Countries with the Most Interesting Waste Sorting Culture 各國垃圾分類趣談

阿曼達(dá)·巴林尼

Different countries have different waste sorting system. The rules applied in one’s country are most likely depending on the country’s waste management technologies available， also the country’s government future plan.

What Indonesians do with their trashes

One thing for sure： it’s never too hard to throw your garbage in Indonesia. What Indonesians commonly do is putting our trashes in our personal garbage area which usually located at the front of our house， right at the side of the street. Put it there， and the garbage collectors with their big garbage truck or rusty garbage stroller will pick our trashes up.

Things aren’t quite different if you live in the apartment complex in Indonesia. Collect it， wrap it in a tight plastic bag if you wish， then put it outside your room or a special corner in your floor hallway， designated for a waste collection area.

Waste collection bill in Indonesia is expected to be paid personally to the garbage collection agent—no tax added， it’s simply a cost for garbage workers fee and garbage truck transportation fee. Bring your wastes to your nearest dumping site or landfill and you don’t need to pay for anything.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

Imagine how much culture shock an Indonesian would suffer when they—let’s say—living in a country famous for its sophisticated waste sorting system such as Japan， South Korea or Germany—a place where public-shaming1 and penalty fee for a failure in obeying the waste sorting rules is more likely to happen？

Germany： The leader of the world’s waste-recycling race

Germany is the country with the world’s number one recycling system. The country has a quite detailed way of sorting their waste—down to the colour of the glass waste you wished to throw away， the type of paper that could be put inside the paper waste bin， separate bin for metals， another different bin for plastic， another different bin for ceramic or broken glass， etc.

Here below are what you should know about Germany’s waste sorting system：

· You are expected to gather your waste in your apartment/housing area’s local public garbage bins along with the other residents.

· There are commonly 7 public garbage bins available in the German’s apartment/housing area：

1. Blue bin—for paper and cardboard， greasy pizza box goes to the gray bin！

2. Green and white bin—for glass， different bins for different glass colors， not available for Christmas ornaments and light bulbs！

3. Yellow/orange bin—for plastic and metals

4. Brown bin—biodegradable2 goods

5. Gray/black bin—everything else that can’t be recycled such as used diaper， kitty litter， animal waste， and ashes

· Some items do not belong in your apartment/housing area’s public garbage bins. Items like used batteries， electronics， unused paints， light bulbs， and appliances must be returned to the special agents/locations so they can be recycled. Other items such as clothes， shoes， and oversized trash and furniture are advised to be sold or donated.

· There’s this thing called Pfand3 in Germany， a certain portion of the price on a bottled drink that you get back if you return said bottle to a certified outlet. German law requires all shops over a certain size selling bottled drinks have to have a Pfandrückgabestelle4， or place to return bottles with deposits.

South Korea： A role model in the effort of reducing waste

South Koreans used to not really care about how to sort their waste too， but in the year 1995， their government took a different path from most of the other countries： they establish a systematic and strict waste management standard to ensure the stability of their future economy. Their government knows for sure that a good waste management system brings lots of good things： money-saving， environment-caring， and that means more opportunities to grow and expand.

South Korea’s success in changing their people’s behavior and mindset towards waste management is a given5， considering how thorough and how strong their intentions in reducing waste. They did almost everything to ensure their waste reduction， the monetary rewards for offender’s information are just one of them.

One of the most notable technologies that South Koreans use in their waste management system is the electronic food waste bin equipped with RFID （Radio-Frequency Identification）6. People will have to tap their identification card before they could throw their waste into the public garbage bin. The garbage bin will then measure the weight of the trashes， calculate and accumulate it， and then send the garbage bill to the said person.

The food waste reduction is done not only by preventing their residents to make it in the first place， but also by utilizing it as their cattle food and biogas7 material.

Here below several interesting things you might want to know about South Korea’s waste management system.

