SAPPORO -- A worker at a recycling center here found a human arm in the trash on March 23, police said.

According to the Hokkaido Prefectural Police, the worker called police at around 6:25 p.m. after discovering the arm on a conveyor belt at the recyclables sorting facility in the Nakanuma district of Sapporo's Higashi Ward. The arm had decomposed, and some bone was visible. The Sapporo Higashi Police Station will perform an autopsy and investigate the details of the situation.

The Nakanuma sorting facility is an intermediate disposal center for the Sapporo municipal environmental business public corporation that sorts glass bottles, cans and plastic bottles collected from around the city.