Junggu Secures 780 Million Won Incentive for Successful Household Waste Reduction Program

Published 10 Mar.2024 09:38(KST)

Jung-gu, Top District in Seoul's 2023 Waste Import Management System (1st Place)
Jung-gu Achieves Consecutive Excellence from 2020 to 2023 in Seoul's Waste Import Management System
Reduced Additional 5,455 Tons Beyond Target, Secured 783 Million KRW Incentive
Success Through New Industrial Waste Discovery, Household Waste Quality Control, and Resource Circulation Projects

Gil Gilseong, Jung-gu Mayor, cleaning the streets with residents

Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Kim Gil-seong) was selected as the best autonomous district (1st place) in the 2023 Seoul Metropolitan Government’s evaluation of the autonomous districts' management of household waste inflow.

Since 2020, Jung-gu has been consecutively recognized as an excellent autonomous district, boasting a high ‘success rate’ in household waste ‘dieting’.

Located in the heart of the city, Jung-gu has a resident population of only 120,000, but the floating population reaches 500,000 daily. Despite the difficulty of handling the daily waste generated, the district made multifaceted efforts to reduce waste generation, achieving remarkable results.

Autonomous districts receive reduction targets from Seoul Metropolitan Government and are supported with waste disposal costs based on their performance. Jung-gu’s 2023 household waste inflow quota was 53,860 tons, which is a 5% reduction from the average inflow between 2018 and 2022. While the amount of waste to be reduced increased by more than 10,000 tons compared to 2022, Jung-gu imported a total of 48,405 tons of waste, achieving a great success by reducing 5,455 tons more than the target. This means they reduced about 15 tons more daily than the 1,476,000 daily reduction target last year.

Among the 25 autonomous districts in Seoul, Jung-gu was recognized for its greatest effort in reducing household waste and will receive an incentive of 783 million KRW from Seoul Metropolitan Government.

This achievement is the result of Jung-gu’s continuous efforts to reduce waste. For general businesses generating more than 300 kg/day of waste, the waste must be treated as business waste rather than household waste, and businesses must handle it themselves. Over the past year, the district visited 23 businesses to guide them to treat waste as business waste, thereby reducing household waste.

Additionally, by strictly managing the characteristics of household waste, Jung-gu prohibited the inflow of improperly sorted waste into its resource recycling processing center.

Actively promoting resource circulation projects with residents to increase recycling rates was also effective. Centered on the Waste Research Institute Saerom, various educational programs to improve awareness of resource circulation were conducted, creating an atmosphere where residents actively participated in waste reduction.

The ‘Village Clean Coordinators’ deployed in each neighborhood also played a significant role. Composed of residents, the ‘Village Clean Coordinators’ moved away from enforcement-focused cleaning administration and informed neighbors about waste reduction methods and proper waste separation. Thanks to their efforts, residents now separate waste efficiently. Not only have the alleys in Jung-gu become cleaner, but the overall environment has improved.

In the recycling waste bag exchange project, held every Thursday where recyclable materials meeting certain standards are exchanged for volume-based waste bags, 44,966 residents participated last year, collecting 3,399,000 recyclable items.

The number of collections by smart collection bins, which return points when transparent PET bottles are brought in, also increased, encouraging more residents to participate in waste separation. As a result, Jung-gu’s recycling processing volume increased by about 50%, from 31.6 tons/day in 2022 to 47.8 tons/day in 2023.

Going forward, Jung-gu plans to actively continue resource circulation projects such as recycling waste vinyl, coffee grounds recycling, and campaigns to reduce single-use items. In addition, the district will form a household waste reduction task force with residents to research waste reduction methods and disseminate them throughout the community.

Kim Gil-seong, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, “Considering that the floating population exceeds the resident population by more than four times in Jung-gu, this achievement is very encouraging.” He added, “This success was made possible by Jung-gu’s determination to reduce waste, resource circulation education, and residents’ practical efforts in daily life,” encouraging the hard work of residents and staff. Furthermore, he stated, “The district will continue to work closely with residents to explore and implement waste reduction measures.”