What is Japan’s most innovative circular city?

In Japan, waste disposal is managed at a municipal level. As in most Japanese cities, residents of Kamikatsu are responsible for sorting their household waste, but this town has 45 categories of garbage. Kamikatsu is a small town of 1,500 in Shikoku and recycles more than 80% of its waste annually.

Kitchen waste is processed in each household with organic processors. Residents visit the town’s garbage collection site to deliver separated waste, where onsite staff assists in sorting it. Thanks to them, the town now receives 2.5 – 3 million yen annually from selling recycled waste such as paper and metals.

Kamikatsu boasts several circular economy businesses, including a craft beer brewery using discarded Yuzu citrus peel as a key ingredient and a café built with energy-saving materials. The latest addition is the lodging facility “WHY,” where guests are encouraged to participate in Kamikatsu’s recycling scheme by sorting their own waste. In addition to green-minded individuals, the town also attracts officials who wish to replicate its practices in their own communities.