Trash Finder
How it works

We would rather show you four bins you can trust than forty you cannot.

Every point on this map carries a confidence level, and the level changes what you see: the pin shape, the colour, the order in the list, and whether it counts in any number we print.

The four levels

Official

The operator is named and identifiable, and the spot was surveyed within 18 months.

0 points in Japan
Verified

Somebody stood in front of it and recorded the date, within the last 18 months.

619 points in Japan
Likely available

There is a survey on record, but it is older than 18 months. Probably still there.

1,712 points in Japan
Unverified

On the map, with no survey date at all. Nobody has confirmed it on the ground.

3,032 points in Japan

Why a bin ten minutes away can beat one a minute away

The list is not sorted by distance. It is sorted by a score: confidence counts for 45%, whether it takes the thing you are holding for 25%, whether you are allowed to use it for 15%, and distance for the last 15%.

That looks wrong until you have walked to an empty corner once. A confirmed bin at ten minutes costs you nine minutes. An unconfirmed bin at one minute costs you the walk, the disappointment, and the walk back.

One tap is the whole contribution system

When you tap Navigate we hand you to your maps app. When you come back, we ask one question: was the bin there? Yes promotes that point to checked and moves it up for everyone. No drops it. There is no account, no profile, no points, no leaderboard — and no way to see who answered, including for us.

This is the only mechanism that can fix the 3,032 points nobody has ever confirmed. Open data got them onto the map. Only people standing in front of them can finish the job.

What we will not do

We do not invent a location to fill an empty map — if there is nothing confirmed near you, the app says so. We do not list residential collection points, which belong to the households on that street. We do not count unchecked points in headline numbers. And we do not tell you to be a better traveller; you are holding a coffee cup, not a moral position.

Travel light.

No install, no account. It opens in the browser and works on hotel wifi.

Open the map See the data