What Is the Secret Behind Seongdong-gu Sageun-dong Chief Lee Jeong-hee's Halving of Illegal Dumping?

‘Data-Based Diverse Layers Collaborating on Household Waste Measures’ Reduces Waste Disposal by 28%, Illegal Dumping by 49%; Selected as 2021 Seoul City Civil Service Improvement Best Practice, Recognized for Village Environmental Issue Improvements

Lee Jeong-hee, the head of Sageun-dong (standing), is explaining the plan at a meeting for village environmental improvement.

Occupational Group Cleaning

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) announced that through the ‘Data-driven Diverse Community Joint Measures to Reduce Household Waste,’ it achieved a 28% reduction in waste discharge, a 49% decrease in illegal dumping, and a 23% improvement in recyclable waste separation (comparing the second half of 2020 to the first half of 2021).

This project, which won the Excellence Award in the ‘2021 Seoul City Civil Service Improvement Best Practices’ this month, began in Sagun-dong, Seongdong-gu.

Sagun-dong, home to 5,601 households and the highest proportion of single-person households in Seongdong-gu (72%, compared to the district average of 42%), has a high rate of waste-related complaints. Since the first half of this year, local officials and residents have gathered opinions and visited sites directly to analyze causes and approached solutions from multiple angles.

First, a mapping operation was conducted targeting areas with illegal dumping fines and habitual complaint zones after collecting opinions from cleaning staff throughout Sagun-dong. Based on the collected data, illegal dumping was categorized into four types, and solutions were devised accordingly. Special emphasis was placed on the fact that many single-person households, relatively indifferent to waste discharge, reside in the area, highlighting the need for continuous and consistent policy processes through cooperation between public and private sectors.

Earlier, the district established the nation’s first ‘Local Government Big Data Analysis Platform’ in 2019, securing big data on illegal dumping. Following this, Sagun-dong residents directly identified dumping sites to specify information about target areas.

Accordingly, customized measures were implemented according to site characteristics, such as creating flower paths in illegal dumping areas and producing and distributing recycling bags. Collaborating with the Residents’ Autonomy Committee, the Neighborhood Association Council, and functional organizations, district-wide village cleanups were conducted, and campaigns to eradicate illegal dumping were led together with nearby residents to improve environmental awareness.

Data analysis revealed the presence of nearby Hanyang University and other institutions, with many university students. Utilizing this characteristic, cooperation was requested from universities and real estate agents, producing and distributing videos to improve waste discharge awareness and distributing waste discharge leaflets during lease contract signings, among other concrete efforts.

Leading policies for single-person households such as Youth Savings Accounts, Safety Sets, and Moving Service Support, the district plans to actively consider regional characteristics like population composition and continue to resolve local issues through empathy and communication with residents.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, “Winning the Excellence Award for Civil Service Improvement Best Practices is a very encouraging result, especially since no community service center had ever received such an award before.” He added, “We will spare no support to ensure that the excellent cleaning measures being promoted in Sagun-dong can be widely shared and expanded to other frontline institutions.”

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