Hwaseong City Relieves Rural Burden by Collecting Abandoned Waste... Set to Process 485 Tons of Agricultural Waste

Focused Collection of Hard-to-Process Items Such as Seedling Trays, Plastic Trays, and Reflective Film
Operated in Collaboration with Six Nonghyup Branches Until Year-End

Hwaseong Special City in Gyeonggi Province, together with the Hwaseong Branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) and Songsan Nonghyup, conducted an agricultural waste collection activity on April 8 in 37 villages of Songsan-myeon, targeting non-recyclable farm waste.

Officials from Hwaseong Special City and the NongHyup are posing for a commemorative photo after the agricultural waste collection activity. Photo by Hwaseong City

This initiative focused on collecting waste items that are not traditionally accepted, such as pesticide bottles and waste vinyl, and involved the collection and processing of approximately 70 tons of agricultural waste, including seedling trays, plastic trays, and discarded nonwoven fabric.

Until now, items like discarded nonwoven fabric, reflective film, and drip hoses generated during farming have been difficult to recycle and were often abandoned in farmlands or illegally incinerated, which has been identified as a major cause of environmental pollution in rural areas.

To address this, Hwaseong Special City has been promoting a support project for the collection and disposal of agricultural waste since 2021. This year, the city allocated a budget of 50 million won to expand the project. Starting in March with Namyang Nonghyup, Seosin Nonghyup, and Songsan Nonghyup, the city plans to collaborate with a total of six local Nonghyup branches—including Seohwaseong Nonghyup, Paltan Nonghyup, and Taean Nonghyup—by December, with a goal to collect about 485 tons of non-recyclable agricultural waste.

The project targets agricultural waste other than waste vinyl and used pesticide containers, which are processed by the Korea Environment Corporation. After farmers remove foreign substances and bring the waste to designated collection sites, specialized companies are responsible for the collection, transportation, and disposal.

Lee Gyoyeol, Head of the Agricultural Policy Division, stated, "This project is significant in addressing environmental pollution caused by the abandonment and illegal incineration of agricultural waste, and in creating a cleaner rural environment. We will continue to expand farmer and Nonghyup participation to further develop this project."

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