Seoul Partners with Franchises to Achieve 100% Recycling of Waste Vinyl

Business Agreement Signed with Six Franchise Organizations
Aiming for Separate Collection and Full Recovery of Waste Vinyl
Establishing Waste Vinyl Collection Zones at Franchise Locations

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is partnering with major domestic franchise companies to achieve 100% recycling of waste vinyl. Under this initiative, participating companies will dispose of waste vinyl in designated bags, which the city will then collect and recycle.

To this end, on October 28, the Seoul Metropolitan Government signed a "Waste Vinyl Separate Collection Promotion Business Agreement" at City Hall with the Korea Franchise Association and five franchise companies. Under the slogan "Our Store's Vinyl Goes in the Special Bag!", participating stores will use dedicated waste vinyl bags for disposal, which the city will collect-creating a so-called "public-private cooperation resource circulation model."

As the city prepares for direct landfill of household waste, it has been working to reduce household waste and increase recycling rates. However, waste vinyl has often been incinerated or landfilled, as it is difficult to recycle and there is a lack of awareness that it is a recyclable resource, leading to its disposal in standard volume-based waste bags. To address this, the city is collaborating with private-sector organizations such as restaurants, fast-food businesses, and franchise stores that generate large amounts of waste vinyl, encouraging voluntary separate collection and aiming for 100% recycling of waste vinyl.

The agreement includes the Korea Franchise Association and five franchise organizations: Kim Ga Nae, Lotteria, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, and Ttangs Budae Jjigae. These five franchises will establish waste vinyl separate collection zones in approximately 850 stores across Seoul and will begin the dedicated bag separation and full recovery process. The plan is to expand participation to around 1,000 additional food service franchises under the Korea Franchise Association in the future.

Participating companies will also promote citizen participation campaigns, internal staff training, and the expansion of ESG management, aiming to increase the number of franchise locations in Seoul as part of their commitment to social responsibility. The city will regularly monitor the implementation of the agreement and provide incentives and promotional support to stores with outstanding performance. Based on the results of this agreement, the city also plans to gradually expand the initiative to small business stores and other sectors.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government expects that, through this agreement, waste vinyl at franchise stores will be systematically managed, resulting in improved city aesthetics, reduced disposal costs, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Following the agreement, the city plans to sequentially implement the expansion of participating stores, operation of the dedicated bag distribution and collection system, management of recycling quality, and citizen awareness campaigns.

Kim Taegyun, First Deputy Mayor for Administration of Seoul, stated, "This business agreement marks the first step for Seoul to realize the concrete goal of 100% recycling of waste vinyl in partnership with the private franchise industry. It is highly meaningful in that it goes beyond a simple separate collection campaign, presenting a new model for public-private cooperation to establish a resource circulation system and create a sustainable urban environment."

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