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TOKYO: TRASHOPOLIS

Tokyo: Trashopolis

Aníbal Sebastián Castro Ortega, ICT 7° Quarter

English Communications VI, Gloria Alvarado

Universidad Tecnológica de la Laguna Durango

January 26th 2020

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TOKYO: TRASHOPOLIS

Tokyo is presented as one of the major cities in the world, also is Japan's capital and the world's

most populous metropolis. It is also one of Japan's 47 prefectures, consisting of 23 central city

wards and multiple cities, towns and villages west of the city center. The Izu and Ogasawara

Islands are also part of Tokyo.

Tokyo has a population of about 14.1184 million people, and with that high population, the

amount of waste easily surpasses the 40 million tons per year, this is equivalent to around 925

grams of garbage generated per day by every person living in Japan. As expected, Tokyo is a

first world metropolis, and that leads to one thing; the Japanese government (clean authority) has

created an efficient waste management which has been improving to this day.

The mentioned management consists in a methodology that takes advantage of technological

resources and human behavior, the methodology is the following: 1-. Waste separation, 2-.

Waste collection, 3-. Incineration or disposal.

1-. Waste separation: In this first step, waste is separated and categorized by citizens in their own

houses, either by organic, inorganic, metals, plastic and others. The existence of public trash bins

is not a thing due to social security protocols which forbidden it presence.

2-. Waste collection: Once waste is separated, a clean team comes and picks up trash on a waste-

bus. The waste-bus has technology and equipment attached which makes possible the

compression of waste.

3-. Incineration or disposal: Waste is transported to facilities equipped with industrial machines

which makes easier the incineration or disposal of it. When incinerated, waste is separated once

again, materials as metals are put on a different category, and the rest is burned on a giant

incinerator. Electric energy generated is used to power buildings and ash is given usages as
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TOKYO: TRASHOPOLIS

paving blocks. Organic trash, is disposed on a particular place which has evolved into an island.

Today, the island is being transformed into a park full of green areas.

In conclusion, cities around the world are dealing with serious waste problems due to increasing

population and changing lifestyles. The city of Tokyo hopes to contribute to solving their

problems using its efficient and environmentally friendly waste disposal system.
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TOKYO: TRASHOPOLIS

References

https://smrtenglish.com/utlaguna/lesson/50/388