Japan has few public trash bins, so smart bins and robots may step in

Ever finished a drink in a Japanese city and found nowhere to throw the cup away? You're not imagining it. Public trash bins are scarce in Japan, and the country is now looking to technology for a fix.

The idea is to use smart receptacles and autonomous robots to make garbage disposal easier for everyone on the street.

The shortage has a history. After the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo group, authorities removed many public bins from stations and streets over security fears. Many of those bins never came back, which is part of why they are still so rare today.

So the new approach is less about putting back old-fashioned bins and more about rethinking what a bin can be. Smart bins and robots that move on their own could make disposal simpler without bringing back the problems that led to the removals.

It is still early days, but the goal is simple: a cleaner street and one less thing to carry around all day.