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| Transparent PET bottles are seen in the recycling bin of an apartment complex in Sejong City. Some of them still have labels on them, which should have been removed. Korea Times photo by Yoon Ja-young |
By Yoon Ja-young
People living in apartments need to be more careful when recycling. If they fail to comply with proper plastic recycling regulations, they could face a fine of up to 300,000 won ($265).
According to the Ministry of Environment, the grace period for the required separation of recyclable transparent PET bottles at multi-unit housing complexes such as apartments ended on June 26. Now, a penalty of up to 300,000 won will be levied on the apartment managing office for failing to recycle them properly, which of course will be financed by the apartment residents.
The new rule requires residents to put transparent PET bottles in bags separate from other plastics for collectors to pick up. The rule was introduced in Dec. 25, with the grace period of six months. A fine of 100,000 won will be levied for the first breach of the rule. Then, it will be 200,000 won for the second violation, and 300,000 won for the third. Most multi-unit housing complexes with more than 150 units are subject to the rule.
The recycling manager at an apartment complex in Sejong City said that some residents still do not follow the rule properly.
"Sometimes the bottles are dirty or they arrive mixed up with other items in same recycling bag. The recycling company will refuse to collect them, so I am doing the work that should have been done by the residents," he said.
For successful recycling, transparent bottles should be clean and without anything in them. They should be crushed and the labels surrounding them should be removed. The caps, however, don't have to be removed if they are made of plastic.
The government adopted the rule in order to recycle more bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, simply known as "PET," which constitute a high-quality recyclable material. It can be recycled into fiber or other plastic containers.
While Koreans are known to be among the world's top in their recycling efforts, as a nation, they are also one of the biggest consumers of plastic in the world. According to Euromap, an association of European plastic and rubber machinery manufacturers, in 2015, Koreans were estimated to have consumed 132 kilograms of plastic per capita during that one year.
The ministry plans to expand the recycling rule on transparent PET bottles to single-unit houses around the country starting Dec. 25.
