Gwangju Dong-gu Leads Environmental Movement by Collecting Milk Cartons

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Im Taek) announced on the 16th that it is taking the lead in an environmental campaign by collecting milk cartons.

Since June, ‘Dongajul’ (Let’s Reduce for the Beauty of Dongmyeong-dong, Representative Lee Gija), a group of Dongmyeong-dong guardians consisting of the district office and residents, has been engaged in collecting milk cartons discarded on the streets or generated by nearby stores.

Milk cartons are resources made from high-cost natural pulp that is 100% imported. Despite being a representative recyclable item, due to decreased awareness of separate disposal and lack of promotion, they are being mixed with waste paper during disposal.

The milk cartons collected by the resident self-help group Dongajul from June to recently amount to about 5,000 pieces, approximately 120 kg. Dong-gu plans to send these milk cartons to a specialized resource recycling company to be reborn as natural pulp.

Im Taek, Mayor of Dong-gu, said, “We plan to continuously promote small but valuable activities that can recycle resources,” adding, “We will continue to discourage the use of disposable products, spread a recycling culture, protect the environment, and create a city where resources circulate.”

Meanwhile, Dong-gu is promoting a project that exchanges collected milk cartons for toilet paper and exchanges waste batteries that emit harmful substances for new batteries to residents who bring them in.

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