Gangbuk-gu Office Introduces Reusable Cup Sharing System

Shared Cup Collection and Return Boxes Installed on Every Floor of District Office Building for the First Time in Seoul... Collection System to Be Expanded to Dong Community Centers and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] From the 27th, Gangbuk-gu Office employees will no longer personally bring reusable shared cups used for purchasing beverages to cafes.

The return process is completed simply by placing the cup into the collection bin located inside the government building.

Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Park Gyeom-su) announced that it has installed the first reusable shared cup collection box in a public office building in Seoul.

The cup collection box operates on a system of collection, washing, and reuse in a circular manner. A social enterprise partnered with the district sterilizes the collected containers in six steps before returning them to the stores. Coffee shops around the district office participating in the project display stickers indicating they provide eco-friendly reusable cups.

A total of five collection boxes have been placed on each floor inside the building. Each location can hold about 160 cups at once. The used containers are collected once daily by the company.

The district prepared this project as an alternative following the ban on bringing disposable items into public institutions, which resumed in February. It also aims to proactively respond to the mandatory deposit system for disposable cups, which will be enforced in June next year, by promoting container reuse. The deposit system introduced by the Ministry of Environment requires customers to leave a certain amount of money at coffee shops, bakeries, etc., when using disposable cups. Customers can get their money back only by returning the cups to the store.

The district plans to gradually increase the installation locations of the return boxes to places such as community service centers. It also intends to encourage participation in the project so that it can spread to other public institutions and the private sector within the region.

Park Gyeom-su, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “Reducing disposable products is a social task and obligation that all of us must practice,” adding, “We will strive to make the use of reusable containers a daily habit and establish it as a common culture.”