I’m really confused. I’ve been staying at a goshiwon type place in gyeonggi province. There are no recycling bins - only trash bins and a food composter in the kitchen for food trash. When I look into the trash bins (all black and yellow and say trash), they are full of plastic bottles and trash like ramen cups, cans, tissues etc (even someone threw away their clothes in there !) all mixed together in the same bin. It’s like this every day.

I am very confused because I stayed somewhere in Seoul where the owner yelled at me because I didn’t rinse the plastic off good enough. Why does this building not have to recycle? It’s really strange. Are goshiwons exempt ?

A very good article resume it quite good with all of the differents garbage's bags (only in English).

Its always useful !

https://10mag.com/your-complete-guide-to-garbage-disposal-in-south-korea/

How much do you comply with the garbage segregation requirements of your neighborhood in South Korea? Do you go out and buy colored garbage bags as required by your local jurisdiction? Do you dispose of food-related garbage in plastic bags or baskets provided by your landlord?

Just moved to a new neighborhood and a new building with less than 20 households. For that size, the landlord isn't required to supply baskets. Instead, tenants have to buy special bags to dispose of food-related garbage. I just bought a bunch and 10 bags cost me 10,000 won. What? Before, I used to deposit that in the basket and now I realize, sure it smells terrible and isn't sanitary, but I may have to spend significantly more getting rid of this stuff.

Also, where I used to live, old ladies came to pick up garbage and did the segregation themselves. For example, boxes, containers, bottles, plastics, etc. were all just piled on this large cart where they came and did the segregation. That's no longer the case now: so that means we have to segregate garbage into at least 6 renewable categories: paper; bottles; anything metal-related; plastic-related; vinyl, which really is plastic wrappers -- Koreans don't call this plastic: only solid forms are considered plastic. The six cannot be mixed: they have to be kept fully separate and thrown out in clear plastic bags. I will be doing this for the first time and am getting stressed out. How many are in full compliance?

Then there is the remaining category called 일반쓰레기 (general garbage), which is for all garbage not belonging to the above categories. Some of these are food-related also. My first week in South Korea, I learned that egg shells are not food-related but general garbage. Also, peeled carrot or zucchini skins with dirt is general garbage: if you want them to be food-related, they have to be thoroughly washed and dirt removed. Peeled onion skins, corn husks, and peanut and walnut shells are not food-related, as animals that eat this type of garbage cannot digest them.

Had to call the neighborhood center to see how to throw out light bulbs, ceiling lights and fixtures. Turns out they have disposals available at the center or large apartment complexes. They also told me to get a screwdriver and separate the metal parts from the lights to be disposed separately in the metal category.

Now you realize why there aren't street garbage cans. People will be tempted to throw out household garbage there. Yes, they are installing them in more street corners. But there are cameras that can track who's throwing out garbage there illegally.

This can be one of the most stressful aspects of living in Korea; if you are at a loss and let garbage accumulate, you can start losing your living space to them. And anything food-related will start to smell: I used to keep them in the freezer but run out of space so quickly that I have no choice but buy those pink bags to throw them out. Plus you have to constantly google to see if something belongs in the right category. One jurisdiction may treat each item differently.

Below is an article about someone hit with a 100,000 won ($75) fine for throwing out orange peels with general garbage. The point here isn't the fine or the amount but that sanitation workers went through other garbage to figure out her identity to levy the fine. Yes, stressful.

https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/1128766.html

Hi, we just arrived in Korea and I'm trying to understand the rubbish recycling system here. I think I have it mostly worked out ( though I haven't found any food waste bags yet), however I've noticed the "other" symbol on a lot of packaging( chip packets,etc). Are these recyclable or not? In Australia most of the items would be recycled at special soft plastic collections, so it's confusing me. Any other help/ hints would be greatly appreciated.

Hi! I’ve been in Korea for a month and now that I’m not staying in an airbnb I’m struggling with recycling. I swear to God I’ve read about it and tried to understand as much as I can but I’m not used to it, so I have a couple of questions.

1. I read that you are supposed to remove any moisture before throwing away food or anything that had food in it. I have a cup of tteokkboki with some leftovers and greasy sauce still in it. Where am I supposed to throw the liquid?, down the drain or..?? And what do I do with those leftovers? because they are not “clean”.

2. What are 재사용 종량제봉투 for? Are they the same as 일반 쓰레기 봉투? On the bag it says that it can be as a shopping bag and later reused for the disposal of designed waste, but what exactly is the designed waste? because on the images it only shows those things you CANNOT throw in 🫠

(I’m in Namgu by the way)

The South Korean government held an emergency meeting on Friday after the U.S. announced a 50 percent tariff on imported appliances, including refrigerators and washing machines.

The U.S. move is part of an expanded tariff measure targeting steel and aluminum derivative products, set to take effect June 23.

The meeting, led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, included major appliance manufacturers such as Samsung and LG, along with their partner firms.

Officials reviewed the potential impact of the tariffs, noting that different appliance categories may be affected to varying degrees.

The government said it will closely monitor developments in the U.S. while working with a joint industry task force to assess the tariffs’ impact and explore support measures for affected companies, both domestically and internationally.

Hello! We are staying in Busan and have been given a list of when to recycle things. My question is, does each of these categories need a separate bag? Or for example, for Monday, can vinyls and plastics be in one bag or do they need to be in two bags? And if I bought a coffee in an aluminum can and the label says “dispose of label as PET” does that go in the PET bottles waste or the plastics waste?

Hello. I’m leaving Korea after 18 years here, and I’ve accumulated a lot of crap. I understand how regular recycling works in my building, as well as how to get rid of old electronics. But what about miscellaneous house items like these baskets in the picture and things like utensils and crockery etc? Thanks in advance

https://www.sankei.com/article/20250615-I7C5BB2WQJNVNETCZPTE54GHFI/