"Real Genius?" Comedian Jang Dong-min Wins 'Excellence Award' for PET Bottle Label Removal Idea

Comedian Jang Dong-min won the Excellence Award for his PET bottle recycling idea at the '2023 Environmental Startup Expo.'
[Photo by Jang Dong-min Instagram capture]

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Comedian Jang Dong-min was recently revealed to have won the Excellence Award at the '2023 Environmental Startup Competition' hosted by the Ministry of Environment for his idea to remove labels from PET bottles.

On the 1st, the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute held the '2023 Environmental Startup Competition' at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to discover and support promising green industry startup items. Out of a total of 268 teams, 25 teams were selected after expert evaluation. Among them, (Ju) Pureun Haneul, represented by Jang Dong-min, received the Excellence Award in the Environmental Startup Star Company category.

Jang Dong-min participated in this startup competition with the idea of a 'PET One-Touch Removable Container Label.' The PET bottle one-touch removable label developed by Jang Dong-min separates the label simultaneously as the bottle cap is twisted, making recycling easy. Usually, for PET bottles with labels attached, the vinyl part marked with dotted lines must be peeled off or the adhesive vinyl must be removed to enable recycling. However, PET bottles using the label packaging idea proposed by Jang Dong-min are characterized by being easily recyclable with just one motion of twisting the bottle cap.

Comedian Jang Dong-min won the Excellence Award for his PET bottle recycling idea at the '2023 Environmental Startup Expo.'
[Photo by Jang Dong-min Instagram capture]

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After receiving the award, Jang Dong-min opened his Instagram post by saying, "I am so, so grateful. In my 20 years of doing business, I don't think I've ever had a day this joyful." He continued, "I participated in the 2023 Environmental Startup Competition and finally made it to the final round today, and was humbly awarded the Excellence Award. I am very thankful and will work hard to ensure my idea reaches consumers." In the photo posted with this message, Jang Dong-min is holding a sign that reads Excellence Award with a prize of 7 million won.

It is reported that Jang Dong-min filed a patent for the related idea in 2021 and completed official registration last year. He also founded a company called 'Pureun Haneul' earlier this year, which collects and sells recycled materials.

Netizens congratulated him with comments such as "Truly a genius. Congratulations," "Amazing," "Really cool, a genius comedian," "Good at comedy, business, and games... there’s nothing you can’t do," and "Your concern for the environment is so admirable."

Jang Dong-min is regarded as the brain of the comedy world. In March, he won an international poker tournament held in Vietnam, receiving a prize of 50 million won, and he was the final winner of the brain game show 'The Genius' seasons 3 and 4.

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