Shinjuku Station tests robot trash bins

Shinjuku Station in Tokyo is testing mobile robot trash bins to see whether they can help sanitation workers at the world’s busiest railway station.

East Japan Railway is testing three automated bins in its part of the station, where bins are emptied manually more than 10 times a day. The trial runs until late November.

Shinjuku Station serves more than 2.7 million passengers every day and holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s busiest rail station. JR East's section has seven sets of bins and recycling boxes.

The robots stand just over one metre tall and move at 20 centimetres per second. JR East research official Shinya Kawamichi told AFP the company wanted to test whether they could operate automatically and safely in an environment like Shinjuku Station.

Kawamichi said JR East also wanted to see whether people would throw their trash into the mobile bins, whether the robots could navigate crowds and whether commuters would accept them.

The devices are meant to bring trash to human workers in the station’s underground concourse. Kawamichi said they were designed to move slowly so people can put trash in them and so they can stop at any moment.