Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, Produces and Supports Region's First Dedicated Transparent PET Bottle Disposal Bags

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 14th that it will produce transparent PET bottle-exclusive disposal bags for the first time in Gwangju and Jeonnam and provide them free of charge to houses and commercial establishments.

Currently, in apartment complexes and detached houses, separate disposal of transparent PET bottles is mandatory, and they must be disposed of separately from other recyclables.

However, in some residential and commercial areas, separate disposal is still not properly carried out, causing difficulties in recycling.

Accordingly, Gwangsan-gu decided to promote a pilot project to produce and distribute exclusive disposal bags to help citizens practice separate disposal of transparent PET bottles and increase the recycling rate.

A total of 1,012,000 bags were produced, with 15 bags each of 20ℓ for residential use and 30ℓ for commercial use.

From today, delivery will begin targeting about 63,000 households including residences and commercial establishments. Households that do not receive the bags can visit the local administrative welfare center later to pick them up.

The exclusive bags, made transparent so that the inside can be visually checked, also feature a guide explaining how to separately dispose of transparent PET bottles.

Citizens can refer to the guide, collect transparent PET bottles in the bag, and dispose of them according to the recycling collection day in their area. However, colored PET bottles such as beer bottles and Makgeolli bottles, packaging cups, transparent packaging containers, and other general plastics should not be placed together in the bag.

A Gwangsan-gu official said, “We expect that distributing exclusive bags will have the effect of encouraging separate disposal practices and improving recycling rates in residences and commercial establishments,” adding, “We plan to consider expanding this to other recyclables such as vinyl and plastic in the future.”

Meanwhile, transparent PET bottles can be used as high-quality raw materials if they are separated and disposed of without contamination.

Previously, Gwangsan-gu signed business agreements with four companies?SK Chemical, Doosan E&T, Shinheung Resources, and Hyundai Environment?to establish a virtuous cycle system for transparent PET bottles. Accordingly, transparent PET bottles collected in Gwangsan-gu are being used to produce eco-friendly cosmetic containers and others.

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