Recycling of False Tooth

A Guidebook for Sorting Recyclables and Waste of Minato-ku, the ward where I used to live, somehow found its way into my luggage and travelled with me to London. I was reading it yesterday – such is the exciting nature of my weekends – and while a garbage disposal booklet is not exactly a page-turner, I found it strangely fascinating.

There are precise guidelines for disposing of every conceivable household item, and then some. For instance:

• foamed nets for fruits (wash first if it is dirty, put in a transparent or semi-transparent bag when disposing)
• hangers made of plastics (you can dispose of them as recyclables even if the hooks are metallic)
• lighters (put out after using up the content, putting it in a separate bag from other incombustible waste and writing “Danger” on it)
• motorcycle (find a store showing “Motorcycle Recycling” logo or its designated collection agent)
• corrugated cardboard (paste one ticket of 10 liters to 2 mandarin orange box sized cardboard, bind with string and take out)

There are also separate sections such as Please, join the group collection and Why not check the furniture recycling display?

My favourite, though, is Recycling of false tooth.

False tooth can be recycled and utilized for social welfare. After cleaning and sterilizing in boiled water, etc., wrap it in rather thick paper and put it in false tooth collection box installed at each Regional City Office. Metal part of the collected false tooth will be donated to Minato City Social Welfare Association and UNICEF.