Reusable Ice Packs, Once a Nuisance, Now Used Again in Traditional Markets...

Gangdong-gu Signs 'Traditional Market Ice Pack Reuse Agreement' with Traditional Markets and Civic Groups...Collected Ice Packs Sterilized and Packaged for Companies and Residents...Practicing Eco-Friendly Resource Circulation

On May 27, children are experiencing making aroma diffusers recycled from ice packs at the 'Open Garden Recycling Flea Market' held at the Open Garden of Gangdong-gu Office.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] As the delivery of convenience foods and fresh foods increases, the use of ice packs to maintain freshness is also rising. The annual production of ice packs is estimated at 200 million units, most of which are discarded as waste, becoming a major cause of environmental pollution or a nuisance in freezers.

Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon), which established the nation's first ice pack recycling collection system, signed a 'Traditional Market Ice Pack Reuse Business Agreement' with the Traditional Market Merchants Association and the Environmental Owner Citizens' Group on the 19th at the 5th-floor auditorium of the district office.

With the expiration of the 'Public-Private-Enterprise Tripartite Business Agreement for Ice Pack Recycling Collection' conducted since March last year, Gangdong-gu will join hands with six traditional markets including Gildong Bokjori Market, Dunchon Station Traditional Market, Myeongil Traditional Market, Seongnae Traditional Market, Gobundari Traditional Market, Amsa General Market, and civic groups this year to promote ice pack reuse.

Through this agreement, the district office will manage dedicated collection boxes installed at 18 locations including community service centers and the district office itself, and support the overall eco-friendly collection system. The Environmental Owner Citizens' Group will carry out ice pack collection, sorting, and promotional campaigns, while the Traditional Market Merchants Association will confirm the demand for reusable ice packs among market merchants and relay it.

The collected ice packs will undergo cleaning, sterilization, and packaging by a professional disinfection company for hygiene purposes, and will be supplied free of charge to places in need such as traditional markets, livestock farms, food companies, restaurants, supermarkets, and residents.

Only undamaged gel-type products can be disposed of in the dedicated ice pack collection boxes. Eco-friendly water-type ice packs should have the water discarded and the plastic separated for recycling. If it is difficult to place gel-type ice packs in the dedicated collection boxes, they can be disposed of in volume-based waste bags as a whole. The contents of gel-type ice packs are a type of microplastic, so disposing of them down the drain can threaten ecosystems and requires caution.

Gangdong-gu plans to continue promoting proper ice pack disposal methods to residents, along with resource circulation campaigns such as making personalized air fresheners using ice packs.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “The ice pack reuse system has made residents' lives more convenient and achieved better-than-expected results in environmental protection, such as reducing 50 tons of waste. We take pride in being recognized multiple times as an excellent case of innovative administration and in the rapid spread of this system to local governments nationwide. We will continue to actively promote eco-friendly policies leading Gangdong as a green city based on public-private cooperation.”

Gangdong-gu’s ice pack reuse collection system has received domestic and international acclaim, including the Seoul Creative Administration Excellence Award in May 2019, the ‘Korea Policy of the Year’ award in December of the same year, and being selected as an excellent case in the ‘Resident Life Innovation Case Expansion Support Project’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in May 2020. It is being benchmarked by more than 60 local governments including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan, spreading nationwide.

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