Seoul City’s 11-Year Waste Electronics Recycling Project... 120,000 Tons of Greenhouse Gas Reduced

36,000 Tons of Waste Electronics and 1.73 Million Waste Mobile Phones Recycled... Sale of Valuable Materials Amounts to 20 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Since the establishment of the Seoul Urban Metal Recovery Center in 2009 during Mayor Oh Se-hoon's administration to address the issue of small and medium-sized waste home appliances and waste mobile phones, the urban mining project, which extracts valuable metals such as rare metals for recycling, has marked its 11th year of operation.

The 'urban mining project' refers to the concept of mining minerals in the city, recovering valuable metals from waste electronic devices and converting them into resources. The Seoul Urban Metal Recovery Center transforms small and medium-sized electronic waste generated from Seoul's 25 autonomous districts into recyclable raw materials by undergoing processes such as dismantling, crushing, and sorting to extract valuable metals.

According to Seoul City on the 11th, since 2009, 36,000 tons of waste electronic products and 1.73 million waste mobile phones have been collected and processed. The recovered valuable metals are recycled in various industries, with sales reaching 20 billion KRW. Seoul City announced that the urban mining project has economically substituted natural raw material imports by a total of 40.7 billion KRW and has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 tons through recycling.

The SR Center is operated by Eco City Seoul, a social enterprise specializing in electronic product recycling, and plays a role in helping vulnerable groups become self-reliant by creating sustainable quality jobs.

Meanwhile, the SR Center is also used as an environmental education site for students and citizens' experiential learning. Various on-site experiences have been conducted to raise awareness of the importance of separate disposal, including tours of the recycling process, hands-on experience in sorting waste home appliances, and making upcycled products from waste parts. Of the sales revenue, 1.18 billion KRW has been donated to the Community Chest of Korea, Seoul Single-Parent Family Support Center, Korea Association of Social Welfare, and Seoul Scholarship Foundation, supporting 2,764 low-income households in Seoul and providing scholarships.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of Seoul City's Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, "The urban mining project has a triple effect by extracting valuable metals through dismantling and sorting small and medium-sized waste home appliances and waste mobile phones, recycling them in industries, and creating jobs for vulnerable groups, thereby generating environmental, social, and economic benefits. Seoul City will continue to lead resource circulation in various fields through eco-friendly treatment and recycling of electronic waste."

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