December, 1998
Our New Waste Recycling and Collecting System
Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences /
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo
1. Foreword:
The Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences / Faculty of Agriculture has abolished the use of the incinerator for combustibles, and from September 1998, has adopted a new waste collecting system (the cart method) coupled with a thorough recycling system.
As an establishment, our Graduate School is responsible for disposing of our own waste, even if the contents of the waste resembles those of household wastes. In fact, all disposal of wastes are commissioned to contractors for charges. As a premise of this situation, we have introduced a new system of thorough sorting and recycling of wastes, in particular, of papers and beverage cans. More than half of the combustibles can be recycled. We distributed recycling boxes for papers to all laboratories and offices, and began to collect paper waste from these boxes for recycling every week. Please dispose of beverage cans into the yellow can collector placed next to vending machines. This "counter circulation system" allows empty cans to be resources once again. The cost is included in the price of the beverages.
It is the responsibility of each laboratory and office to sort all wastes other than paper and cans, bring them to one of the six cart stations placed within the campus, and throw the waste into the carts according to the seven categories listed below. Before disposing of wastes discharged from biological experiments, in particular, organic samples and the instruments used in the treatment of those samples, make it a habit to sterilize them (usually by autoclaving), and then dispose of them appropriately. As the disposal of wastes is commissioned to third parties, it is important that they feel convinced of the safety of the waste, rather than needing to evaluate of its safety.
Copyright (c) 1996-2008 Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo