Seoul’s Gangbuk-gu announced that on September 29, it signed a business agreement with the Gangbuk Childcare Center Association and the Eojin Village Management Social Cooperative at the district office’s planning situation room to establish a foundation for the ‘milk carton separate disposal and collection activation’.
This agreement was promoted to strengthen the separate disposal system for milk cartons, which have high recycling value, and to achieve a reduction in household waste. Milk cartons are made of 100% natural pulp and can be recycled into tissue paper, but they are often disposed of with general paper, resulting in a national average recycling rate of only 13.9%.
Gangbuk-gu plans to directly collect milk cartons generated from childcare centers through this agreement and strengthen the resource recycling system in conjunction with exchange projects in collaboration with private organizations.
From October, the Gangbuk Childcare Center Association will pilot the milk carton collection and exchange project at 35 childcare centers (24 public, 8 private, and 3 home-based) within the district. Each childcare center will be provided with dedicated collection bins and waste bags, and the collected milk cartons will be transferred to the Gangbuk Recycling Sorting Facility for sorting and compression before being sent to a specialized collection company. Through this, the district aims to enhance environmental education for infants and young children and spread a culture of practicing resource recycling in daily life.
This pilot project will gradually expand. The district plans to expand participation to kindergartens, schools, and cafes by 2026, adding 10 new participating institutions each quarter to operate a total of 75 locations.
Meanwhile, the Eojin Village Management Social Cooperative will operate a ‘milk carton exchange project’ for residents. The cooperative, a community located in Insudong, Gangbuk-gu, has been steadily pursuing resident-led resource recycling activities and environmental improvement projects. This project allows residents to exchange 1kg of collected milk cartons for a roll of tissue, aiming to spread a local-based separate disposal culture.
Gangbuk-gu Mayor Lee Soon-hee stated, “The core of this agreement is to create a virtuous cycle where milk cartons consumed by children are reborn as resources and new value is created through resident participation. We will do our best to make a sustainable resource recycling city by joining forces with childcare centers, private organizations, and the district.”