Gwangju Nam-gu Launches Free Replacement Support for Waste Containers

Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, has decided to replace the food waste collection containers used in restaurants and other establishments from the current 20ℓ to 15ℓ free of charge to prevent safety accidents among sanitation workers exposed to musculoskeletal disorder risks during the collection of household waste.

On the 12th, Nam-gu announced that it will implement a free replacement program for establishments using waste collection containers to prevent physical strain on sanitation workers when loading the containers onto vehicles.

According to Nam-gu and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, the food waste collection containers currently used in local restaurants and other places have a capacity of 20ℓ, and when fully loaded, the weight of the container reaches between 25 to 40 kg.

In particular, about 1,200 establishments in the district use the 20ℓ collection containers, and it is estimated that each sanitation worker collects about 60 containers per day on average.

This level of labor intensity is considered a factor adversely affecting the musculoskeletal health of sanitation workers.

According to the "Musculoskeletal Disorder Prevention Manual for Sanitation Workers" published by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, lifting waste collection containers weighing over 25 kg more than 10 times a day during work imposes a musculoskeletal burden.

Accordingly, Nam-gu will carry out a free replacement of 20ℓ containers with 15ℓ containers for establishments currently using 20ℓ containers from this month until the end of June next year, for one year.

Establishments wishing to replace their containers can write their business name on the existing container and attach a replacement request sticker, or visit the district office or local administrative welfare centers with their 20ℓ waste collection containers.

A Nam-gu official stated, "We have inevitably reduced the capacity of the collection containers to prevent safety accidents among sanitation workers, and it is expected that reducing the container capacity will also reduce the amount of food waste."

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