Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Selected as Best Autonomous District for Resource Circulation Policy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, was selected as the first place in Gwangju City's ‘Autonomous District Evaluation for Promoting Resource Circulation-Oriented Urban Environment Policies,’ securing a financial incentive of 180 million KRW.

Gwangju City conducts an annual evaluation of resource circulation policies targeting five autonomous districts, assessing 12 items across four areas including household waste reduction and recyclable material separation to promote the transition to a resource-circulating society.

Gwangsan-gu ranked first among the five autonomous districts in Gwangju due to high evaluations of policies such as the transparent PET bottle circulation project in collaboration with companies like SK Chemicals Co., Ltd., ice pack collection and reuse, and the campaign ‘Yongginae Gwangsan’ aimed at eliminating single-use products, establishing a resource circulation economy system.

Efforts to improve citizen awareness were also recognized, including training resource circulation interpreters, resource circulation education for future generations, and the non-face-to-face environmental cleanup campaign ‘Jupging (picking up + jogging),’ which protects both health and the environment.

Gwangsan-gu plans to continuously strengthen resource circulation policies to actively respond to the increasingly serious climate crisis and waste problems.

Expanding the reusable container reuse project started last year with local coffee shops to funeral homes, where single-use products are frequently used, this year, the district will promote campaigns to encourage citizen participation and practice, such as the ‘Climate Action 1.5℃ Challenge’ to promote carbon neutrality activities in daily life, and resource circulation challenges targeting elementary, middle, and high schools as well as apartment complexes.

A Gwangsan-gu official said, “We will accelerate the creation of a carbon reduction and resource circulation city through various resource circulation policies based on public-private cooperation,” adding, “We will do our best to become a model for overcoming the climate crisis led by citizens and the local community.”