Yangcheon-gu Receives Prime Minister's Award in Food Waste Management Evaluation Hosted by Ministry of Environment

Total Reduction of 6,297 Tons Over the Past 5 Years, 8 Tons Less Daily Waste Compared to Last Year... Various Initiatives to Encourage Resident Participation Including Food Waste Reduction Contest and Housewife Reduction Promotion Team Operation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) was selected as the best local government in the "2020 Food Waste Management Local Government Performance Evaluation" hosted by the Ministry of Environment and received the Prime Minister's Award.

The "Food Waste Management Local Government Performance Evaluation" award is given by the Ministry of Environment as a commendation for contributors in the resource circulation field, awarded to local governments with excellent food waste management performance.

This performance evaluation was based on the 2019 implementation results, conducting document screening and on-site evaluation for 17 local governments recommended as excellent local governments by metropolitan units among 226 basic local governments nationwide.

The document screening quantitatively evaluated food waste generation reduction performance, proper treatment, and promotional achievements, while the on-site evaluation was conducted through a field inspection by the Ministry of Environment evaluation team on July 3.

So far, Yangcheon-gu has selected three major competency tasks (payment certificate system, food waste composting project, RFID-based per household food waste meter in apartment complexes) aimed at suppressing and reducing food waste generation, established and promoted a five-year plan for food waste generation reduction, and reduced a total of 6,297 tons of food waste over the past five years.

In particular, since 2014, the RFID meter, an electronic tag-based food waste processing method, has been introduced and continuously expanded in apartment complexes. RFID is an automated system that measures the amount of food waste disposed of and charges fees accordingly.

Also, by fully introducing the payment certificate system for small restaurants, which requires disposal in dedicated containers with attached chips, the reduction performance exceeded the target by 4,239 tons (12.24%) per person, achieving a reduction of 8 tons in daily food waste generation compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, the district created an atmosphere of proactive resident participation by conducting joint public-private guidance and inspections of high-volume waste generators and holding an RFID reduction competition for apartment complexes. They also operated a food waste reduction promotion team and held resident promotion performance evaluations, expanding opportunities for residents to directly promote food waste reduction.

Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, emphasized, "This award is a result of the increased awareness and practice of residents regarding food waste reduction," and added, "We will continue to make greater efforts to promote various policies that encourage resident participation to reduce food waste."