Guro-gu Collects Ice Packs to Help Market Merchants and Others

Installation of Ice Pack Collection Boxes at 16 Community Centers for Gel-Type Ice Packs Without Contamination or Damage... Collected Ice Packs Are Washed, Disinfected, Repackaged, and Provided Free to Local Small Businesses

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “Protect the environment and support small business owners!”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) is supporting small business owners by recycling discarded ice packs.

Guro-gu announced on the 17th, “With the increase in delivery orders due to COVID-19, the use of ice packs has surged, raising concerns about environmental pollution. Therefore, to protect the environment and help small business owners, we are recycling ice packs and providing them to local small business owners.”

Most ice packs distributed in the market are made of superabsorbent polymers, a type of microplastic, which are difficult to decompose naturally and are not easily incinerated, causing environmental pollution.

Guro-gu recently installed ‘Ice Pack Collection Boxes’ at 16 community service centers so residents can dispose of ice packs conveniently near their homes. Through this, gel-type ice packs that are uncontaminated and undamaged are collected.

The collected ice packs are delivered to the Guro Salmteo Regional Self-Support Center, where they undergo cleaning, disinfection, and repackaging before being provided free of charge to local residents.

Residents who wish to use ice packs can apply through the district office’s Cleaning Administration Division.

A Guro-gu official said, “We expect this project to protect the environment and also help merchants in traditional markets and small business owners in the area. We will continue to do our best to reduce the economic burden on small business owners.”

Meanwhile, Guro-gu has been implementing various projects to overcome the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 since last year.

In June last year, it became the first autonomous district in Seoul to declare a ‘City Without Layoffs’ and supported participating companies by covering the employer’s share of employment retention subsidies. This was to create conditions allowing companies to give paid leave instead of laying off employees due to immediate difficulties. Through the ‘City Without Layoffs’ initiative, 770 companies and over 4,000 employees received support.

Additionally, Guro-gu conducted the ‘Good Real Estate Brokerage Office’ project with over 120 local real estate agencies to encourage rent reductions and offer discounts on brokerage fees.

Also, rent for stores located in facilities managed by the district’s Facility Management Corporation was temporarily reduced by half.

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