"Please Sort Your Trash Properly" Security Guards Sigh Over Chuseok Holiday Waste [Reporter Han Visits]

Security Guards Struggle Amid Chuseok Holiday Trash Piles
Recycling Separation in Disarray... Cleaning All Day Long
One in Three Adults Dispose of Trash Incorrectly

Plastic recycling waste accumulated during the Chuseok holiday period at an apartment complex in Seoul. Photo by Han Seung-gon hsg@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "Holidays like Chuseok are several times harder," "It would be great if people just sorted their recyclables properly."

As the five-day Chuseok holiday ended, various delivery packaging, gift wrapping, and food waste have significantly increased compared to usual, causing security guards to sigh more often. Due to improperly sorted waste disposal, security guards are struggling several times more than usual to separate the trash.

An anonymous security guard working at an apartment complex in Seoul said, "Holidays like Chuseok or Seollal are really tough for security guards like us," adding, "If people just sorted recyclables properly, the workload would be much lighter." The guard was repeatedly bending over to remove labels from plastic PET bottles.

According to a 2018 comparison by the Korea Environment Corporation of food waste discharge during holiday periods in nationwide multi-family housing, the amount of food waste discharged from households increases by more than 20% during holiday periods compared to usual. In this situation, recycling collection companies request proper sorting from each apartment, so security guards end up separating incorrectly disposed recyclables one by one.

One security guard said, "When doing this (recycling separation work), I can't do other tasks," and added, "It's the same with cardboard boxes. Please remove tape and delivery stickers attached to the paper and fold them before disposal." He continued, "After working like this and organizing deliveries, there is hardly any time to rest."

The situation was similar in other apartment complexes. Especially, large sacks filled with plastic recyclable waste filled the recycling collection area near the security office. In this complex as well, there were PET bottles with labels still attached to the plastic, and some plastic bottles were even discarded with beverages still inside.

The security guard at this apartment complex was also repeatedly bending over to sort the trash. However, when residents came to pick up deliveries, he had to return to the security office to hand over packages and then go back to the recycling area, working almost without a break.

Stock photo. Recyclable waste piled up at an apartment in Gangnam, Seoul. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

While improperly sorted recyclable waste disposal is a problem, a survey found that 8 out of 10 adults believe they sort their waste well, but in reality, 1 in 3 dispose of waste incorrectly.

The Korea Consumer Agency conducted an online survey last November over five days targeting 1,000 adults nationwide. The results showed that 8 out of 10 respondents said they sort their waste well.

More men (86.2%) than women (76.7%) responded that they sort waste well. By age group, those in their 50s (89.8%) reported the highest rate of proper sorting, while those in their 30s (74.5%) reported the lowest. Also, households with couples and children (84.2%) or three or more generations living together (80.2%) reported better sorting than single-person households (77.7%).

By housing type, officetels had the highest rate at 91.7%, while villas had the lowest at 68.9%. Among those who said they sort waste well, the most common disposal location was designated areas within collective housing (77.7%).

Citizens' responses were similar. Mr. Kim, a company employee in his 40s, said, "I usually pay a lot of attention to sorting waste. There are many environmental news reports, so I can't help but be interested." However, he added, "Still, I think there are times when sorting is not done properly. I plan to keep paying attention."

Another office worker in his 30s, Mr. Lee, said, "In the case of plastic PET bottles, I always remove the labels before disposal," emphasizing, "I also urge people around me to do the same because if they don't, it increases the burden on collection companies and security guards."

Given this situation, security guards appealed to residents to at least sort recyclables properly before complaining about the increasing workload. An anonymous security guard said, "Even on regular days, when sorting is not done well, the workload increases and it’s tough, but during holidays like Chuseok, it’s literally a trash bomb," adding, "If people just pay a little attention and sort recyclables properly, security guards like us would have less work. Please sort recyclables well."

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