Seoul City and Environmental Foundation Join Forces to Practice ESG
Collection boxes for expired and unused medicines have been installed at all branches of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service in the Seoul area, waiting for the 'medicines' discarded in drawers.
The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (Chairman Park Jong-gil) has installed collection boxes for expired and unused medicines at a total of 9 branches throughout the Seoul area starting from the 13th, as part of its ESG practice to establish proper separation and disposal of expired medicines, and has launched a promotional campaign to increase citizen participation.
Shin Dong-hyun, Director of ESG Management at the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service (4th from the left), and Jeong Mi-seon, Director of Resource Circulation at Seoul City (3rd from the left), are holding a separated disposal agreement ceremony for waste pharmaceuticals at the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service Seoul Joint Office Building.
When expired and unused medicines left over at home are thrown away as general waste and landfilled or flushed down the drain, components such as antibiotics can flow into the soil or rivers, causing environmental pollution.
Additionally, the spread of resistant bacteria such as superbugs can negatively affect public health, making thorough management necessary.
According to last year's report by the Seoul Institute titled "Current Status and Improvement Measures for Household Hazardous Waste Management," about half of Seoul citizens were found to dispose of expired medicines in volume-based waste bags or down sinks and toilets, indicating that much attention and effort are required to establish proper separation and disposal.
Currently, Seoul installs collection boxes for expired medicines at district offices, community centers, public health centers, and welfare centers. Especially since July, citizens have been encouraged to participate by simply placing expired medicines, excluding liquid medicines, into collection bags and dropping them into mailboxes.
The Service has decided to cooperate with Seoul City, the Environmental Foundation, and the Korea Post to install collection boxes for expired medicines at a total of 9 branches in the Seoul area to facilitate citizens' convenience in practicing proper separation and disposal.
Furthermore, to encourage greater citizen participation, promotional activities such as providing guidance on proper separation and disposal methods and distributing collection bags for mailboxes to visiting customers will be continuously carried out.
Park Jong-gil, Chairman of the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service, said, "The separation and disposal of expired medicines is a matter of great significance in protecting our environment and health, and we will continue activities suited to the Service's conditions to establish proper separation and disposal."
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