Gangbuk-gu, Exchange 30 Transparent PET Bottles for One 10ℓ Volume-Based Waste Bag

Every Thursday at the Dong Community Center... Collecting properly disposed transparent PET bottles for use as textile yarn

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangbuk-gu (District Mayor Park Gyeom-su) has been conducting a project since last month that exchanges transparent PET bottles for volume-based waste bags.

The purpose of this project is to promote the proper separate collection of transparent PET bottles. It also aims to facilitate high-quality recycling of transparent PET bottles. Since December last year, residents in apartment complexes have been required to separate transparent PET bottles from general plastics when disposing of them.

For single-family homes, a designated day system will be mandatory starting this December.

The exchange targets transparent and colorless bottles for water, beverages, Makgeolli, and milk. Colored PET bottles, disposable cups, seasoning containers, and food packaging containers fall under general plastic synthetic resin containers. PET bottles containing impurities are not exchanged for volume-based waste bags.

The size of the volume-based waste bag given in exchange varies according to the capacity of the transparent PET bottles. Residents can collect 30 bottles of 500㎖ PET bottles and bring them to their local community service center to exchange for one 10ℓ volume-based waste bag. For PET bottles up to 1.5ℓ, one waste bag is given per 15 bottles, and for bottles 2ℓ or larger, one waste bag is given per 10 bottles.

The exchange day is every Thursday.

Last year, Gangbuk-gu became the first district in Seoul to sign a business agreement with a private company, laying the groundwork for transforming transparent PET bottles into clothing. Taking a step further, last month, a dedicated workspace for transparent PET bottles was set up at the Beondong recycling sorting center, and a compactor was installed to compress large quantities of PET bottles into a single block.

Park Gyeom-su, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “I believe the first step toward environmental protection and high-quality resource recycling is the establishment of a culture of separate collection,” and added, “I hope many residents will collect properly disposed transparent PET bottles and exchange them for volume-based waste bags.”