Why is South Korea’s environment so sustainable?

Katie Chan

Edited by Yujin Tchun

Have you ever been to Seoul before? Or any other place in South Korea? If you did, you would find that not only are their streets really clean, but the environment there is also amazing! It’s incredible how they manage to keep their streets clean even with tons of tourists and residents around! In the morning, you can see neat piles of trash placed on street corners waiting to be picked up and collected. Just like in Hong Kong, there are people who are motivated to earn money by helping with trash collection, which in turn keeps the city clean.

South Korea and its residents care a lot about the environment and the cleanliness of their streets, which is why most places have five different bins for trash disposal. In Seoul, public trash cans are sparsely placed around the city, with most efforts of cleaning up the streets are done by the inhabitants of Seoul. A lot of older people will collect bottles, cans, and cardboard to turn in for money. There are also strict rules on the distribution of trash and recycling, which make sure that the people of Seoul are keeping the environment clean. If they don’t, they are fined, which further pushes them to keep the streets clean.

In Korea, there are sprinklers on the roads that turn on and automatically spray water onto the dirty roads. Rain-water gets stored in the road studs and is then sprayed onto the road with a sprinkler-like hydraulic system — even without the help of the people, the streets can clean themselves! This high technology system not only saves water, but transforms the excess water into something that is useful and beneficial to the community. All the dirt and other substances cars bring onto the roads are washed away by the road sprinkler system!

South Korea used to recycle only 2% of its food waste, but has now impressively brought it up to a whopping 95%! They reached that number by using innovative technologies like smart bins, setting up urban farms, and introducing compulsory household food waste recycling, setting up an example for the whole of Asia, a region that collectively accounts for half the world's wasted food. Another great thing about this is that the collected food waste gets converted into fertilizer, and the government requires households to pay $6 USD per month for each biodegradable bag of food waste thrown out. South Korea has installed 6000 automatic trash bins across Seoul, and these bins weigh residents' food waste and charge them on the recycling infrastructure that the government operates by. This food waste recycling scheme helped reduce the amount of food waste in Seoul by 47,000 tonnes within only 6 years.

Overall, not only do they set up an amazing example with recycling and clean streets, they are also eco-friendly and dedicated to making the environment more green. But that’s a story for another time, as there is so much more information to cover. If you want to stay in a place that is clean, sustainable and eco-friendly, while also having great shops, views and restaurants, South Korea is a definite recommendation and would guarantee you a mind-blowing trip.