Junggu District Expands Coffee Grounds Collection and Recycling Project with Participation from 250 Locations

Junggu District to Lead in Resource Circulation
by Composting 157 Tons of Coffee Grounds

Junggu District in Seoul will actively implement the "Coffee Grounds Collection and Recycling Promotion Project" from this month until the end of the year, aiming to recycle coffee grounds generated at coffee shops as resources rather than as household waste.

Junggu District Office building. Provided by Junggu District.

The core of this project is to separately collect coffee grounds from 250 coffee shops in the district and recycle them into eco-friendly compost. Although coffee grounds are an organic resource free from harmful substances such as heavy metals, they have previously been disposed of as general waste. Junggu District will collaborate with the social enterprise Daewon Recycling Co., Ltd. to collect coffee grounds once a week and process them into eco-friendly compost via an intermediate collection center.

From October to December last year, a pilot project was conducted at 221 stores, collecting 60.8 tons of coffee grounds. This year, the district aims to collect about 157.5 tons. The entire project budget of 44.5 million won will be covered by a subsidy from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Through this project, Junggu District plans to transform coffee grounds from household waste into a recyclable resource and establish a sustainable resource circulation system involving both shops and residents. In fact, Junggu District has consistently promoted various waste reduction policies, including the activation of coffee grounds recycling, reduction of single-use products, and a program to exchange recyclable waste for volume-based waste bags.

Kim Gilseong, Mayor of Junggu District, stated, "Expanding the collection of coffee grounds will not only reduce waste but also serve as an opportunity to create and raise awareness of a resource circulation culture in collaboration with the local community. We will continue to do our best to maintain our status as a leading district in resource circulation through various waste reduction initiatives."