Assemblyman Yongbin Lee's On-Site Visit to Address Plastic Waste Issues

Gwangsan-gu Resident Participation Platform in Gwangju 'Uri Dongne Collection Center'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Yong-bin (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangsan-gu Gap, Gwangju) visited the site to address the plastic waste problem.

On the 21st, Rep. Lee visited the ‘Our Neighborhood Collection Center’ set up at the Your Step platform cafe in Songjeong Village, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, his constituency. There, he met Kim Ji-hyun, CEO of Your Step, who is leading the zero waste movement, and discussed activities to reduce plastic waste in daily life.

Recently, with social distancing becoming routine due to COVID-19 and the surge in delivery consumption, the plastic waste problem has become severe, causing headaches for local governments. As issues with everyday waste and microplastics worsened, the Gwangju Regional Problem-Solving Platform established a zero waste laboratory.

At the ‘Our Neighborhood Collection Center,’ Rep. Lee learned how to sort and collect milk cartons, soy milk, and juice packs, and also experienced the plastic mill that crushes small plastic bottle caps, such as those from beverage bottles, to create new products.

Additionally, methods to reduce piles of waste suffocating the Earth, such as shoelaces, small silicone products, and water purifier filters, were shared.

Rep. Lee Yong-bin said, “Due to the spread of COVID-19, social distancing and infection concerns have increased the use of disposable products.” He added, “While overcoming COVID-19 to protect the lives and safety of the people is important, protecting the life and safety of the Earth is equally precious.”

He continued, “As people’s footsteps have ceased due to the spread of COVID-19, the natural environment, which had been suffering from waste problems, is gradually recovering, which is very meaningful,” emphasizing, “The environment is a resource to be shared with future generations and is something we borrow temporarily from them. We must be alert to the climate crisis and start changing through small practices in daily life.”

He then requested, “I ask for the interest and cooperation of local governments and city and district councils so that the 2nd and 3rd branches of the ‘Our Neighborhood Collection Center’ can be installed at each administrative welfare center.” He added, “I will carefully seek the role the National Assembly can play, including proposing related policies and legislative activities, so that citizens’ voluntary participation and innovative actions to protect the Earth can become routine activities.”

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