East Asia — 2028
Japan
Research question
What sustains household compliance with a demanding sorting scheme over thirty years, rather than three?
Written before the mission, and published unchanged. Findings are assessed against this question rather than the question being rewritten to fit the findings.
Research scope
Sorting as a civic habit
What we want to understand
- 01How municipalities differ in sorting requirements within one national framework.
- 02What enforcement looks like, and how much of compliance is social rather than legal.
- 03How schemes are introduced, and what happens in the first two years.
- 04The role of local associations and schools in maintaining the habit.
- 05What an ageing population does to a system that depends on household effort.
- Region
- East Asia
- Research lens
- 01 · Advanced systemsWhat has been built here, and what makes it work?
- Research theme
- Citizen behaviour, municipal variation and long time horizons
- Field research
- Planned for 2028
Cities
Kamikatsu
A small town with one of the most demanding household sorting schemes anywhere, sustained over many years. Small enough to see the whole system, which is exactly the limitation to test.
Yokohama
A major city applying a demanding sorting scheme at a population scale that is relevant to Indian cities.
Missions
No mission scheduled
This country is on the roadmap but no mission has been planned in detail yet.
Findings
No findings yet
Field research in Japan is future mission. This section stays empty until there is something we have actually seen. The questions above are what we will be asking.
What India could take from Japan
Assessment pending
Any judgement about transfer to India would be speculation until the system has been seen working, and its costs and dependencies understood. Anything published here will be labelled as a proposal until a pilot reports.
What Japan could take from India
Nothing has been researched yet, so nothing is claimed. These are the parts of India’s experience we expect to be worth putting in front of practitioners here, and what we will ask them about.
- Extremely high recovery rates achieved through an informal trade rather than mandates.
- Systems designed for wide variation in climate, density and municipal capacity.
Read the reasoning on why this is a two-way journey.
Case studies
No case studies yet
Case studies are published from field research, with sources and limitations.
Film and clips
Nothing filmed yet
Filming follows the field visit. Clip subjects are planned in advance and listed on the clips page.
Notices
Organizations and experts
Directory not yet open
We list an organization only once it has agreed to a public listing, and a person only with their consent. Outreach for this mission is under way; entries appear here as permissions come back.Take part