Gwangju Seo-gu Conducts Customized Reduction Consulting for High-Emission Business Sites

Published 12 Jul.2024 14:13(KST)

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) announced on the 12th that it will conduct the region's first 'Customized Reduction Consulting for Large-Scale Food Waste Generating Businesses' to provide tailored reduction plans for businesses that produce large amounts of food waste.

Since May, Seo-gu recruited participating businesses among 184 large-scale food waste generating businesses located in Chipyeong-dong for two months, and selected 10 final businesses considering their industry type and last year's food waste generation volume.

Seogu District Office exterior. [Photo by Seogu]

As of last year, the annual food waste generation volume in Seo-gu was 32,119 tons, of which large-scale businesses accounted for 6,206 tons, representing 20% of the total volume.

In particular, while food waste generated by general households has been steadily decreasing since 2020, food waste from large-scale businesses is on the rise.

To systematically reduce food waste from large-scale businesses, Seo-gu formed an advisory group consisting of academic experts on food waste, researchers from the Gwangju Green Environment Support Center, and responsible public officials.

After analyzing basic data such as generation volume, disposal methods, and number of diners through a preliminary survey of the businesses, starting in August, the advisory group will visit the businesses to provide consulting on overall food waste reduction and disposal measures, including ▲ diagnosis of customized reduction plans by food waste industry type ▲ consultation on case-specific improvements and other operational difficulties ▲ guidance and instruction on compliance requirements for large-scale food waste generating businesses.

Through this consulting, Seo-gu plans to share best practices of large-scale businesses that have reduced food waste and analyze the reduction effects by business to establish efficient reduction measures.

Chae Bonggil, Director of the Cleaning Administration Division, said, “Reducing food waste at the source is the best way to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce financial burdens such as disposal costs. We expect this customized consulting to help reduce food waste.”

Meanwhile, Seo-gu conducts various annual projects such as supporting the installation of reduction devices and implementing a reduction target management system for large-scale food waste generating businesses to achieve effective food waste reduction at the source.