Nowon-gu to Host Food Waste Reduction Contest for Apartment Complexes

From This Month to September, Performance Evaluation of 171 Apartment Complexes with Over 100 Households Implementing RFID... Assessment Includes Reduction Rate Compared to Same Period Last Year, Monthly Emissions Per Person, and Reduction Practice Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is promoting a ‘Food Waste Reduction Competition’ targeting apartment complexes to increase residents' willingness to reduce food waste.

This is because the amount of food waste discarded by residents last year reached 47,000 tons, with disposal costs amounting to 8.3 billion KRW.

The competition participants are 171 apartment complexes with 100 or more households that implemented the RFID-based per-household volume-based waste fee system before July 2019. The RFID volume-based system measures the amount of food waste electronically by distinguishing each household when the disposal card is scanned, and charges fees accordingly. However, apartment complexes with fewer than 100 households, rental apartments offering per-household reduction benefits, complexes implementing volume-based waste fees by complex, and those participating in other food waste reduction projects such as reduction devices are excluded.

The competition will be held over four months from this month to September, and participants will be divided into three groups based on the number of households: Group 1 for 1,500 or more households, Group 2 for 500 to less than 1,500 households, and Group 3 for 100 to less than 500 households.

Scores will be calculated out of 50 points, based on the reduction rate compared to the same period last year (30 points), monthly per capita disposal amount (15 points), and self-initiated reduction cases (5 points).

In case of a tie, apartment complexes with more households will be prioritized. The district will collect self-reduction performance data from each apartment complex by the end of September and select outstanding apartment complexes in December using disposal volume statistics from the U-City Living Waste Integrated Management System.

A total of 15 apartment complexes will be awarded, including 3 ‘Grand Prize’ winners and 12 ‘Excellence’ winners. Outstanding apartment complexes will receive incentives ranging from 400,000 to 1,500,000 KRW, which can be chosen from RFID disposal cards, RFID locking devices, or 120ℓ collection containers.

To this end, last month, the district promoted food waste reduction methods, precautions, and self-reduction performance submission methods through notices sent to the 171 apartment complexes.

Meanwhile, since May 2014, the district has been implementing the RFID individual volume-based food waste fee system, currently operating 2,045 RFID individual volume-based devices installed in 314 housing complexes with 128,696 households. This has resulted in a 33% annual reduction in food waste disposal.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “Reducing food waste greatly contributes to cost savings and environmental protection,” and added, “We ask for the active participation and cooperation of residents living in apartment complexes, which account for more than 80% of all housing.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.