Air con, TV, Fridge and Washing Machine! What should we do when these gears are broken?

photo by wastebusters

The heat is still lingering in the October air in Japan. An air conditioner and refrigerator were outputting the full power during the summer, in addition to a washing machine which was used to sweaty clothes piled in a laundry basket. Summer is the season that home appliances are heavily utilized. Therefore, it is quite common that you have your electric appliances out of order or with a little problem after summer. Fixing cost for broken home appliances are not always cheap, in fact, buying a new machine can be a lot cheaper than fixing the broken one sometimes. But home appliances like an air conditioner, washing machine, vacuuming machine and TV are normally quite expensive if bought brand new. So, many people choose to replace such broken machines with second hand ones. But in such a case, what should you do with the old machines, as air conditioners, refrigerator/freezer, washing machines/laundry dryers, TV and computers cannot be disposed as general waste or bulky waste.

The Home Appliance Recycling Act

In Japan, domestic waste management systems are run by local governments. As collection of bulky wastes is a fee-based service and illegal dumping of such wastes has been one of the serious social issues for decades. Illegal dumping had been strictly regulated; however, the Home Appliance Recycling Act was introduced in 1998 to take a more advanced action to prevent a leakage of adverse substances from dumped home appliances. Since then, the collection of specific home appliances called the “four kinds of electric appliance” by local governments were terminated, and recycling of such items in designated methods became mandatory. The four kinds of electric appliance include: 

• Air conditioner
• TV (Braun tube, LCD, plasma)
• Refrigerator/freezer
• Washing machine/laundry dryer

How to recycle “four kinds of electric appliances” in the central Tokyo

To recycle the four kinds of electric appliances, there are four ways. 

1. Request the shop that you purchase your new appliance from to take the old appliance (when purchasing a brand-new appliance, inquire about a fee)
2. Request the shop that you purchased the appliance from to recycle it
3. Recycle the appliance according to the rule set by the local government (only when you cannot use 1 or 2 above, transportation fee may apply other than recycling fee)
4. Bring in the appliance to one of the designated collection sites after paying recycling fee at a post office.

The method 1 is for when you purchase a brand-new appliance to replace the old one. If the broken appliance was purchased brand-new from a shop, you can request the shop that you purchased it to recycle as described in 2. If you are not able to contact the shop you purchased the old appliance from for any reason; for example, the shop no longer exists, it is too far away or unknown, or you did not purchase it brand-new, you can follow the method 3 or 4.

Recycle the appliance according to the rule set by the local government (The 23 wards of Tokyo)

Each local government have designated procedures to recycle the four kinds of electric appliances. The recycling procedures can be seen on each municipal’s website. If you are living in one of the 23 wards of Tokyo, you can contact one of the home appliance recycling centers to request a recycle service by following procedures. When you use this service, you will bear the transportation charge. 

1. Check the classification of the electric appliance, manufacturer and size of the electric appliance.
2. Apply for a recycle service by calling a home appliance recycling center, or via their website.
3. Contact the recycle service provider to confirm collection time, fee and handling procedures before collection day.
4. Hand over the electric appliance to the recycle service provider as discussed.
5. Pay recycle fee and transportation fee, and receive a document.

Pricing (example)

*Tax included
*Fees may vary depending on manufacturers or transportation company. Make sure to inquire in advance. 

Important!

Make sure there is nothing left in an electric appliance (e.g. clothes, food etc.). A recycle service provider may not take your electric appliance if anything irrelevant is attached or left in it.

You need to bring an electric appliance to the designated collection point by yourself. The recycle service provider does not help to carry the electric appliance. If you require extra hand to carry the electric appliance, inquire the service provider beforehand whether they can help, and whether there will be extra charge for that.

Bring in the appliance to one of the designated collection sites

If you are able to transport your electric appliance directly to a collection site, you can bring it in one of the following sites without contacting a home appliance recycling center. The procedures are as follows. 

1. Check the classification of the electric appliance, manufacturer and size of the electric appliance.
2. Pay recycle fee at a post office by using a designated form, and receive a “electric appliance recycling ticket”. Payment method is a bank transfer and a transaction fee will be charged. Do not separate pages of the electric appliance recycling ticket
3. Contact a collection site directly to make a booking.
4. Bring the electric appliance and the electric appliance recycling ticket to the collection site on collection day and hand them in.
5. Receive a document. 

Designated collection locations for four kinds of electric appliance within Tokyo

Happy Recycling!

Compared to ordinary bulky wastes such as a chair, table or bookshelf, getting rid of the four kinds of electric appliance including TV and fridge is more time consuming and costly. If you purchase a new electric appliance from a shop to replace the old one, you can just ask the shop to recycle the old one. However, if you are getting a used electric appliance, you will need to check how to recycle your old electric appliance, as the shop would not take it. Also, online shops do not provide recycle service for used electric appliances most of the time.

Only the procedure to recycle the four kinds of electric appliance within the 23 wards of Tokyo have been mentioned in this column, however, other cities and towns also have similar systems which can be checked on their websites.

By the way, computers are also to be recycled in accordance with the regulations, however, the procedures of computer recycling is different from those for the four kinds of electric appliance.

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