Gimhae City Completes Nation's First 'Private Funeral Hall Multi-use Container Washing Facility' ... Annual Carbon Reduction of 24 Tons

Trial Supply in March for Gimhae Citizens, Hansol, and Haneuljae, Full Implementation in the Second Half of the Year

The reusable container washing facility at a private funeral home in Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam has been completed.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gimhae City in Gyeongnam has completed the nation's first multi-use container washing facility for private funeral homes.

The city built the washing facility seven months after signing an agreement in August last year with 14 private funeral service providers in the region to use multi-use containers within funeral halls.

The facility, built on a 200㎡ scale, is intended to supply multi-use containers to funeral halls where disposable plastic containers are most commonly used.

It uses stainless steel multi-use containers that are recyclable and semi-permanently usable, and is equipped with hygiene management facilities such as ultrasonic and foam washers, sterilizers, and disinfectors.

A separate ice pack washing facility was also established to collect and sterilize indiscriminately discarded ice packs, which are then supplied free of charge to about 1,000 small business owners and others.

The sterilization, washing, collection, and supply of multi-use containers are handled by the Gimhae Regional Self-Sufficiency Center, which formed a separate business unit of about 10 people to supply them for a fee. The Korean District Heating Corporation Gimhae Branch supports the ice pack supply project for small business owners with an annual operating budget of 20 million won.

After the completion ceremony, they are touring the interior of the cleaning facility.

The completion ceremony was attended by Gimhae Mayor Heo Seong-gon, City Council Chairman Song Yuin, Korean District Heating Corporation Gimhae Office Manager Seo Heeman, and representatives of 14 funeral service providers in the city, totaling about 50 people.

The city plans to expand the scope of projects related to the culture of using multi-use containers, including supplying multi-use containers at various private outdoor events, promoting shared cup use in cafes, and reusing ice packs.

The supply of multi-use containers to private funeral homes began on a trial basis at three funeral halls?Gimhae Citizen, Hansol, and Haneuljae?starting March 14.

In the second half of the year, the city expects to supply multi-use containers to all 14 private funeral halls, reducing about 30 tons of plastic waste annually.

A city official said, “Eliminating disposable plastic containers in private funeral homes is very meaningful for environmental protection and carbon neutrality efforts,” adding, “We hope for active participation and support from citizens so that the culture of using multi-use containers becomes established in daily life.”

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