Gyeonggi-do to Reduce 30 Tons of Eco-Friendly School Meal Waste Vinyl Annually

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will reduce 'waste vinyl' generated in the distribution process of eco-friendly school meals by 30 tons annually.

The Gyeonggi Eco-friendly School Meal Support Center recently announced on the 3rd that the environmental department, Gyeonggi-do Agricultural and Marine Products Promotion Agency, producer groups, and logistics companies gathered to share the current status of waste vinyl generation and devised collaborative measures to reduce it.

Currently, the amount of waste vinyl generated annually in the distribution process of eco-friendly school meals within the province is estimated to be 51 tons. This is because disposable vinyl is used when packaging agricultural products at eco-friendly agricultural production sites and logistics centers and securing boxes. Approximately 35 tons of waste vinyl come from inner packaging vinyl used for agricultural products, and about 16 tons come from vinyl used to secure products during vehicle delivery.

The province first decided to replace 16 tons of securing vinyl with reusable net-type packaging materials made of recyclable components instead of disposable vinyl. Although net-type packaging materials require initial investment costs, the province expects that labor intensity will decrease as workers no longer need to bend over and continuously wrap vinyl, and it will also help maintain the freshness of agricultural products.

For the 35 tons of inner packaging vinyl, the province plans to find alternatives such as biodegradable vinyl or recycling methods. The environmental department will continue discussions focusing on the treatment methods for biodegradable vinyl and the circular use of recycled vinyl products in eco-friendly school meals.

The province expects that this measure will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 tons annually, improve workers' labor conditions, and serve as an opportunity for Gyeonggi Province's eco-friendly school meals?operated with environmentally friendly production and distribution processes?to take a step forward.

Andong-gwang, Director of the Agricultural Policy and Marine Affairs Bureau of the province, emphasized, "Everyone must strive for Gyeonggi Province's eco-friendly school meals to be environmentally friendly both to people and nature," adding, "We will expand institutional and financial support to prevent environmental pollution and minimize carbon emissions."

Since 2009, the province has been conducting the 'Eco-friendly Excellent Agricultural and Livestock Products School Meal Supply Project' targeting about 2,400 elementary, middle, and high schools and approximately 1.5 million students in the province. This year, the province is supporting a budget of 75 billion won to compensate for the price difference of eco-friendly excellent agricultural and livestock products together with city and county governments.

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