Garbage

___(1)___ of the garbage we produce every day is a major problem in cities around the world. In the United States, over 160 million tons of garbage are produced every year. Ten per cent is recycled, ten per cent is burned, and the rest is put in landfills. But finding ___(2)___ for new landfills is becoming more difficult. A city that has solved this problem in an unusual way is Machida, in Tokyo, Japan. They have developed a totally new (3)________ to garbage disposal. The ___(4)___ to the operation is public cooperation. Families must divide their garbage into six categories: 1. Garbage that can be easily burned (that is, combustible garbage), such as kitchen and garden trash. 2. Noncombustible garbage, such as small electrical appliances, plastic tools and plastic toys. 3. Products that are poisonous or that ___(5)___ pollution, such as batteries and fluorescent lights. 4. Bottles and glass containers that can be recycled. 5. Metal containers that can be recycled. 6. Large item, such as furniture and bicycles. The items in categories 1 to 5 are collected ___(6)___ different days. (Large items are collected upon request). Then the garbage is taken to a center that looks like a clean new office building or hospital. Inside the center, special equipment is used to sort and ___(7)___ the garbage. Almost everything can be reused: garden or kitchen trash becomes fertilizer; combustible garbage is burned to ___(8)___ electricity; metal containers and bottles are recycled; and old furniture, clothing, and other useful items are cleaned, repaired, and resold cheaply or given away. The work provides ___(9)___ for handicapped persons and gives them a ___(10)___ to learn new skills. Nowadays, officials from cities around the world visit Machida to see whether they can use some of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage disposal problems.