Installation of Dedicated Ice Pack Collection Boxes at Dong Community Centers and Apartment Complexes in Jung-gu, Seoul

Providing Collected Ice Packs Free of Charge to Small Local Stores After Sorting

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seoyangho) has installed and started operating dedicated ice pack collection boxes at 19 locations within the district from the beginning of the new year.

The installation sites include 15 community service centers in all neighborhoods and 4 pilot apartment complexes.

The pilot apartment complexes are Jungnim Samsung Cyber Village, Deoksugung Lotte Castle, Namsan Town Apartment, and Hwanghak Lotte Castle.

With the rapid spread of non-face-to-face consumption culture due to COVID-19, the use of ice packs for fresh food delivery has recently surged. Most ice packs are disposed of in volume-based waste bags, causing an increase in household waste and environmental pollution, making their disposal a significant concern.

To address this issue, the district installed dedicated collection boxes to sort and enable the reuse of single-use ice packs.

When residents dispose of ice packs in the dedicated collection boxes, the contracted agency collects and separately sorts usable ice packs.

The sorted ice packs are provided free of charge to Lotte Mart Seoul Station branch, which has a business agreement, and small local stores within the district. Lotte Mart Seoul Station plans to offer ice packs free of charge to tenant stores and visitors and will consider additional use based on customer feedback.

Therefore, residents are required to pay attention when disposing of ice packs in the dedicated collection boxes. Only gel-type products that are undamaged and uncontaminated can be disposed of in the dedicated collection boxes.

Since the ice packs are reused without special processing, the cooperation of residents disposing of them is especially important.

Eco-friendly water-type ice packs cannot be disposed of in the dedicated collection boxes. The water must be discarded, and the plastic separated for disposal. Contaminated or damaged gel-type products must be disposed of in volume-based waste bags.

In particular, the contents of gel-type products consist of microplastics, which may cause environmental pollution if discharged into the sewage system, so special caution is required.

Mayor Seoyangho stated, "In addition to installing dedicated ice pack collection boxes, we will discover various reuse and recycling methods to expand projects for reducing household waste and protecting the environment."

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