With a prolonged shortage of bags caused by disruptions in naphtha supply from the Middle East, Gangseo District in Seoul has launched a program to exchange transparent plastic bottles for standardized garbage bags.
This adds transparent plastic bottles as a new item to the district’s existing exchange program for paper cartons and used batteries.
Residents can collect used plastic bottles and bring them to the local community center near their home. One kilogram of plastic bottles can be exchanged for one 3-liter food waste bag or two 10-liter general waste bags. The daily limit per person is set at 4 kilograms.
To qualify for exchange, the bottles must meet sorting standards: they must be emptied, labels removed, compressed, and capped.
Cleanly collected transparent plastic bottles are reused as material for new bottles or as recycled raw materials for clothing and bags.
Under the existing program, 2 kilograms of paper cartons can be exchanged for one roll of toilet paper, and 0.5 kilograms of used batteries can be exchanged for two new batteries. Both items can also be exchanged for garbage bags. The program ends early once the prepared rewards run out.
The reason this program stands out is that the reward is a garbage bag. As imports of naphtha have been blocked amid the prolonged Middle East conflict, standardized garbage bags have become chronically scarce this year.
In a situation where it has become common for people to leave empty-handed after failing to find bags at supermarkets and convenience stores, the structure of receiving two 10-liter bags in return for 1 kilogram of plastic bottles carries more weight than a simple eco-friendly campaign.
Gangseo District has focused on this point. As bags have become scarce, the district is converting discarded resources into bags at a time when this shortage has become one of residents’ most everyday inconveniences.
The project aligns an environmental administration task of increasing plastic bottle recycling rates with the practical issue of a bag shortage. The condition that only properly sorted transparent plastic bottles are accepted can be read as an effort to secure stable supplies of a high-value recyclable material.
Because the shortage of bags is unlikely to be resolved quickly, there is growing recognition that such a resource-circulation reward system should become part of an everyday system rather than remain a temporary campaign.
The biggest limitation is that the project stops once the rewards run out. If bag supplies cannot be managed stably, residents’ motivation to participate will quickly fade.
Considering the possibility that a resident who leaves empty-handed after a first visit may never again collect plastic bottles, inventory management itself becomes a key variable determining policy success. Calls are growing for a system in which district authorities secure bag supplies in advance on a quarterly basis and publicly disclose distribution status by neighborhood in real time.
The limited access of collection points is another issue that needs to be addressed. Community centers are open only during weekday daytime hours. Given Gangseo District’s population structure, which includes many dual-income households and one-person households, only a limited number of residents can visit during those hours.
For older residents with mobility difficulties, the distance to the community center is also a barrier. Alternatives being discussed include installing unmanned collection bins at apartment management offices, commercial districts, and subway stations, or combining them with door-to-door collection for households that gather a certain amount of materials.
In the long term, policymakers may also consider diversifying exchange items and reward structures. Expanding the program step by step to include other recyclable materials with verified value, such as plastic film, cans, and glass bottles, could help change residents’ sorting habits themselves.
Rewards should not be limited to a single item like garbage bags; offering options such as local currency or vouchers for public services could also ease the burden of bag inventory management.
At a time when there is a shortage of raw materials to make bags, the key challenge will be how to strengthen the circular loop in which waste plastic is turned back into bags, determining the sustainability of the program.