South Korean festivals adopt reusable containers to reduce waste

Local governments in South Korea are expanding the use of reusable containers at festivals to reduce waste and promote carbon neutrality. Paju City has announced a project to support approximately 39,000 reusable containers across five major upcoming festivals, including the Paju Jangdan Bean Festival and the Papyeong Cosmos Festival. The city plans to implement a circulation system with dedicated return stations near food vendors to minimize trash.

Data from Gangjin County shows that using reusable containers at five local festivals reduced total waste by approximately 24% and greenhouse gas emissions by 39%. Similarly, the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival reported a 98% recovery rate for 275,370 reusable containers, preventing roughly 2.8 tons of disposable waste.

Despite these successes, the National Assembly Research Service notes that a national management system for festival waste is lacking. Current regulations focus on specific business types rather than entire event sites, and there is no standardized method to track or compare waste generation across different festivals. Experts suggest that management should expand beyond food containers to include stage materials, promotional items, and merchandise packaging.