Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is taking a commemorative photo with participants at the Declaration Ceremony for Reducing the Use of Disposable Products on the 23rd.
Gyeonggi Province is expanding the ban on single-use items from the provincial government office to all public facilities and is piloting the creation of a ‘Single-Use Items Zero Gyeonggi Special Zone’ as part of a comprehensive plan to reduce the use of single-use products.
On the 23rd, Gyeonggi Province made a declaration to reduce the use of single-use items at the provincial government office, hosted by the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee.
About 420 people attended the declaration ceremony, including members of the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee, 28 public institutions under the province, companies, consumers, small business owners, delivery and reusable container service providers, students representing future generations, and public officials from 31 cities and counties.
Kim Dong-yeon, Co-Chairman of the Carbon Neutral Green Growth Committee and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, said, "Since January 1 last year, single-use cups have been banned inside the government building, and from January 1 this year, the use of single-use containers for food delivered during night shifts has also been prohibited." He added, "This initiative to stop using single-use items starting from the public sector is the first of its kind nationwide and is becoming well established."
He continued, "I recently attended the Davos Forum, where global companies were deeply concerned about climate change. It was very disheartening to learn that South Korea is the only OECD country where the proportion of renewable energy has decreased." He pledged, "I hope we can achieve the practice of not using single-use items as part of everyday life. Gyeonggi Province will take the lead and work closely with the provincial council to make every effort."
This plan was prepared to urge the normalization of central government policies that run counter to carbon neutrality and to establish a lifestyle culture of not using single-use items in the daily lives of citizens.
Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province will pursue 16 key tasks across four sectors under the vision of ‘Zero Single-Use Items, Gyeonggi Province Leading the Way’ to establish a lifestyle of not using single-use products.
The four-sector plan includes leading the public sector by expanding zero single-use item public facilities, holding zero single-use item public festivals, events, and meetings, and installing and operating shared cup stations in public facilities.
Gyeonggi Province will expand the ban on the use and introduction of single-use items from the provincial government office to all public facilities, and will prohibit the use of single-use items when planning various events, demonstrating the public sector’s leadership in reducing single-use items. Additionally, tumbler washing machines and shared cup rental facilities will be installed at key points in public facilities.
Furthermore, the private sector expansion support includes a shared shopping bag support project, piloting the Single-Use Items Zero Gyeonggi Special Zone, operating the Gyeonggi Ongdalsaem water service, and expanding the introduction of reusable container services in private multi-use facilities.
Gyeonggi Province operates shared shopping bag zones in partnership with traditional markets, providing cleaning, rental, and return services for shopping bags to users. Through city and county public contests, special zones equipped with environments that allow the use of reusable cups will be created in all public institutions and multi-use facilities within the region. The ‘Gyeonggi Ongdalsaem’ service offers free drinking water without requiring food or beverage orders to residents who bring their own tumblers to cafes, restaurants, banks, and community centers.
In addition, the resident participation activation sector includes expanding incentives for using reusable containers, building and operating the Gyeonggi Resource Circulation Map platform, expanding resource circulation villages, and promoting upcycling of waste plastics.
Gyeonggi Province will provide discount coupons to consumers for delivery restaurants that use reusable containers. It will also build the Gyeonggi Resource Circulation Map platform to share information on single-use item reduction policies and stores practicing single-use item reduction between the province and cities/counties. The number of resource circulation villages, where residents participate in waste separation and collection to create a circular economy, will be expanded from 13 to 50. Pilot projects to promote upcycling, such as producing daily necessities from recycled banners and transparent PET bottles, will also be implemented.
The foundation-building sector includes urging the Ministry of Environment to reconsider its policy to withdraw regulations on single-use items and transferring regulatory authority over single-use item use to local governments, thereby establishing an institutional foundation to activate the circular economy.
Meanwhile, according to Gyeonggi Province, the central government has recently reversed single-use item reduction policies such as banning plastic straws and plastic bags, lowered the target for renewable energy generation from 30.2% to 21.6% by 2030, and cut the renewable energy budget by 74%, actions that run counter to carbon neutrality policies.
In contrast, Gyeonggi Province has set a renewable energy generation target of 30% by 2030 through RE100 and increased this year’s renewable energy budget by 536%. The province has also replaced the entire national subsidy for environmental education, which was cut by the central government, with provincial funds to carry out its own environmental education projects.
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