Suwon Launches Expert Discussion Forum to Reduce Municipal Waste

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City held an 'Expert Discussion Forum on Sanitation' on the 9th in the City Hall conference room, presided over by Jo Moo-young, Second Deputy Mayor, to explore ways to reduce municipal waste.

The meeting was attended by Suwon City Council members, research fellows from the Suwon Research Institute for City Administration, the Suwon Bangtong Cooperative Council Chairman, and sanitation experts.

Hong Eun-hwa, Secretary of the Good City Administration Committee's Environment and Transportation Division, said, "We must expand environmental education for citizens and actively promote proper plastic recycling methods," and Kim Eun-young, research fellow at the Suwon Research Institute for City Administration, also emphasized, "We must continuously promote proper waste separation methods."

Additionally, Kang Eun-ha, research fellow at the Suwon Research Institute for City Administration, said, "We need to vividly inform people about the difficulties in handling improperly separated waste."

Lim Hyun-jun, Chairman of the Suwon Bangtong Cooperative Council, said, "There are many cases where waste separation is not properly carried out in residential areas," and proposed, "Let's hold meetings with residents in residential neighborhoods to find solutions." Jeong Chan-hae, Chairman of the Suwon Residential Autonomy Committee Cooperative Council, said, "Let's actively promote waste separation methods at the district level."

Kim Sung-bok, Chairman of the Environmental Management Union, proposed, "Let's install food waste collection containers equipped with RFID systems (a system that charges fees based on the weight of food waste) in multi-unit apartments to efficiently manage food waste."

Second Deputy Mayor Jo Moo-young said, "Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of disposable products has increased, and municipal waste generation has surged," and added, "I will actively reflect the opinions from today's meeting in sanitation policies."

Meanwhile, the city plans to operate a 'Municipal Waste Reduction Target System' with a goal of reducing waste by 4% compared to the projected municipal waste discharge in 2021. Additionally, the city will launch 'The GO! GO! GO! Campaign,' which represents 'reduce waste more (GO), increase recycling more (GO), make facilities safer (GO).'"