Very complex Korean trashy tips 🗑️

Say you’re in Korea and you have to throw trash out. You might think “Hey, I have a trash bag. Let me just throw it out in there!”

Coming from the US, this was our natural first thought, but oh ho ho were we mistaken.

There can be as many as 7 different bins (쓰레기통) for you to throw your trash (쓰레기) and getting it wrong can not only get you fined, but also publicly shamed with photographs of you throwing away wrong things.

We’re not kidding. At our place there are photos from the cameras that are mounted to the trash area showing people throwing out trash incorrectly.

It has even become a thing that some people can report you for throwing away trash incorrectly and collect a small reward.

Anyways, for those who are already in Korea or plan to come to Korea, to help you avoid public humiliation and potential fines, let’s look at the trash day system and what should go where.

Every day is different (except for the ones that are the same)

So, for us, the above are the days we have to throw out certain things.

• 플라스틱류 (plastic) is 월/수/금/일 (Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun)
• 종이류 (paper) is 화/목/토 (Tue/Thu/Sat)
• 불연성 (non-flammable; things like ceramics, small metal objects, and broken glass that don't fit other categories) is 화/토 (Tue/Sat)
• 비닐류 (vinyl; bags, wrappers — separate from 플라스틱) is 목/일 (Thu/Sun)

By the way, “류” means “category” or “type”.

On the days 플라스틱류 is disposed, you can also recycle 투명페트병 or clear PET bottles (water bottles, juice bottles). These are separated from regular 플라스틱 because clear PET is higher quality recyclable material. Remove the cap and label, rinse, and flatten before disposing. 투명 = transparent, 페트병 = PET bottle.

There are some other bins not pictured on the side for more items that can be thrown out every day:

• 캔 / 고철류 — cans / scrap metal. 고 = old + 철 = iron/steel.
• 병류 — glass bottles.
• 스티로폼 — styrofoam (has its own separate bin)

Regular household trash is every day, and so is 음식물 쓰레기 (food waste / compostable), which should not be mixed together.

When you want to throw out regular trash you need to buy official 종량제 봉투 or pay-per-bag bags. The size and color vary by city. 종량 means "volume-based," 제 means "system," and 봉투 means "bag." At the supermarket, you can buy these bags and use them instead of paying for their shopping bags. 20L bags are the perfect size for carrying groceries home!

Typically, there is a separate food waste collector for the 음식물 쓰레기, and you pay by weight of food waste. Yes, they take card for these machines. Hot tip: Bones, shells, fruit pits, and onion skins are 일반 쓰레기 (general trash) since they're too hard to compost and go in the 종량제 봉투 .

Often times if you get a soda from the 편의점 (convenience store), it’ll have a label on it. If you want to throw out this bottle you need to peel the label off and throw it in the 비닐류 bin, then throw the bottle into the 플라스틱류 bin. This was such a headache for people that plastic bottles now have labels specifically that can be thrown out together with the bottles (which seems like it should have been the default, no?) or no labels at all.

Furniture, appliances, and large items need a special process since you can’t just leave them on the street. You register the item at your 주민센터 (community service center) or often through their website, pay a small fee based on the item type, print out a sticker, and attach it to the item. Leave it outside on the designated pickup day and the city will collect it.

• 대형 폐기물 — large waste / bulky items. 폐 = waste/discarded + 기물 = equipment, objects.
• 폐기물 스티커 — disposal sticker, printed after registering at the 주민센터
• The 폐 prefix pattern can be used in words like 폐가전 (discarded home appliances), 폐건전지 (used/dead batteries), 폐지 (wastepaper), and 폐차 (scrapped car).