Recycling in East Asia

East Asian countries (Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China) seem to have a good grip on the "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" concept. My own experience in Korea mirrors two stories I've read.

First, China recently banned free plastic bags, forcing consumers to pay for bags at the grocery store. [Source] If that sounds a bit authoritarian, consider that Korea does the same, and that it's only about 5 cents per bag. It's a subtle, but effective way to reduce the amount of bags given out.

A few months ago, I got a durable, reusable, collapsable orange bag with a box of Frosted Flakes, and have been using it ever since. Compare that with the infinite supply of bags withins bags that I kept in Hawaii, and I think the Asian system is better -- there's an incentive to reuse.

Second, I read a Washington Post story about Taipei's recycling system by Fulbright scholar Julia Ross. Like Taiwan, Korea requires residents to sort their trash into paper, plastic, cans, food waste, and general waste. And I'm surprised by how much is recyclable -- even the plastic wrapper from an ice cream bar. You may think that's a bit much, but there's no room for being lazy -- I've heard many stories from fellow English teachers getting yelled by their landlords for getting things wrong.

Korea also requires that general, unrecycleable trash be thrown out using specially marked trash bags. These bags cost much more than they are worth, giving consumers another reason to minimize waste.

To illustrate how extensive and sophisticated the system is, I took a picture of the garbage cans at the McDonald's in the COEX shopping center.

On the right hand side is the paper waste (일반쓰래기). The tray liner and paper containers go there. In the center is the lid for the food waste (음식물). If you don't finish your Big Mac, you put that in there. Liquid waste, like the ice from your drink, goes in the drain above the food waste, while the plastice straw and top go in the bin above the general waste. Cups go in the spot behind the trays.