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I know these Japan stories for Americans might be awe-inspiring, but man if there isn't crap loads of waste from all the products they sell here. Yesterday duri

I know these Japan stories for Americans might be awe-inspiring, but man if there isn't crap loads of waste from all the products they sell here. Yesterday during my grocery shopping each individual glass container product got its own separate paper bag, meat was given a plastic bag even thought it was already wrapped in plastic and my juices got another plastic bag. Even the wines I got were given this plastic wrap, just not to hit each other. I get that compared to the US the recycling here might be better (and yeah, I do need to separate my trash), but this is pure "oh so mysterious and oriental Japan so great" article. What help is recycling for if you're producing insane amounts of unnecessary waste.

MiiMe19 3y ago
[flagged]
rizpanjwani 3y ago
Yep lived in Japan 3 years - their use of over-packaging and single use plastics is insane.
kleene_op 3y ago
I still have the mental image of that SINGLE banana wrapped in plastic in a random 7-11 I went to during my trip to Japan a few months ago. Hard to keep a straight face reading that headline with that image burned in my mind.
- gomox 3y ago
  Individually shrink-wrapped fruit is also a thing in the US (and in every airport in the world, probably). But I haven't seen these [0] in the US. [0] https://ibeantravelling.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/6e290558-2c89-4aea-9371-2fc0937e79b9_1_105_c.jpeg https://ibeantravelling.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/6e290558...
  - ghaff 3y ago
    I have as Christmas gift items but not sure I ever have for day to day. There's also a huge amount of plastic kitsch in Japan. We probably are seeing more plastic-wrapped fruits and vegetables in the US. Part of it is probably there a certain amount of pressure to make everything barcoded for quicker checkout--especially at self-checkouts.
quicklime 3y ago
I’ve lived in Japan too and agree that they have a lot of plastic packaging on products. But from what I can tell they still produce far less plastic waste per capita than Americans (about half, before disposal/recycling/incineration): https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-waste-per-capita https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-waste-per-capita
- jansan 3y ago
  How is that counted? The last time I was in Japan they still separated "burnable" and "non-burnable" waste. So if you burn the plastic, does it still count as waste? IMO plastic is not that bad if it gets recycled or used as fuel source in power plants instead of becoming landfill.
  - imp0cat 3y ago
    They have so much plastic waste that they use it to build new islands in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumenoshima https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumenoshima
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- ensignavenger 3y ago
  Maybe we have more industrial plastic waste than Japan? My experiences in Japan are that they use many times more plastic packaging on products than we jse in the US. I find this data extremely hard to believe.
  - syntaxing 3y ago
    If I had to guess, it’s probably we (as in the US) consumes more. One takeout meal for my family is probably more plastic in weight than your grocery runs. My plastic foldable table is probably your annual amount. While it seems wasteful, plastic bags are very minimal compared to other items.
micromacrofoot 3y ago
they're just as bad as americans when it comes to excess plastic packaging, but at least they separate their waste that's it, that's the whole thing... everything else is like the rural theme park imagination of what japan is
yabones 3y ago
It's a cultural perception issue, mainly. In the west, when we see plastic, we think of litter. And we should, because there's way too many coffee cups, cigarette butts, and fast food wrappers lying on the ground in our towns and cities. But in Japan people don't litter. So when they see plastic, it's associated with clean new products. The trash still ends up in the ocean, but they don't see it happen - out of sight out of mind. The amount of overpackaging in that country is absolutely insane. But counterintuitively, they're going to have a hard time getting rid of it. Here, there's a decent amount of public consent for paper straws, biodegradable packaging materials, etc, thanks to the cultural guilt we have because we're surrounded by litter. Over there, people "do their part" by simply not littering - but that's not good enough.
- Ferret7446 3y ago
  > The trash still ends up in the ocean Huh? As you say, Japan doesn't litter. And AFAIK Japan incinerates most/all of its plastic waste. They don't exactly have the land to landfill. So very little, if any, is ending up in the ocean.
Auracle 3y ago
That’s not to mention completely tearing down homes and rebuilding them after a couple of decades.

MiiMe19 3y ago

[flagged]

rizpanjwani 3y ago

Yep lived in Japan 3 years - their use of over-packaging and single use plastics is insane.

kleene_op 3y ago

I still have the mental image of that SINGLE banana wrapped in plastic in a random 7-11 I went to during my trip to Japan a few months ago. Hard to keep a straight face reading that headline with that image burned in my mind.

gomox 3y ago
Individually shrink-wrapped fruit is also a thing in the US (and in every airport in the world, probably). But I haven't seen these [0] in the US. [0] https://ibeantravelling.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/6e290558-2c89-4aea-9371-2fc0937e79b9_1_105_c.jpeg https://ibeantravelling.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/6e290558...
- ghaff 3y ago
  I have as Christmas gift items but not sure I ever have for day to day. There's also a huge amount of plastic kitsch in Japan. We probably are seeing more plastic-wrapped fruits and vegetables in the US. Part of it is probably there a certain amount of pressure to make everything barcoded for quicker checkout--especially at self-checkouts.

quicklime 3y ago

I’ve lived in Japan too and agree that they have a lot of plastic packaging on products. But from what I can tell they still produce far less plastic waste per capita than Americans (about half, before disposal/recycling/incineration): https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-waste-per-capita https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-waste-per-capita

jansan 3y ago
How is that counted? The last time I was in Japan they still separated "burnable" and "non-burnable" waste. So if you burn the plastic, does it still count as waste? IMO plastic is not that bad if it gets recycled or used as fuel source in power plants instead of becoming landfill.
- imp0cat 3y ago
  They have so much plastic waste that they use it to build new islands in Japan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumenoshima https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yumenoshima
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
ensignavenger 3y ago
Maybe we have more industrial plastic waste than Japan? My experiences in Japan are that they use many times more plastic packaging on products than we jse in the US. I find this data extremely hard to believe.
- syntaxing 3y ago
  If I had to guess, it’s probably we (as in the US) consumes more. One takeout meal for my family is probably more plastic in weight than your grocery runs. My plastic foldable table is probably your annual amount. While it seems wasteful, plastic bags are very minimal compared to other items.

micromacrofoot 3y ago

they're just as bad as americans when it comes to excess plastic packaging, but at least they separate their waste that's it, that's the whole thing... everything else is like the rural theme park imagination of what japan is

yabones 3y ago

It's a cultural perception issue, mainly. In the west, when we see plastic, we think of litter. And we should, because there's way too many coffee cups, cigarette butts, and fast food wrappers lying on the ground in our towns and cities. But in Japan people don't litter. So when they see plastic, it's associated with clean new products. The trash still ends up in the ocean, but they don't see it happen - out of sight out of mind. The amount of overpackaging in that country is absolutely insane. But counterintuitively, they're going to have a hard time getting rid of it. Here, there's a decent amount of public consent for paper straws, biodegradable packaging materials, etc, thanks to the cultural guilt we have because we're surrounded by litter. Over there, people "do their part" by simply not littering - but that's not good enough.

Ferret7446 3y ago
> The trash still ends up in the ocean Huh? As you say, Japan doesn't litter. And AFAIK Japan incinerates most/all of its plastic waste. They don't exactly have the land to landfill. So very little, if any, is ending up in the ocean.

Auracle 3y ago

That’s not to mention completely tearing down homes and rebuilding them after a couple of decades.