Truck drivers dump urine bottles at Japanese expressway rest areas, sparking cleanup effort

Cleaning crews from Central Nippon Expressway Co. and the Gifu Trucking Association spent an hour at the Byobuzan Parking Area on the Chuo Expressway, retrieving 35 plastic bottles filled with a golden-brown liquid that smells like a outdoor toilet. The workers, wearing orange safety vests and using tongs, also collected other litter such as food trays and coffee cans. Nexco Central, the highway operator, attributes the dumping to truck drivers who throw the bottles from their elevated windows during breaks, a habit now spreading to rest areas in Mie, Shiga and Aichi prefectures along the Meishin and Shin-Tomei routes.

The company is collaborating with trucking associations on clean-up operations and distributing informational leaflets to promote proper disposal. Authorities note that the practice may violate Japan’s waste-disposal laws and creates a safety hazard if a bottle rolls onto the road, potentially causing a collision. The Aichi prefectural police have warned that such dumping is illegal and extremely dangerous, urging an immediate stop to the behavior.