HOME > Useful Information > Mitaka City > Living & Procedures

Mitaka City will start to charge fees for collecting household garbage from Oct. 1st 2009.

Mitaka City will start charging for household garbage from October with the aim of reducing the amount of garbage and promoting recycling. By charging, we expect to reduce garbage collection costs as well as the burden to our environment.
Associated with the new policy, citizens will be required to purchase designated garbage bags for disposing of combustible garbage and non-combustible refuse.
We truly appreciate your understanding.


■Items to be charged:
The following garbage items need to be put into designated garbage bags.

Combustible garbage:
Kitchen scraps, non- reusable paper (tissue, photos, paper scraps, sensitized paper, carbon and non-carbon paper) and non-reusable cloth (rags, tone or soiled clothes.)

Non-combustible garbage:
Rubber goods, glass, ceramic, metal, leather items, small household appliances (up to size measuring less than 30cm), oil or paint cans or bottles (should be emptied), non-disposable plastic items (vinyl umbrellas, toys, video/audio cassette tapes)

■The following garbage items will not be charged nor will they
need to be put in the designated bags.
Please dispose as described below:

Branches:
Each branch should be within 80 cm long, and 5 cm diameter, and should be bundled not exceeding 50 cm diameters. Dispose of these as combustible garbage.

・Leaves, grass, wood chips.
Put into transparent or semi-transparent bags(plastic shopping bags are acceptable) Dispose of these as combustible garbage.

・Used disposable diapers( except for pets’)
Flush waste down the toilet and put the diapers into transparent or semi-transparent bags (plastic shopping bags are acceptable)
Dispose of these as combustible garbage

・Garbage collected through community clean-up (volunteer garbage*)
Please separate garbage correctly into combustible and non-combustible and put into designated bags. Dispose of these according to the collection schedule, at the roadside in front of a house or the collection spot, in the same manner as other garbage.
Maximum of 3 bags per household. In case of disposing of more than three bags or of not being able to dispose in front of the house, please contact Garbage Management Section beforehand.

*Volunteer garbage is the garbage collected through participating in volunteer cleaning activities of streets, rivers, or parks.

*requests for designated volunteer garbage bags will be accepted at the city hall or city government offices from September 14(Monday). Based on the requests, the appropriate number of bags will be provided (requests can be either personal or groups). For one personal request, up to 30 bags are provided, and for a group (of more than 3 persons) up to 100 bags are provided.

■How to dispose: combustible and non-combustible garbage (from October.)

①Please purchase designated garbage bags. Bags are sold at nearby supermarkets or convenience stores. The price of the bags bears a part of the collection fees.

②Please separate combustible garbage and non-combustible garbage. The collection schedule will be the same as it is now. Be sure to dispose of garbage on the proper day. If designated garbage bags are not used, the garbage cannot be collected.

③Please attach designated garbage bags directly on the items when they are too big to fit in the bag, such as umbrellas or bats. Use the proper sized designated garbage bags, as follows.

・Umbrellas, bats
up to 5: one mini bag
6 to 10: one small bag

・Plastic tanks (less than 20 liters)
one: one small bag

・Carpets or rugs
less than one tatami: one medium bag
more than one tatami and less than two tatami: one large bag

・Wooden boards (80cm long, 30cm wide, 3cm thick)
up to 5: one small bag
6 to 10: one medium bag

■Types and price of designated bags ( 1 set=10 bags)

Mini bags: 5 liter size, 　　　90 yen
Small bags: 10 liter size, 180 yen
Medium bags: 20 liter size, 　370 yen
Large bags: 40 liter size, 750 yen

■Non-charged items

The following items will continue to be collected free of charge. There is no change from the existing rules.

・Plastic PET bottles
PET bottles with the identifying PET mark for beverages (soy sauce, sake, non-oil seasoning))

・Plastic items
Hard and soft plastic product items with the identifying plastic mark (trays, styrofoam, caps on PET bottles, egg packs, vinyl bags, plastic bags, films, food wraps, CD, DVD, and polyurethane)

・Empty bottles and cans
Bottles for food and beverages

・Empty cans
Beverages and food cans( including petfood)
Tins for sweets, lids and caps made of aluminum /steel
Used paper

・Newspapers　(including fliers), cardboard boxes, magazines, paper scraps (postcards, posters, wrapping paper, cardboard, receipts, business cards, memos, cards (larger than business card 5cm x8cm)

・Used clothes
Re-usable clothes, underwear, blankets, sheets, terrycloth blankets, washed curtains (including lace curtains)

・Hazardous garage
Spray cans, aerosol cans, gas cassettes, disposable lighters , fluorescent lights, dry batteries, thermometers
Inquiries

■Translation of the garbage guide pamphlet is available in four languages (English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese with kana.) Please contact Garbage Management Section or MISHOP to obtain one.

■Mitaka Garbage Management Section, Life and Environment Department
Tel. 0422-45-1151 ( ext.2533)