameoka in Kyoto and other cities across Japan fight back
Plastic pollution in the ocean has become one of the world's most urgent environmental problems. Footage of vast fields of floating plastic debris between California and Hawaii — now commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — have driven home the gravity of the problem, with scientists and environmental groups warning that the colossal oceanic mess imperils the ecosystem and human health.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2019
Japan's plastic waste shipments fall 30% after China import ban; experts urge action to curb usage
The country's shipments to Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam increased last year after China imposed the restrictions.
WORLD
Feb 18, 2019
U.K. plans new tax to boost recycled plastic content and get producers to pay for waste disposal
Britain is to set out plans to overhaul its recycling system on Monday, including making producers of plastic packaging pay the full cost of dealing with their waste and introducing a deposit return scheme for cans and bottles.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2019
Tepco to deploy robot for first contact with melted fuel from Fukushima No. 1 nuclear disaster
The owner of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 power plant is trying this week to touch melted fuel at the bottom of the plant for the first time since the disaster almost eight years ago, a tiny but key step toward retrieving the radioactive material amid a ¥21.5 trillion ($195 billion) cleanup effort.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2019
Japan, No. 2 generator of packaging waste, moves to ban plastic straws and cutlery in government cafeterias
The government decided Friday to ban in principle the use of plastic straws and cutlery in its cafeterias and to stop passing out plastic bottles to conference attendees — its latest policy on environmentally friendly procurement.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 8, 2019
Startup's 'water from air' project aims to turn back Thailand's tide of plastic
Staying at a hotel on the Thai island of Koh Samui in 2015, Meghan Kerrigan noticed the four bottles of water she was given every day were clogging her trash can with plastic. Outside her door, Chaweng Beach was smothered in rubbish.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 1, 2019
U.S. secretly shipped Cold War-era plutonium to Nevada, raising safety fears and riling lawmakers
The U.S. government secretly shipped a large amount of deadly plutonium from a South Carolina site that produced the radioactive metal for nuclear bombs during the Cold War to Nevada, the Trump administration revealed on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Jan 20, 2019
A Japanese city plans to ban plastic shopping bags, but can it push its larger neighbors to follow suit?
International concern over the environmental damage done by the use of plastic in various forms is now the topic of political and economic discussions across the planet. Dealing with plastic waste, especially in the ocean, is one of the long-term issues that Japan has promised to address at this year's Group of 20 summits. In the meantime, local governments, NGOs and business groups from Hokkaido to Okinawa are hosting seminars, discussions and conducting public awareness campaigns on the dangers of plastic waste like never before.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2019
Plastics and consumer goods makers announce $1.5 billion pledge to rein in waste
Global companies including BASF, DowDuPont, Procter & Gamble and SABIC have formed an alliance to fight plastic waste, pledging to spend $1.5 billion over the next five years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 16, 2019
Trash talk: Tokyo city opens bar in waste-management facility to spark environment debate
Like many Tokyoites, Miki Takara, 53, was sipping beer and indulging in specially prepared delicacies at a bar on a recent Friday evening. But something made this scene in Tokyo's western city of Musashino a bit different: At this bar, the only thing separating her from a concrete waste pit was a single pane of glass.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2019
Niigata government to dispose of radioactive mud stored since Fukushima crisis
The prefecture, located about 200 kilometers from the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, has been storing around 60,000 tons of mud containing radioactive cesium.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Dec 24, 2018
Nagoya community effort to recycle food waste wins U.N.-related award
A decade-old community effort in Nagoya to recycle food waste from supermarkets and school lunches to make compost for vegetable farming has been awarded the Biodiversity Action Award by the Japan Committee for United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNDB).
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2018
French pair invent plastic-to-fuel recycling system fit for African bush
A French actor and a self-taught inventor have designed a low-tech machine that converts plastic waste into diesel and gasoline, which they say could help fight pollution and provide fuel for remote communities in developing countries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2018
China's import ban on plastic waste pushes Japan and other rich nations to rethink trash options
China's ban on imports of plastic waste is forcing other nations, including Japan and the United States, to scramble for new ways to deal with their trash, including exporting recyclable waste to Southeast Asia.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree