Hiroshima Hopes 'smart' Bins Will Cut Ocean Plastic Waste
Officials in Hiroshima Prefecture are turning to high-tech to keep streets clean and reduce plastic pollution in the ocean.
The cities of Hiroshima and Onomichi have installed "smart" litter bins. Their developers say the units know how much garbage is inside them.
When the amounts reach a certain level, the bins automatically compress the trash. This can reduce the number of times the garbage needs to be collected.
Electrical power is provided by solar panels.
Each unit can store about 600 liters of trash. That's five times the capacity of conventional bins of similar size.
More than 70 percent of plastic waste flowing into the ocean is believed to come from the streets. The developers expect the containers will reduce this garbage.
Hiroshima Prefecture governor Yuzaki Hidehiko said, "It is very important to promote efforts to diversify outdoor garbage collection bases in order to reduce marine plastic waste."
The prefecture aims to cut the amount of plastic flowing into Japan's Inland Sea to zero by 2050.