Why Are 'Daeyongryang Jongnyangje Bags' Disappearing...?

Yangcheon-gu to Stop Producing 75ℓ Bins from Second Half
Concerns Over Sanitation Workers' Safety Accidents and Mixing of Recyclable Materials

An employee of the environmental cleaning contractor in Yangcheon-gu collecting 75ℓ volume-based waste bags for household waste. Provided by Yangcheon-gu.

Yangcheon-gu, Seoul (Mayor Lee Gi-jae) announced on the 30th that it will stop producing 75ℓ volume-based waste bags for household waste from the second half of this year to prevent musculoskeletal injuries and other safety accidents among sanitation workers and to prevent the mixing of recyclable resources.

This measure aims to address issues such as sanitation workers sustaining back injuries due to excessive waste loads during work. According to Ministry of Environment guidelines, a 75ℓ volume-based waste bag can hold up to 19kg of waste. However, in practice, the weight limit is often not observed, leading to continuous overloading.

Field investigations by Seoul City also revealed that the mixing rate of recyclable resources such as plastics in 75ℓ volume-based waste bags reached as high as 50%, indicating improper separation and disposal and highlighting the need for improvement.

To resolve this, the district plans to stop producing 75ℓ volume-based waste bags from the second half of the year and instead expand the supply of 50ℓ volume-based waste bags. The already produced 75ℓ bags will be sold until stock runs out, and bags currently distributed in the market can still be used.