Strengthening the Ban on Single-Use Items in All Festivals, Events, and Meetings with Participation from All Departments and Related Organizations
Leading Environmental Innovation by Creating and Practicing a Single-Use Item-Free Government Building
Second Half Transparent PET Bottle Deposit System from September 21 to November 30
Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee), which is moving toward the successful realization of ‘THE ESG Gwanak,’ will eliminate the use of disposable products at all festivals, events, and meetings promoted by the district starting in September.
ESG stands for ▲Environment, including responses to climate change and reduction of carbon emissions ▲Social, including improvement of labor conditions and protection of socially vulnerable groups ▲Governance, meaning transparent corporate management and compliance with laws and ethics, pursuing sustainable development and social and ethical values.
In March, the district held the ‘THE ESG Gwanak Vision Proclamation Ceremony’ to realize a sustainable city, and since May, it has fully banned the introduction and use of disposable products within the government office, encouraged employees to bring personal cups, and placed reusable cups in all department pantries, striving to create an office free of disposable products.
Furthermore, the district recently established a legal foundation by enacting the ‘Ordinance on Reducing the Use of Disposable Products in Gwanak-gu, Seoul,’ and as a new initiative for ‘THE ESG Gwanak,’ it has formulated a ‘Plan to Promote Festivals, Events, and Meetings Without Disposable Products.’
The main action plans include ▲prohibiting the provision of disposable cups and water bottles during meetings and switching to reusable cups ▲reflecting ‘disposable product reduction measures’ in the evaluation criteria for selecting event agencies ▲strengthening management and supervision of major festivals and events.
The district plans to expand disposable product reduction measures to related organizations and promote campaigns to reduce disposable products, making leading efforts to advance ESG policies.
Meanwhile, the district is promoting the ‘Transparent PET Bottle Deposit System’ project together with the resident-led ‘Resource Circulation Club,’ the first of its kind established in Seoul.
The Transparent PET Bottle Deposit System aims to increase the collection rate of transparent PET bottles while encouraging voluntary participation from residents to establish a culture of separate waste collection. In the first half of this year, about 25,000 residents participated, collecting a total of 45 tons (approximately 1.1 million bottles) of PET bottles.
In April, Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, participated in a Resource Circulation Club event to raise awareness among residents about the necessity of separate waste collection. As a result of continuous efforts by the district and the Resource Circulation Club, the collection volume of transparent PET bottles increased dramatically by 375% compared to last year.
The second half of the Transparent PET Bottle Deposit System will be conducted at all neighborhood community centers from September 21 to November 30 (every Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.).
The compensation criteria are one 10L volume-based waste bag for every 10 transparent PET bottles of 2L size (or 40 bottles of 500mL), and one 20L volume-based waste bag for every 20 bottles of 2L size (or 80 bottles of 500mL). Up to 4 bags can be exchanged per day.
Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said, “I hope the various projects promoted by the district will serve as an opportunity to raise residents’ awareness of environmental protection,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to create a ‘Clean Living Space Gwanak’ where residents are happy with innovative ideas.”
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