At the "Tanigawadake Ropeway" in Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture, which is visited by many tourists during the fall foliage season, a demonstration experiment is being conducted to check the effect of installing paid trash cans so that garbage can be separated and thrown away.
"Tanigawadake Ropeway" is used by 300,000 people a year because it is possible to see Mt. Tanigawadake, one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, and many tourists visit this time when the autumn leaves are in full bloom.
On the other hand, the problem of garbage brought in by tourists, such as bento boxes thrown away in the collection boxes for plastic bottles, bottles and cans next to vending machines, has been an issue for many years.
Garbage disposal can be costly, and it was premised that the garbage would be taken home, but it was decided to conduct a demonstration experiment to confirm the effect by installing a paid garbage can, which started late last month.
At each of the two stations connecting the Tanigawadake Ropeway, there are three types of paid trash cans: burnable trash, plastic bottles, and bottles and cans. Scan the QR code with your smartphone and pay 100 yen for each trash can. It's a system where you can pay and throw away the garbage.
Yayoi Otsuka, manager of the operating company, said, "I hope that visitors will be aware that they can protect the blessed nature of Mt. Tanigawa."
This demonstration experiment will continue until the middle of next month.