"Free Home Collection of Waste Appliances"... Sejong City Wins Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Award for Fourth Consecutive Year

Expansion of Customized Collection Services and System Improvements
Silver Prize in the Metropolitan Category

Seungkwon Kang (first from the right) Team Leader of the Resource Circulation Policy Team at the Environment and Greenery Bureau is posing for a commemorative photo after receiving the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Award. Photo by Environment and Greenery Bureau

Sejong City was awarded the Silver Prize in the metropolitan category at the 2025 Free Home Collection of Waste Appliances Excellence Competition. As a result, the city will receive the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Award for the fourth consecutive year.

The competition, held on the 23rd and hosted by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and organized by the Circulation Governance, comprehensively evaluated participating local governments based on their performance in free home collection of waste appliances, operation of customized collection services, and promotional achievements.

In preparation for the implementation of the free disposal system, which will completely abolish waste appliance disposal fees starting next year, the city has actively expanded customized collection services and strengthened promotional efforts to improve citizen accessibility and participation in waste appliance disposal.

Free home collection of waste appliances allows citizens to simply request a pickup through a call center when disposing of large appliances or five or more small and medium-sized appliances. A collection agent then visits and collects the items without any fee.

Customized collection services are provided for small and medium-sized waste appliances. Citizens can dispose of these items at designated community hubs such as township and neighborhood administrative welfare centers or apartment complexes, and the items are collected according to a set schedule.

Currently, the city operates customized collection services for small and medium-sized waste appliances at township and neighborhood administrative welfare centers and 122 registered apartment complexes. Indoor collection and sorting facilities have also been established to ensure safe storage and sorting of collected items.

The city received high marks from the evaluation committee for improving the conventional outdoor collection and sorting methods. The new system reduces the impact of weather, environmental pollution, and safety risks, while enhancing the recycling rate by establishing a robust resource circulation infrastructure.

Starting in 2026, the city plans to expand the customized collection system to include not only apartment complexes that have not yet participated but also village halls in rural areas, so that citizens can conveniently dispose of waste appliances at nearby locations.

Jin Ikho, Head of the Resource Circulation Division, stated, "In preparation for the implementation of the free disposal system for waste appliances, we will continue to expand the collection system so that citizens can conveniently dispose of items within their communities. We will also do our utmost to improve recycling efficiency and strengthen the resource circulation structure so that collected waste appliances can be reused as resources."

Meanwhile, the city completed the revision of the ordinance in July this year to implement the free disposal system for waste appliances starting in 2026.