The garbage sorting and recycling system has been implemented in South Korea for more than 20 years, and now the active garbage sorting has become a daily habit of South Korean citizens. In order to encourage citizens to use recyclable items and reduce waste emissions at the source, South Korea began to implement the "garbage quantity system" as early as the 1990s, which has made great contributions to the country's garbage recycling industry.

"quantity system", as the name suggests, is based on the amount of garbage discarded by the collection of fees, the more garbage thrown away, the more expensive the collection of garbage fees. Before the implementation of the "quantity system", the garbage disposal fee levied on each household in South Korea was calculated as a fixed value based on the size of the household's housing and the amount of tax, and no matter how much garbage was put into the household each month, the same standard was charged. Under the system, most Koreans did not realize the need to reduce garbage and increase recycling, regardless of the cost they incurred.

Until April 1994, the South Korean government decided to begin to implement a pilot system of charging disposal fees according to the difference in the amount of garbage dumped in some areas, and the system was rolled out in China the following year. Thanks to the implementation of the "quantity system", the discharge of China's waste in South Korea has been reduced by 23% in just four years, while the amount of recyclable waste has increased by 74%. Remarkable results have been achieved in urging people to form the habit of garbage sorting and promoting the recycling of renewable waste.

According to statistics, in the early 1990s, South Korea's daily China's waste emissions per person were about 2.3 kg, and after the implementation of the measurement system, the per capita China's waste emissions plummeted to about 1 kg, and have been maintained at this level for a long time until today.

At present, South Korea in the "from the quantity system" garbage disposal to take the method of purchasing standardized garbage bags. In addition to recyclable garbage, disposing of the rest of the garbage requires purchasing specialized garbage bags with garbage disposal fees included in the price, or paying an additional large garbage disposal fee. In South Korea, waste can be broadly divided into four categories: general household waste, food waste, recyclable waste and special bulky waste. Among them, general household waste and food waste need to be packed in special "from the quantity system" garbage bags, according to the designated time to throw in the designated place.

Take Seoul City as an example, each district office uses different colors of "quantity system" garbage bags, household "quantity system" garbage bags are divided into two kinds according to the general China's waste and food waste, the size specifications are 10 liters, 20 liters, 50 liters, 100 liters, etc., garbage bags in different districts are not interchangeable. Because of the inclusion of garbage disposal costs, the price of "specific quantity system" garbage bags is generally higher. In Seoul's Jongno district, a 20-liter household garbage bag costs 490 won (about 3 yuan). The aim is to reduce unnecessary waste as much as possible, reduce the amount of combustible waste to be disposed of at source, and encourage people to use more recyclables.

Recyclable waste is recyclable waste, further subdivided into plastic, plastic packaging, glass bottles, paper, steel products and so on. Residents need to separate these garbage into different collection boxes according to the requirements, so as to facilitate the recycling of garbage.

The classification standards of recyclable garbage are complex, detailed and strict. For example, plastic beverage bottles must be removed from the outer packaging of the label sticker before being thrown into the plastic garbage collection bin, milk cartons should be cleaned and pressed flat before being thrown into the paper recycling bin. For example, a whole beer bottle can be included in the recyclable garbage as a glass bottle. If the bottle is broken, the glass residue can only be included in the non-recyclable household waste.

If there are large electrical appliances or furniture that need to be disposed of in South Korea, it belongs to the category of special large garbage. First of all, you should go to the community center to register and declare, pay the garbage disposal fee first, get a document with the seal of the residents center, paste the document on the large items to be disposed of within 1 to 2 days to the designated place. In addition, involving expired drugs such special garbage disposal, but also need to take the drugs to the nearby community drug bureau, put in the specially set up waste drug disposal box.

In addition to strict classification, the time of garbage disposal and cleaning is also specified in detail. The usual daily garbage collection time is between sunset and midnight. Different jurisdictions and even communities have different rules about what types of garbage can be put out on what day of the week, so it's important to know before you throw it out. If you don't throw your garbage at the required time or according to the sorting rules, you will face a fine ranging from 100,000 won to 1 million won (about 600 to 6,000 yuan).

In recent years, South Korea has been introducing new measures to reduce the use of single-use waste. Plastic bags are no longer available for free at supermarkets and convenience stores in Seoul. Instead, customers can choose to buy paper bags, reusable bags or "made-to-measure" garbage bags. Street coffee shops in Seoul have also stopped offering disposable cups to diners, fined those who violate the rules, and many have replaced their straws with special paper ones. (Lu Rui)

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