Sejong, November 4 - On October 26, the Ministry of Environment signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), intending to recycle better and get more high-value recyclable materials. Some local governments have already launched a similar recycling scheme. Instead of financial rewards, however, the participants in the local program have been given garbage bags or boxes of tissue when submitting recyclables. The purpose of the memorandum of understanding is to further develop the existing local-level recycling incentive scheme at the national level. Direct incentives in the form of local vouchers or financial points in the participants’ "carbon neutrality action point" account will be given. The Ministry of Environment, Korea Environment Corporation, eight local governments, private distribution companies such as Lotte Shopping, E-mart, and Homeplus, associations such as Korea Plastic Single Material Association and Seongnam City Daycare Center Association, and partnering companies including SK geo centric, SK telecom, and ECOCO have signed the memorandum of understanding. 

Individuals who separate, wash, and return plastic materials to the designated local recycling facilities will receive economic incentives by weight. The incentives differ from the types of recyclables: KRW 10/piece for transparent plastic bottles (500 ml bottles), KRW 100/kg for publications, and KRW 600/kg for aluminum cans. The incentives can be partially adjusted by region and fiscal quarters according to oil price fluctuations. The collected recyclables are directly supplied to recycling companies without any sorting process, making recycling easier. 

While the Ministry of Environment and the Korea Environment Corporation will handle the entire recycling incentive scheme, the ministry will also develop detailed measures to operate the designated recycling facilities more systematically. From 2023, the ministry will provide financial points in the "carbon neutrality action point" accounts of the participants in connection with the local governments' computer systems. While private distribution companies set up facilities to collect recyclable materials, local governments operate the facilities and aggregate the number of recyclables collected to provide incentives. Associations will educate young people and raise awareness of them. Lastly, partnering companies will conduct cooperative projects, including purchasing recyclable raw materials and providing a mobile application. 

Yoo Je-chul, Vice Minister of Environment, said, "Taking this opportunity, we wish the recycling incentive scheme would be settled. The scheme will help high-quality recyclable materials, such as PET bottles, be directly supplied to recycling companies without sorting processes. If so, we can reduce the number of dirty plastic materials with residue on (or in) it."  He added, "We will continue to do our best to lay the foundation to collect high-quality recyclables more stably."

Contact: Seo Yoon Young, Deputy Director

Municipal Waste Management Division / +82-(0)44-201-7422

Foreign Media Contact: Chun Minjo(Rachel)

+82-(0)44-201-6055 / rachelmchun@korea.kr