[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province is conducting an 'Ice Pack Recycling Sharing Project.'
Suwon City has been collecting discarded ice packs since 2019. The annual collection amounts were 35,000 in 2019, 77,000 in 2020, and 104,000 in 2021.
The recycled ice pack sharing project involves Suwon City collecting ice packs used by citizens and providing them to specialized companies, which then clean and disinfect the ice packs and supply them to large distribution centers and traditional markets within the city.
To this end, the city will install and operate ice pack collection boxes at 49 locations, including 41 community service centers and 8 apartment complexes, until October.
A city official stated, "Ice packs, which see a sharp increase in use during the summer, often contain microplastics as their main component, and if simply discarded, can cause serious environmental pollution. Many people throw ice packs into volume-based waste bags, but increasing reuse is urgently needed."
He added, "We will expand the number of collection boxes and continuously find demand sources to activate the ice pack recycling project."
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