"Waste Diet Is the Answer"...How Seongdong-gu Is Preventing a Garbage Crisis

Preemptive Three-Year Contracts...9,277 Tons Reduced Over Five Years
111 Recycling Hubs Handling Everything from Coffee Grounds to PET Bottles

Starting this year, it is in principle prohibited to directly landfill household waste at the metropolitan landfill site. Instead of burying waste as it is, it must go through intermediate treatment such as incineration, which is why local districts that lack treatment facilities are voicing concerns about a potential "garbage crisis."

A citizen is disposing of household waste using a dedicated beverage cup collection bin in Seongsu-dong. Provided by Seongdong-gu.

Seongdong-gu in Seoul (headed by District Mayor Jung Wonoh) announced on the 23rd that it has prepared for this issue with a two-pronged strategy. The district plans to first establish a stable foundation for waste treatment, while at the same time pursuing a "waste diet" to reduce the volume of waste itself.

Before the system took effect, Seongdong-gu preemptively signed three-year treatment contracts with two private household waste incineration companies located in Gyeonggi Province. The district judged that once the ban on direct landfilling is fully enforced, local governments nationwide would rush to secure incineration capacity, potentially causing treatment costs to surge. By signing early, the district effectively secured both treatment volume and costs.

Equally as important as securing treatment capacity, Seongdong-gu is focusing on reducing the amount of waste generated in the first place, that is, a waste diet. The volume of household waste generated in Seongdong-gu fell from 65,615 tons in 2020 to 56,338 tons last year, a decrease of 9,277 tons (14.14%) over five years. The district also exceeded its self-imposed 2025 target volume of 56,429 tons by 91 tons.

The district explains that this reduction is especially meaningful because it was achieved despite persistent factors that increase waste, such as a sharp rise in foot traffic around Seongsu-dong, growth in single-person households, and move-ins to newly built apartment complexes.

The secret behind Seongdong-gu's waste diet is a resident-participation-based waste separation and collection policy. By operating 111 mobile collection points under the "Seongdong Pureumi Recycling Station" program, the district attracted a cumulative total of about 360,000 participants as of 2025. It has also expanded circulation channels for discarded resources by running item-specific collection projects, including smart unmanned collection bins (for transparent PET bottles and paper cartons), recycling of scrap metal resources, and the Seongdong-style coffee grounds recycling program.

Seongdong-gu has designated Yeonmujang-gil in Seongsu-dong, which has emerged as a popular hotspot, as a focused management area and deployed special cleaning personnel on weekends and in the afternoons. By installing mobile beverage cup collection bins, the district collects 3,000 to 4,000 disposable cups per weekend day, thereby combining environmental cleanliness management with resource recovery.

This year, Seongdong-gu has set its household waste reduction target at 54,460 tons and plans to continue strengthening public campaigns on waste separation, expanding management of business sites, and cracking down on illegal dumping.

Seongdong-gu District Mayor Jung Wonoh said, "Waste reduction can only be achieved when small efforts in everyday life come together, so we ask for residents' continued action and participation in the future."

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