Gimhae City in Gyeongnam, which has successfully established the nation's first three core plastic-free initiatives, received the Grand Prize at the 2025 Local Government Policy Awards organized by the Korean Association for Local Government Studies.
The Policy Awards, which identify and evaluate outstanding policies of local governments that contribute to regional development, gave high marks to Gimhae City's "Gimhae-style Plastic-Free Policy Leading Carbon Neutrality in Korea."
Gimhae City in Gyeongnam received the Grand Prize at the 2025 Local Government Policy Awards, hosted by the Korean Association for Local Government Studies, for its "Gimhae-style Plastic-Free Policy Leading Carbon Neutrality in Korea."
Gimhae City announced that it had designated the recurring plastic problem in daily life as a citizen-oriented challenge and built a practical policy model that organically connects reduction, substitution, and circulation in everyday life.
In particular, the city operated three core initiatives: eradicating plastic artificial flowers in park cemeteries, promoting the use of reusable containers in private funeral homes, and supporting an eco-friendly banner circulation system.
As a result, the city achieved a 0% rate of artificial flower offerings in park cemeteries, reduced plastic waste by using reusable containers and collecting ice packs in funeral homes, decreased waste through the conversion to eco-friendly banners and the establishment of a circulation system in the public sector, and strengthened the foundation for resource circulation.
Going forward, the city plans to expand its resource circulation infrastructure in stages, moving beyond simple waste disposal to the advanced conversion of waste resources into energy.
The city aims to simultaneously increase the efficiency of waste resource processing and the resource recovery rate by modernizing resource circulation facilities such as incineration plants, establishing public pyrolysis facilities for waste plastics, and upgrading outdated recycling sorting centers such as household resource recovery centers.
In addition, the city will promote the spread of proper waste separation practices and create a pleasant living environment by implementing citizen-focused policies such as on-site waste separation education using resource circulation guides, comprehensive maintenance and management of clothing collection boxes, and compensation for the collection of agricultural waste in rural areas.
A city official stated, "Thanks to the active participation of our citizens, our field-oriented policies have gained external recognition," adding, "We will establish ourselves as a leading carbon-neutral city in Korea by realizing a circular economy that transforms waste resources into valuable assets."
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