Pay as you Throw Scheme
Seoul
Embedded Files
Overview
Overview
Seoul’s Pay As You Throw waste fee system, launched in 1995, significantly reduced household waste by charging based on volume. Food waste is weighed using bins with RFID technology, charging residents automatically. A 30% fee increase in 2016 further encouraged waste reduction. These measures led to a 23% reduction in total waste and 47,000 tonnes less food waste in six years. The data-driven approach shows how pricing and tech can drive behavioral change and reduce food waste at scale.
Key actors
Key actors
City of Seoul
Resource Recirculation Bureau
Ministry of Environment
Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission
Alignment with EAT-Lancet Commission
The 2019 EAT-Lancet Commission shows that staying within the safe operating space for food systems requires dramatic reductions in food losses and waste.
KPIs: Tonnes of total food waste generated
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
“Communication is vital,” says Professor Hong Jong Ho, from the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University. “If people are not on the same page, they will illegally dump it or burn it. You have to persuade people why it is needed, why the system is reasonable and why we should actually do this. It’s for the welfare of our whole people, not just our government. That kind of persuasion is very important.”
Next steps
Next steps
More cities around the world are adopting a pay as you throw policy to reduce waste.
For more information contact: Tia Schwab at tschwab@c40.org
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