○ Recycled waste vinyl generated in Gyeonggi Province to be supplied as storage containers for food waste
– Expected to mitigate environmental issues, eliminate food waste odors and recycle 30 tons of waste vinyl annually
– 6,700 containers to be distributed in September to 10 interested cities: Suwon, Yongin, Seongnam, Bucheon, Namyangju, Anyang, Siheung, Uijeongbu, Yangju and Gwacheon

Gyeonggi Province announced on September 14 that it will distribute standard food waste storage containers made from recycled waste vinyl to 10 cities and counties in September.

This project was initiated not only to resolve environmental issues such as odors and degraded urban aesthetics caused by discarded food waste bags, but also to achieve resource circulation through the recycling of waste vinyl.

In most areas with high concentrations of residential buildings, such as multi-family residences and detached houses, food waste is discarded in standard plastic garbage bags; these bags are frequently torn by animals or vehicles, which subsequently generates severe odors and scatters unsightly food waste. Concurrently, waste vinyl is a difficult material to recycle due to poor product value and economic feasibility.

The containers supplied by Gyeonggi Province are provided to detached houses and multi-family residences to prevent the aforementioned situations while serving to store standard food waste bags discarded by each household until they are collected.

These containers are made by processing and molding waste vinyl. With a capacity of approximately 25 liters, the resulting covered container is 39 centimeters wide, 41 centimeters long and 40 centimeters high. The amount of waste vinyl used to produce one container is 4.5 kilograms, which is equivalent to 1,500 ramen packages.

Gyeonggi Province plans to produce 6,700 containers for distribution in September to 10 cities: Suwon, Yongin, Seongnam, Bucheon, Namyangju, Anyang, Siheung, Uijeongbu, Yangju and Gwacheon. A total of 30 tonnes of waste vinyl is expected to be recycled.

In June last year, the province signed an agreement with the Korea Recycled Plastic Manufacturing Industry Cooperative for the production of waste vinyl-based food waste containers.

A Gyeonggi Provincial Government official said, “We expect that this project will improve not only urban aesthetics, which has been an issue when discarding food waste garbage bags, but also public awareness of recycled products. We hope that this project serves as a basis to create demand for recycled products, and we will strive to establish a resource-circulating society.”