Gyeonggi-do to Provide 'Collection Rewards' for Agricultural Waste Such as Pesticide Containers

Collecting and sorting agricultural waste vinyl.

Gyeonggi Province will provide compensation for bringing agricultural waste such as pesticide containers.

On the 12th, Gyeonggi Province announced that from the 13th of this month to the 15th of next month, it will operate a focused collection period for agricultural waste to prevent fine dust emissions caused by illegal burning, soil contamination, and to promote recycling of agricultural waste in accordance with the seasonal fine dust management system.

Gyeonggi Province operates the focused collection period for agricultural waste twice a year, dividing it into the first half (February to April) and the second half (November to December), around the farming season.

The province collects waste vinyl, pesticide containers, and other agricultural waste from farms and stores them at village-level joint collection centers, then transports them to the Korea Environment Corporation collection offices under the Ministry of Environment through contracted collection companies. Waste vinyl is crushed, washed, and compressed to be recycled as raw materials, while pesticide containers are either recycled or incinerated.

During the focused collection period, Gyeonggi Province plans to actively encourage farmers to properly dispose of agricultural waste by promoting correct disposal methods and providing collection compensation.

The collection compensation is paid when farmers bring agricultural waste to the joint collection centers installed in villages, based on the type and amount of waste. For waste vinyl, compensation ranges from 80 to 160 KRW per kilogram depending on the amount of foreign substances, while pesticide containers are compensated at 100 KRW per bottle and 80 KRW per bag.

Lee Hyo-sang, head of the Waste Resource Management Team of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The collection of agricultural waste is a project to prevent rural environmental pollution and fine dust emissions caused by illegal burning and landfill, and to create a clean rural environment. We ask for the active participation and cooperation of residents."

Meanwhile, in the first half of this year, Gyeonggi Province also operated the focused collection period for agricultural waste, collecting and processing 6,536 tons of waste vinyl, 1.83 million pesticide containers in bottle form, and 560,000 in bag form.