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Japan Introduces Consumer-Paid Computer Recycling
Azuma writes "According to the Japan Times, starting Wednesday, new Japanese legislation takes effect that compels personal computer manufacturers to collect used PCs from households and recycle their parts, with consumers footing the bill, which will total anywhere from 3,000 yen ($28) to 4,000 yen ($37). So from today onwards, if you buy a new computer in Japan, your new computer should have a new logo besides commercial ones such as Intel Inside... 'Recycling Fee Prepaid'."
Unfortunately it's only for the US but after reading the linked page, it seems you only pay shipping.
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
I think this is a great idea, if u wanna play, u gotta pay to clean up your mess when you're done with it.
Maybe 1 more reason to vote "NO" on recall ;-)
I accidentally threw out my trash on the wrong day and literally became the talk of the neighborhood. I guess they even had a meeting to discuss how to politely tell the "gaijin" (foriegn dude) that he was disturbing the harmony of the system. In short, everyone is really good about compliance to these systems.
I think it's pretty cool. The majority of people that I came into contact with have a different mind set then many people I know in the US. (Probably out of necessity.) That is why I am guessing it will be effective in Japan.
I live in japan first of all, and here if you want to throw something big and complex away you need to pay to have it taken. Say a desk, a monitor, a TV, a computer, all of which you need to pay for. Now I had to pay about $60US once to throw away some furniture, so this may actually be cheaper/the same price.
Also, that depressed economy comment. Japan's economy is still the second strongest in the world, hands down. Furthermore, as of late they have had incredible recovery and the yen is actually stronger than they want it to be (anybody noticed that it hit 110 to the dollar yesterday!?). Not to mention the new bank consolidation is working like a charm, P.M. Koizumi is an economic genius.
And as for this, it will help the already bad trash problem and people here really aren't afraid to pay for such things. This is a great thing as far as I can see.
So do elitists who insist that Linux is only for a small cadre of geeks who are smart enough to use it.
And we wonder why Microsoft still owns all the desktops?
This is a great idea in principle. However, I live in Japan, and mountain biking here is a great opportunity to see enormous piles of industrial waste. More than a few companies use this system to make a few extra yen, by charging for recycling, then simply getting some small-time trucking company to either landfill the items, or as is often the case, to drive up into the mountains and dump the load off the edge of the road.
There is significant opposition to the new legislation, which has also covered most major electrical appliances for a couple of years. Getting the store to take your old TV off your hands can cost, IIRC, something like 5000 yen. Instead of paying that, many individuals will just chuck an old TV into a rice field, or leave it somewhere. This extends to dumping cars, as it is cheaper than spending the couple of hundred dollars to get them properly trashed.
The idea that public littering is bad is still a bit of a foreign concept in Japan. The "Japanese love of nature" thing is a bit of a bad joke to anyone who has spent more than a few days in the country.
Typical gaijin (foreigner) view. There is plenty of room to keep PC stuff around. Japanese people have small houses because they don't need big ones. The home serves as a functional place to eat and rest. Modern homes are starting to get larger living rooms due to TV usage, but Japan is also light years ahead of the US in flat panel usage. Unlike wetsern cultures, the Japanese do not regularly entertain in the home. IF you ever have lived in Japan, you know there is a park and about 30 bars and izakayas (place to eat and drink...designed for parties) within a 30 minute walk of any home in the urban areas. Giant cities like Tokyo and Osake may require a short train ride as well. It is more reasonable for them to entertain in a public venue like this. You can usually get stuffed and hammered at an izakaya for about 3000 yen ($27).
;)
Since you are now no longer using your home as a social gathering point, just add an extra shelf above the dining table to stack your used cases and power supplies. That is, if there isn't already one there holding the rice cooker and your wife's sewing machine.
Lack of space is a good thing sometimes. It's the main thing that has kept me from spending myself into poverty when I go to Akihabara. (Imagine an entire city of cheap Best Buys and Radio Shacks)
One thing I never did budge on was the tatami room. I have a nice soft queen size bed sitting on the mats
I've dirtied my hands writing poetry, for the sake of seduction; that is, for the sake of a useful cause. --Dostoevsky
living here in Osaka has been fun for the last ten years.
EXCEPT for when the government wrote the law that said that the consumer must pay the cost of recycling air conditioners, washers, dryers, and now computers.
The reason why it has not been fun is because in the beautiful park nearby - and in the corners of some of the rice fields! - there are piles of dishwashing machines, refrigerators and old "wapro"s (japanese word processors). The city governement becomes responsible after several months of no one claiming them but then the tax payers money gets used for the disposal.
You see, the problematic point is not so much that the little sticker on new machines is there to show that you have prepaid (hence adding to the price of new machines) BUT that all the old machines are levyed for a fee to recycle them.
Many people don't want to spend 7000 yen to get rid of their old air conditioner so they junk it.
Same thing may happen to computers too.
Hopefully some people will be unable to afford the cost of recycling and dump some pentium class stuff!
Hey, anyone want to help start an NPO to help me collect Japanese machines and send them to Asia/Africa?
- Jeff -
That's something we've had for years in the Netherlands now. It's called the verwijderingsbijdrage, which would translate to English as "removal fee". But then again, our government taxes everything it can -- and the rest...
Woefdram, l'apprenti sorcier