Suwon City's Free Waste Electrical Equipment Collection Service Gains Strong Public Response

[Suwon Ilbo=Han-seo Kang Reporter] Suwon City announced that the 'Free Waste Electrical Equipment Door-to-Door Collection Service,' which collects refrigerators, TVs, and other household appliances for free, is gaining strong public response.

The waste electrical equipment collected by the city increased significantly from 9,754 cases (22,833 units) in 2017 to 13,315 cases (36,514 units) last year.

Additionally, as of the end of June this year, 7,887 cases (25,218 units) were collected, marking a 35% increase in usage requests and 72.9% increase in the number of waste electrical equipment compared to the same period last year. Last year as of the end of June, 5,843 cases (14,589 units) were collected.

Among the 25,218 units collected in the first half of this year, refrigerators were the most at 4,054 units, followed by TVs with 2,875 units, washing machines with 1,273 units, and air conditioners with 533 units. Other electrical appliances accounted for 16,483 units.

The Free Waste Electrical Equipment Door-to-Door Collection Service can be requested by clicking 'Make a Collection Reservation' on the 'Waste Electrical Equipment Door-to-Door Collection Reservation System' homepage (http://www.15990903.or.kr) or by calling the call center (1599-0903).

A dedicated collection team belonging to Suwon City visits homes and collects products for free. Residents can save on waste electrical equipment disposal fees and contribute to resource recycling.

The call center operates from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays. It does not operate on weekends, January 1st, Labor Day (May 1st), Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, and national holidays.

Target items include large appliances such as refrigerators, TVs, washing machines, air conditioners, and electric ovens, air purifiers, dishwashers, and water purifiers. Small electrical appliances such as notebooks, humidifiers, fans, vacuums, and mobile phones must be bundled together in groups of five or more and disposed of simultaneously or together with large appliances.

An official from the city's Sanitation and Resources Division said, "It appears the increased usage rate is due to active promotion of the collection service," and added, "We will continue to promote the service through various methods including hosting briefing sessions at 44 neighborhood administrative welfare centers and utilizing the city's homepage, advertisements, and campaigns."

Meanwhile, Suwon City was selected as an exemplary organization in the '2018 Free Waste Electrical Equipment Door-to-Door Collection Excellence Local Government Competition' hosted by the Ministry of Environment in September last year and received a commendation from the Minister of Environment.