Almost similar to Germany， a public garbage area existed in the housing/apartment in South Korea. You are expected to sort your waste without fail8 and put it into the right disposal bins. Here are the types of garbage bin provided in South Korea：

· Food Waste， anything that could be eaten by animals

· Recyclable Waste

· Oversized Waste， mostly electronic and furniture

· General Waste， anything that doesn’t belong to the other types

It might sound much simpler but don’t be too careless， because South Korea has a pretty strict rule and many exceptions about what items considered as what waste and so on.

For instance， because food waste bin is reserved for anything that can be eaten by animals， eggshells， crustacean shells， and bones are fairly prohibited from it. You are going to have to separate the bones from your meat waste， put the meat waste in the food waste bin and put the rest of the bones in the general waste bin.

Another thing to keep in mind about South Korea’s waste management system：

· Each district in South Korea has its own official garbage bag. You will have to use the one that is exclusive to the place you live in. The garbage bags could be bought at the local supermarket.

· In South Korea， the cost of garbage collection and disposal is included in the price of the garbage bags you purchase. This is why South Korea is setting the price of their garbage bags based on the type of waste and the volume of it.

A thought for the day

Rome isn’t built in a day， the same thing applies to a great waste management system. It’s a collective kind of efforts， it has to be supported by the government and all the people， it should be started by a simple way of waste sorting， and it needs to begin from our home. Proper waste sorting isn’t a hard thing to learn and remember， but it needs to be supported by your family members and your surroundings in order for you to gain benefits from it.

不同國家有不同的廢棄物分類體系。各國采取的規(guī)則通常取決于該國現(xiàn)有的廢棄物管理技術(shù)以及政府的未來規(guī)劃。

印尼人如何處理垃圾

有一件事可以肯定：在印尼扔垃圾從來不會(huì)太難。印尼人通常將垃圾放置在個(gè)人垃圾區(qū)域內(nèi)，一般位于屋前、緊靠路邊。之后，垃圾回收人員會(huì)用大型垃圾卡車或鐵銹色垃圾推車將垃圾收走。

如果住在印尼的公寓樓里，情況也大同小異。將垃圾集中起來，愿意的話可以用塑料袋包緊，再放于房門外或樓道里指定作為垃圾回收區(qū)域的專用角落即可。

在印尼，垃圾回收費(fèi)用應(yīng)由個(gè)人支付給垃圾回收機(jī)構(gòu)——無須繳稅，僅包括垃圾工的人力和垃圾車的運(yùn)輸費(fèi)用。如果自己將垃圾送至最近的垃圾場(chǎng)或填埋場(chǎng)，則無須支付任何費(fèi)用。

僅此而已，就這么簡單。

試想一下，印尼人若是住在以成熟的廢棄物分類體系聞名的國家，比如日本、韓國或德國，會(huì)遭受多么嚴(yán)重的文化沖擊？——在這些國家，不遵守廢棄物分類規(guī)定往往為人所不齒，還會(huì)被處以罰款。

德國：全球廢棄物循環(huán)利用領(lǐng)先者

德國擁有世界最好的循環(huán)利用體系。該國的廢棄物分類十分細(xì)致——細(xì)到根據(jù)玻璃的顏色分別丟棄，根據(jù)紙張的類型確定能否扔進(jìn)紙張回收箱，金屬、塑料、陶瓷、碎玻璃等也都有各自不同的回收箱。

關(guān)于德國的廢棄物分類體系，應(yīng)當(dāng)了解以下這些信息：

·須和其他住戶一樣，將垃圾集中至所在公寓/住宅區(qū)的公共垃圾箱中。

·德國的公寓/住宅區(qū)通常提供七種垃圾箱：

1. 藍(lán)箱——投放紙張和紙板，油膩的披薩盒要投進(jìn)灰箱中！

2. 綠白箱——投放玻璃，不同顏色的玻璃投進(jìn)不同的箱子，不接受圣誕裝飾和燈泡！

3. 黃/橙箱——投放塑料和金屬

4. 棕箱——可生物降解的產(chǎn)品

5. 灰/黑箱——所有其他不能循環(huán)利用的東西，比如用過的尿布、貓砂、動(dòng)物廢棄物和灰燼

·有些物品不能扔進(jìn)所在公寓/住宅區(qū)的公共垃圾箱內(nèi)。包括使用過的電池、電子產(chǎn)品、未使用過的涂料、燈泡和家電在內(nèi)的物品，須送回專門機(jī)構(gòu)/地點(diǎn)進(jìn)行回收利用。其他物品，如衣物、鞋子以及大型垃圾和家具，建議出售或捐贈(zèng)。

