Seoul City Offers 'Free Consulting' for Businesses with High Food Waste Output

Focused Consulting at 20 Locations

Seoul City announced on the 14th that it will conduct customized reduction consulting (advisory) by industry for 20 business sites that generate large amounts of food waste.

As of last year, the amount of food waste generated in Seoul is 2,495 tons per day. In particular, food waste generated from households has been steadily decreasing since 2019 (2,122 tons/day in 2019 → 1,910 tons/day in 2022), but the amount of food waste generated by large-scale waste-generating businesses is on the rise.

An advisory group composed of food waste industry experts, researchers from the Korea Waste Association, and city and district government officials will visit the business sites to conduct consulting on ▲business operation status investigation ▲guidance on compliance for large-scale waste-generating businesses ▲diagnosis of generation suppression and reduction measures ▲and overall efficient food waste treatment methods.

Through this consulting, Seoul City plans to share best practices of large-scale waste-generating businesses that have successfully reduced food waste, analyze the reduction effects by business site, and establish efficient reduction measures, expanding business site consulting annually. In addition, to raise awareness of the importance of source reduction of food waste, promotional materials will be distributed during the consulting sessions, including designating and operating ‘No Leftover Days’ within the business sites, reducing waste during ingredient preparation and storage, appointing food waste managers, and standards for separate disposal.

Meanwhile, the city supports the purchase and installation of large-scale reduction machines to reduce food waste for multi-family housing and large-scale waste-generating businesses. Up to last year, a total of 423 units have been distributed to establish reduction infrastructure, and 71 more units are planned to be installed this year.

Choi Jong-ha, Director of the Living Environment Division, said, “We expect this customized consulting to be very helpful for businesses struggling with food waste reduction,” and added, “Seoul City will promote various support policies, including source reduction, aiming to reduce food waste by 10% by 2026.”

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