Establishment of Emergency Garbage Collection Systems by Local Governments for Chuseok Holiday

Special Management Measures for Household Waste During Chuseok Holiday from September 28 to October 7

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Environment announced on the 24th that it will implement a "Special Management Plan for Household Waste during the Chuseok Holiday" from the 28th of this month to the 7th of next month. It will intensively crack down on illegal dumping of garbage and establish an emergency collection system for Chuseok gift packaging waste by local governments.

This plan involves related organizations including local governments nationwide, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Railroad Corporation, and Korea Airports Corporation, centered on the Ministry of Environment.

With the increase in delivery and consumption due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Ministry is paying special attention to managing packaging waste during the Chuseok holiday as recyclable waste has increased.

Specifically, the plan includes ▲ establishing and operating a special collection system for household waste ▲ resolving the accumulation of waste vinyl and sorting residues at sorting centers ▲ reducing the amount of holiday waste generated ▲ strengthening management of multi-use facilities such as railway stations.

Local governments will inform residents in advance of garbage collection dates during the Chuseok holiday to reduce confusion. Collection schedules will be adjusted before and after the holiday to disperse the disposal of Chuseok gift packaging materials.

The Ministry of Environment plans to continuously monitor the distribution status of recyclable items throughout all stages of "collection-sorting-recycling" in cooperation with distribution support centers.

They will focus on managing the volume of waste accumulation and residue generation at sorting facilities.

First, sorting companies will receive a temporary additional payment of plastic sorting support funds under the Producer Responsibility Recycling System (EPR). Some payments are planned to be made before Chuseok.

From this month until February next year, an additional 20 KRW per kilogram will be paid for sorting plastics (PER, PE, PP). The current 35 KRW will be raised to 55 KRW.

The number of resource management assistants will be more than doubled. As of the 8th, 4,704 assistants are working in the first term; 4,006 will be deployed by the 6th of next month, and about 2,800 more (tentatively) will be recruited in the second week of next month. Working hours will also increase from 3 hours to 4 hours per day.

By mid-next month, 4,170 tons of recycled raw materials from waste vinyl will be prioritized for stockpiling. The goal is to stockpile 10,000 tons.

Meanwhile, from the 15th to the 30th, the Ministry of Environment and local governments will inspect excessive packaging during the holiday, focusing on large distribution industries. A "Good Packaging Contest" will be held targeting distribution and manufacturing industries.

Proper separation and disposal methods for fruits, delivery cardboard boxes, and fruit cushioning Styrofoam will be promoted. The smartphone application "Separation Disposal in My Hand" will provide real-time answers to various inquiries.

Additionally, the Ministry of Environment, together with related organizations such as the Expressway Corporation and Railroad Corporation, will promote waste separation and disposal guidelines mainly at terminals and rest areas. They plan to strengthen separation management by deploying cleaning personnel and installing mobile simple collection boxes.

They will educate and crack down on illegal dumping mainly in vulnerable areas such as major road congestion sections, highway rest areas, and around passenger terminals.

During last year's Chuseok holiday, local governments nationwide deployed 4,388 enforcement officers, cracking down on 593 cases of illegal garbage dumping and imposing fines totaling 63.56 million KRW.

Lee Young-gi, Director of the Resource Circulation Policy Division at the Ministry of Environment, said, "Due to the special circumstances of COVID-19, more waste is expected to be generated during the Chuseok holiday than usual," adding, "There are concerns that the accumulation of waste vinyl and sorting residues at sorting centers will increase."

He continued, "Local governments will establish special collection measures and intensively manage accumulated waste to ensure proper disposal," adding, "We will do our best to minimize the use of disposable products and actively guide reducing waste generation from the time of purchasing products such as Chuseok gifts."