"This project really brings home how unprepared we are to undo the mess. My first thought was that a bring system to a building on a hill was not ideal. But I guess it's better than having 13 collection trucks sent round to collect from the kerbside, and then a number of full-time operatives to do the final sorting. For one small town? It's a good thing it was tried first on this small scale. In my local area of the UK, population 570,000, we have had a collection service for about twenty years. I am not aware that anything has changed during that time. It has kind of bedded-in over the years, and the focus has moved to other problems. There were complaints at first that many people had no room to store the three large, heavy bags (made entirely of plastic of course) but I think those people have just resigned themselves to continuing to fill their large plastic wheeled bins, the contents of which go to the new 'state of the art' incinerator in the centre of the area. With all the dedication I have applied to sorting my waste, over these twenty years (and the twenty before that when it was all to be taken to large painted skips at the supermarket) I still struggle to decide whether a particular item is recyclable or not. And even if it is recyclable, is that necessarily better than consigning it to the incinerator? In the sense of a full product life-cycle analysis. I think the answer would be different for every single item. And it is doubtful you could find anyone who could confidently & honestly give a yes or no answer, no matter how in-depth their education and experience. There is a financial incentive incentive for those gaining from the provision of recycling services to ask no questions. And should they nevertheless do so out of personal interest, they would be hard pressed to find reliable answers.So I think the shape of this building in this small town in Japan, really is appropriate."