In Tokyo, trash doesn’t just disappear. It is transformed. The city’s waste management system is incredibly efficient, turning rubbish into a resource. Combustible waste is incinerated, and the smoke and gases are filtered and cleaned before release. What remains is a fine ash that is used in construction.
The ash is mixed with cement to replace clay, which would otherwise have to be mined. This reduces the city’s environmental footprint and reuses materials that would have otherwise been buried in a landfill. The system ensures that almost nothing goes to waste.
A city that builds itself from its own garbage.