"Do you know the common rules for the disposal of garbage in the area where you live?"

These were among the instructions in the "Guide to living in Japan" that came with my visa.

In my first apartment, I was instructed to sort the glass bottles/cans/plastic PET bottles into clear bags for putting out on Thursdays, and to put the rest of the garbage/trash out in yellow bags on Tuesdays and Fridays.  The bags were put just in front of the building at (more or less exactly) 8:00 am. 

But they were not telling me the full story.  On Wed. they also picked up clear bags that had all the other plastic in them.  (There is a lot of other plastic, with bento boxes, plastic trays for the vegetables, and plastic boxes for the prepared food.)

As foretold in one of the newsletters for foreigners, I held my breath  returning home the first few times on trash day, hoping that I had not screwed up, and that they had taken my garbage.

Sometimes I saw red bags with paper and cardboard at another location on another day of the week....

And in the office, there are 4 bins by the elevator:

raw garbage
burnable garbage
plastic/aluminum
PET bottle (but not lid)

Now at the new apartment, there are two big bins for "raw garbage" with any type of bag accepted.  I see quite a lot of plastic in those bags.  And there is a small bin for recycles -- somewhat unspecified.  I am putting my plastics and other re-cycles there.  My volume of re-cycles to regular (raw) garbage is about 6:1.  Apparently this is privately collected.

"Easy Living in Kyoto," put out for foreigners in Japanese and English describes it a bit differently.

Burnables twice a week
Recycles: empty cans, glass bottles, and PET bottles, once a week
Plastic containers, once a month
Small metal items, once a month
Large items, furniture, etc. call
Dead pets, call and pay 4600 yen, unless it was a stray

Then there is a recycling section:

Appliances and electronics -- return where they were purchased, and pay a fee
Newspapers, magazines, and cardboard -- ask nieghbors or building superintendant -- there are trucks that come around, making music,  that will take these and give you toilet paper or a few coins (I have not tried this yet)
Paper cartons -- wash cut open and dry.  Collected at the Ward office and supermarkets
Dry Cell Batteries -- look for special collection boxes at Ward offices and other places
Used Tempura Oil -- bring to your Ward branch office
Lighters -- bring to your Ward branch office

I am doing my best!

And to reduce my catalogs coming to the Arlington address, I am using a service supported by the city of Arlington that makes it easy to stop each one (must enter some information from the labels):

https://arlingtonva.catalogchoice.org

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Now I have obtained from the Kyoto International Community House a 30 page set of instructions in English about the full system of protecting the environment through recycling.  I have not fully studied it, but do note that there is an 800 yen fee for recycling a bowling ball -- I recall Dan at approximately age 6 finding a bowling ball in someone's trash on his way to school -- he rolled it to school and kept it for years.