·在德國，還有所謂的飲料瓶押金，占瓶裝飲料價(jià)格的一定比例，如果將瓶子送回經(jīng)過認(rèn)證的商場(chǎng)，即可退還押金。德國法律規(guī)定，所有超過一定規(guī)模且銷售瓶裝飲料的商店，都須設(shè)置押金退還點(diǎn)，回收附帶押金的飲料瓶。

韓國：減少廢棄物的楷模

韓國人也曾對(duì)廢棄物分類毫不在意，但1995年，該國政府和多數(shù)其他國家選擇了不同的道路：通過建立系統(tǒng)、嚴(yán)格的廢棄物管理標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，確保未來的經(jīng)濟(jì)穩(wěn)定。韓國政府確信，好的廢棄物管理體系能帶來諸多益處：省錢、環(huán)保，從而獲得更多增長和發(fā)展的機(jī)會(huì)。

鑒于韓國減少廢棄物的決心之徹底和強(qiáng)烈，國民有關(guān)廢棄物管理的行為和心態(tài)得以成功轉(zhuǎn)變不足為奇。政府盡一切可能減少廢棄物，針對(duì)提供違規(guī)者情報(bào)發(fā)放酬金只是措施之一。

韓國最引人注目的廢棄物管理技術(shù)是配備射頻識(shí)別的電子食物廢棄箱。每個(gè)人都必須刷身份證，才能將廢棄物投至公共垃圾箱中。垃圾箱會(huì)對(duì)廢棄物稱重，計(jì)算并累計(jì)，再將垃圾回收賬單寄給相應(yīng)的投放人。

為了減少食品廢棄物，該國不僅從源頭上限制居民產(chǎn)生此類垃圾，還將廢棄的食物用作養(yǎng)牛的飼料或生物氣體的原料。

以下幾個(gè)關(guān)于韓國廢棄物管理體系的有趣事實(shí)，或許能引起你的興趣。

與德國類似，韓國的住宅/公寓有公共垃圾回收區(qū)域。居民須準(zhǔn)確無誤地將廢棄物分類并投入正確的垃圾箱中。韓國有以下幾種垃圾箱：

·食品廢棄物，任何動(dòng)物可以吃的東西

·可循環(huán)利用的廢棄物

·大型廢棄物，多為電子產(chǎn)品和家具

·一般廢棄物，一切不屬于其他類型的物品

分類可能聽起來頗為簡單，但可不能掉以輕心，因?yàn)轫n國的規(guī)定非常嚴(yán)格，而且關(guān)于哪些物品屬于哪類廢棄物等，有許多例外。

例如，食物廢棄箱僅回收動(dòng)物可以吃的東西，因此理所當(dāng)然禁止投放蛋殼、甲殼類動(dòng)物的殼和骨頭。骨頭須和肉分開，肉扔進(jìn)食物廢棄箱中，剩下的骨頭則扔進(jìn)一般廢棄物箱中。

關(guān)于韓國廢棄物管理體系，還需要記?。?/p>

·韓國每個(gè)區(qū)都有官方提供的垃圾袋。須使用居住地區(qū)專屬垃圾袋。垃圾袋可以在當(dāng)?shù)爻匈徺I。

·在韓國，垃圾袋的價(jià)格包含了垃圾回收和處理的成本。因此，韓國垃圾袋的定價(jià)取決于廢棄物的種類和分量。

今日收獲

羅馬不是一日建成的，良好的廢棄物管理體系也不是。眾人拾柴火焰高，政府和全體人民的支持必不可少，體系的建立應(yīng)從家家戶戶簡單的廢棄物分類開始。合理的廢棄物分類并不難學(xué)習(xí)和記憶，但需要家庭成員和外部環(huán)境的支持，方能取得成效。